We’re More Than

Just a Pretty Face

The Most Beautiful Small Town

in America is also The Bourbon

Capital of the World

KY

Bardstown, KY Bourbon Capital of the World

Dawn Przystal, Vice President, Tourism Expansion & Marketing

Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission

One Court Square, Bardstown KY 40004 www.visitbardstown.com

800.638.4877 x 114 dawn@bardstowntourism.com

Bourbon distilleries, outdoor theatre, Civil War history and railroad heritage – Bardstown has it all in a picturesque setting that is vintage to its foundation. Kentucky’s second oldest city, more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” is now also recognized as the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America,” according to Rand McNally/USA Today. Sitting in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country, Bardstown is characterized by a charming downtown anchored by Court Square, one of the roughly 200 National Register of Historic Places located in this district. The downtown hops with locally owned restaurants, including the Rickhouse, featuring 120 different bourbons on the menu and chairs made from barrel staves. With courtyard dining overlooking the square, Circa is fine dining at its innovative best. Nearby Kreso’s offers European-inspired menu and sumptuous surroundings. Not far from the square, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train serves up a four-course meal while rolling through Bourbon Country. Shopping in Bardstown is likewise adventurous. Browse boutiques including At Mary’s, Barbara’s ETC, Peacock on Third and Shaq & Coco. Of course, bourbon is what Bardstown is famous for and there are five distilleries in the area, including Barton 1792 and the restored Willett Distillery. Three of its distilleries – Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam – are on the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail of which Bardstown is a trailhead. Other attractions include Kentucky’s official outdoor drama, the “Stephen Foster Story,” a splashy Broadway-style musical that takes place in My Old Kentucky Home State Park. The gem of the park is antebellum Federal Hill made famous by Foster, America’s first “rock star” who composed such hits as “Camptown Races” and “Oh! Susanna.” History buffs enjoy the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History and the Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre. One of the four most significant such museums in the country, it is the repository of such treasures as cannons, “drummer boy” drums, soldiers’ Bibles and pipes and an Eagle Head match safe. At The Kentucky Railway Museum visitors will see a French 40-et-8 Box Car presented to the U.S. following World War II, as well as 100 pieces of rolling stock: passenger cars, cabooses, refrigerated units, box cars, Railway Post Office cars and more. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, three self-guided tours, two haunted tours and numerous religious heritage attractions, including the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the first Catholic cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains, and the Abbey of Gethsemani. Annual festivals include Colonial Days Weekend in the spring; the summertime Bardstown Bluegrass Festival, Bourbon City Street Concert, Bourbon City BBQ Festival and Bardstown Highland Games; Bardstown Arts, Crafts, Antiques Fair in the fall; and, closing out the year, Christmas ‘Round Bardstown. The signature Kentucky Bourbon Festival is a six-day affair that takes place every September. Bed and breakfast inns abound, including everything from antebellum mansions and country inns to a Victorian “Painted Lady” and a 1700s restored log home to a plantation home and winery and a historic tavern – in fact, the oldest Western stagecoach stop – to a jail cell guestroom and bed and breakfast rooms tucked into the former jailer’s residence at the Old Nelson County Jail property.

Story Ideas... Get your Bourbon on. Explore Kentucky Bourbon Country where you experience the art of Bourbon-making being practiced much as it was 200 years ago. See and taste the rich amber color and natural mellow flavor of fine bourbon, America’s only native spirit. In Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World, the spirit and tradition of this bourbon legacy lives on today. Nestled in the scenic countryside, you will find five distillery tours where the sweet aroma of the angel’s share welcomes you to the home of bourbon. You will enjoy bourbon tastings and a bourbon cooking school at the Kentucky Bourbon House and a bourbon history buff’s dream at the Oscar Getz of Whiskey History. Each September it all comes together at the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown where for six days we celebrate the history and heritage of Kentucky Bourbon. Let the spirits move you on Bardstown’s haunted tours Bardstown is creeping with ghosts and crawling with haints. There are more specters in the “Bourbon Capital of the World” than you can shake a divining rod at and many of them are holed up in the six-room Jailer’s Inn, formerly a jail and now a B&B and a high point on Bardstown Ghost Treks. These two-hour guided tours, held every Saturday from June through October, are led by Certified Ghost Hunter Patti Starr, voted “One of the Top Ten Ghost Hunter Paranormal Investigators in America” for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Triple the frights with Bardstown’s two other ghost tours. The Chapeze House “Spirits and Spirits Tour,” held at 9:30 p.m. on weekend nights year-round, tours three floors of one of Bardstown’s most haunted structures and conclude in the cellar where a Bourbon Toddy is served – to “better appreciate the strong spirit indications.” The 90-minute “Visit With The Spirits Of Wickland Psychic Tour” is held on Friday evenings in this 1826 plantation home. Divining rods are offered to anyone who would like to try them. Guys’ Day Out – War, Whiskey and History War, whiskey and history await in Bardstown, the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” Home to the Civil War Museum and its collections of infantry, cavalry and naval artillery, it is the place to experience the stories of blood, guts and glory as the museum marks the 150th anniversary of The War Between the States. Prefer action over imagination? Watch Civil War re-enactments the third weekend of each month, March to December, in Old Bardstown Village; visit Bardstown’s War Memorial of Mid-America, which narrates America at war in exhibits spanning the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm; and see Prohibition-era “prescriptions” at a museum dedicated to the history of whiskey at Oscar Getz. Play 18 holes on a golf course that wends alongside the Heaven Hill Distillery – and stop by afterward to sample the spirits. You can do likewise at Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam American Outpost and the Barton 1792 Distillery. Then head to the Chapeze House – Kentucky’s Bourbon House – for dinner and a tutored tasting with the Colonel.

Local Attractions

Abbey of Gethsemane

Barton’s 1792 Distillery

Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral

Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest

Civil War Museum of the Western Theater

Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center olley

Jim Beam American Stillhouse

Kentucky Railway Museum

My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

My Old Kentucky Home State Park

Museum Row at Old Bardstown Village

Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth

The Stephen Foster Story

Wickland—The Home of Three Governors

Willett Distillery

Bardstown is Kentucky’s second oldest city, dating to 1780.

The Civil War Museum is considered one of the top 4 in the country.

Over 50,000 people from 40 states & 13 countries attended the 2011 20th Annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

Bardstown is rich in religious heritage attractions, including the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the first Catholic cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains, and the Abbey of Gethsemani.

In spite of its petite proportions, Bardstown has a profusion of locally owned eateries and bed and breakfast inns, including no less than a dozen restaurants in its historic downtown district and nearly 20 inns, including cottages, stage coach stop, log home, antebellum homes and a former jail.

Quick Facts

Annual Festivals With more than 30 annual events and festivals there is always something to experience in Bardstown. Colonial Days Weekend. April. Relive the 18th century – about 100 years before Bardstown became the “Bourbon Capital of the World” – during a Colonial Days weekend. Besides the 18th Century Market Fair, there will be living history demonstrations, a Native American village, flintlock rifle demos, military drills and displays, lots of entertainers and artisans who hail from the late 1700s and an 18th Century Tavern Night on Fri., March 30 at the Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779. A Historical Ball will be held on Saturday evening at Historic Wickland Estate. Festival www.BardstownColonialDays.com Bourbon City Street Concert, July. Park your lawn chair in the middle of Third Street and enjoy music from a variety of Kentucky musicians. www.BardstownMainStreet.com Bourbon City BBQ Festival, June. Backyard BBQ Cookoff, KidsQ Cookoff, Kids Fun Zone, Antique Tractor & Car Display, Beer Pit, Retail Court Arts & Crafts, Food Court, Cornhole Tournament, and Entertainment. Nelson County Fairgrounds, 2391 New Haven Rd. For more information visit our website. www.BourbonCityBBQFestival.com Stephen Foster Festival. June. Celebrate the opening of the Stephen Foster Story and his music with a fun-filled day of activities including the chance to become a cast-member and reenact scenes, learn to dance the Waltz and learn to play “Oh! Susanna” on your complimentary harmonica. Doo dah discounts available around town and at many participating downtown stores. www.stephenfoster.com Kentucky Bourbon Festival, September. The Kentucky Bourbon Festival gives you six days of smooth Bourbon, delicious food, and great entertainment, with a healthy dose of Kentucky hospitality thrown in for good measure. From black tie galas to historical tours, there is something for all ages and interests. It's a wonderful six-day event full of activities for the whole family. www.KYBourbonFestival.com

Bardstown Arts, Crafts, Antiques Fair, October. Begin your holiday shopping as 200 artists and craftsmen display their talents. Choose from wearables, jewelry, pottery, floral, wood items and antiques. Enjoy delicious southern foods and musical entertainment. www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism/events.php Christmas ‘Round Bardstown, Nov-Dec. Celebrate the season with more than 25 individual events, including train rides, candlelight home tours, taste and create a the art gallery and open houses galore. www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism/xmas.html

ABOUT BARDSTOWN, KY | Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, Bardstown is more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” It is home to five distilleries, including Barton 1792 and Willett Distillery and these three Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries: Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. Major attractions include the outdoor musical, “The Stephen Foster Story,” My Old Kentucky Home State Park, the highly regarded Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, The Kentucky Railway Museum and Whisky Magazine’s Visitor Attraction of the Year – the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, two haunted tours and numerous religious attractions. It was selected the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in the Rand McNally/USA Today 2012 “Best of the Road” contest and landed in the top 20 of “America’s Favorite Towns” by Travel + Leisure – which also recognized Bardstown as having one of “America’s Most Beautiful Town Squares.” In 2013, Bardstown was designated a certified Kentucky Cultural District, one of only six Kentucky cities to achieve this honor.

Dawn Przystal, Vice President, Tourism Expansion & Marketing

Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission

One Court Square, Bardstown KY 40004 www.visitbardstown.com

800.638.4877 x 114 dawn@bardstowntourism.com