The Color Of Another Horse

Many of you know that I follow the happenings of the dining and entertainment scene, especially when it appears to bring new life to our downtown neighborhoods. Sometimes I get in on the early stages while other just transition very quietly.  Such is the case this week.

After hearing very little about the Penguin Dueling Piano Bar, either good or bad, I went by a few weeks ago and found that the windows had been papered over from the inside.  Clearly there was a remodeling afoot.  Last weekend they opened as Paulie's Toasted Barrel, with a decor of antique wood which hopefully will aid in the sound attenuation problem for the rest of the condo owners.  This is still a little of of the beaten path for many, but lets see what we can do for them.

What I am waiting for is the opening of Lexington's latest craft brewery.  A development which is following the example of our other craft brewers and locating in a building setting right up on the sidewalk, inviting the neighborhood and enlivening the street scene.  I am talking about the Blue Stallion Brewing Company.

Blue Stallion is taking over the former location of the Ironhorse Forge at 610 West Third St, the intersection of the Corman Railroad and Newtown Pike next door, and an area ripe for further redevelopment.

I say that I am waiting on this not because I love craft beer, actually quite the opposite because I don't drink beer, but I do like to see something like this begin to catalyze an area.  Like the guys at West Sixth St, the Blue Stallion is just a block or so from the new BCTC campus, across from an industrial flavored Henry Street beginning to search for ways to mimic South Limestone or South Upper.  A short walk from the trolley stop on Jefferson St through historic housing in increasing states of renovation will be fun next summer. It also appears to on the uncompleted portion of the Legacy Trail.

I have been watching these guys since about August and just got a few tweets and a follow this past Monday, so I guess that things are now a real go.  I really like the logo of their "blue stallion" and I've been told that it is a rendition on Aristides, the first winner of the Kentucky Derby and grandson of Lexington (the other blue horse seen around town).

There is more than enough reason to support these guys and despite my distaste for beer, I hope that they are around for a long time.  The just happen to be the color of another horse.

The Legacy Trail: Bike Events For Everyone

I did not hear the Mayor's speech at the opening of the Legacy Trail but I saw the YouTube video. He says the the new trail puts Lexington "on the map" and makes us a cycling "destination". I have to wonder after all the other grandiose projections about Lexington's "so-called" accomplishments.

I have enjoyed cycling here in Fayette County since the late '50s and have always found town very easy to get around by bike. The masses are just now coming to realize what I have known all along. I ride for enjoyment and don't get into racing or bike polo, nor do I go for high-speed jaunts through the countryside. I just plod along and enjoy myself.

But, now that we have arrived (in the Mayor's thoughts) I wonder when we will get all the other stuff that goes along with cycling and the young activists that we have in Central Kentucky. Lexington has lagged behind the rest of the country, or so the pundits say, and we get our ideas from the big cities of the east. I have been re-reading "The History of Pioneer Lexington; 1781-1806" by Charles Staples, who was a neighbor when I was growing up, and much of the merchandise that local shopkeepers brought to sell - came from Philadelphia. Not Boston, not New York, but Philadelphia. Just last week, Philadelphia held their latest rendition of a local "Naked Bike Ride", you know, the protest bike ride where you wear the least that you feel comfortable with and advocate such things as global warming and Peak Oil and traffic congestion.

Most of the world's "NBR" events (some call them "Bare as you Dare" rides) are along city streets and through parks. Some at night but most are now in broad daylight. Now that we have a premier facility for cycling, how far off can a Lexington "Naked Bike Ride" be?

Mrs. Sweeper thinks that I would be "front and center" for one, riding proudly and slowly, but I am not so sure. I saw all the different varieties of age and body shape last Sunday, it could be a scary thing.

A Legacy Trail, But Legacy To What

I toured the Legacy Trail (or at least part of it) today. I went out to the Coldstream Park and joined the throng for a ride to the Horse Park. I was hoping to be accompanied by the rest of the family but Mrs. Sweeper was doing some of her "women's" stuff, one of the little Sweepers' has a bike malfunction and the other had to do homework. I was left to do it all alone.

I was surprised to see the number of folks out riding, walking and otherwise enjoying a beautiful day. I got there early enough to get on the trail and out to the Horse Park before the festivities took place at the Coldstream location. I was on the way back when the Mayor's party headed out that way.

The trail is an easy jaunt with a few hills but they are not very steep or long. The bridges and stone walls are quite well done and will look very nice when the landscaping is fully established. The one item that I see as missing is a permanent "comfort station" because someone is going to need to go while on the trail.

I first heard about a "trail to the Horse Park" back in the early '90s-nearly 20 years ago. There was not much to see at the Horse Park back then. Not the number of national headquarters, or events, and a limited number of "name" horses, but there was a desire to get there by bike and a less than desirable road system to do it. At that time, I was starting to slow down my riding everywhere in the County and using any road to get there, but others were looking to go to the park with families, safely.

The late wife of a former mayor, Carole Pettit, was the first to mention it that I know of. She and Lexington's environmental planner spent many hours looking at maps and aerial photos of the land occupied by the UK research farms on Newtown and Iron Works Pikes. I know that she wrote many correspondences to the Agricultural College and the farm manager about using the existing farm roads and the tunnel under I-75. I know that this was a passion of hers, it may not have been her idea but she did press forward on it. Strangely, her name is missing from all information or credits relating to this trail.

This trail may be a "legacy" project of the WEG, as if we need to be reminded, or it may be a tribute to the legacy of the "Horse Capital of the World" but, in my mind, this is a legacy to Carole Pettit.