Back To News/PR Index
|

|
Themed Train Rides, Antiques Shows, Bourbon, Music, More
|
Bardstown blooms with warm-weather springtime fun
|

For the senses
Touch vintage collectibles and museum quality artifacts during the 48th Annual Antique Show & Sale, April 11-12, at the Nelson County High School. A bargain shopper’s nirvana, this sale features 100 dealers from a dozen states – and their wares. www.VisitBardstown.com

See dozens and dozens of classic cars during the Whiskey City Cruisers Car Shows, held at the Kentucky Home Square on the fourth Saturday of the month beginning on April 25. Food, door prizes and music add to the fun. 502-348-9788 or 502-348-6456 or 800-638-4877

Learn why Bardstown owns its “Bourbon Capital of the World” title with a taste of fine Kentucky bourbon while collecting branded specialty glasses during the Bardstown Sampler on April 25. Head to the Guthrie Opportunity Center for catered nibbles while enjoying a small preview of what will be available in September during the six-day Kentucky Bourbon Festival. www.KyBourbonFestival.com 

On the rails
Kentucky Railway Museum has lots of family-friendly excursions: Easter Eggspress with the Easter Bunny, March 28 and 29; train robberies on April 25 and 26 and May 30 and 31; National Train Day on May 9 to experience the life of a hobo with sing-alongs and activities; a Mother’s Day Excursion on May 10; Dining on the Rails on May 11 to relive the Golden Days of Railroad Dining with fine cuisine and gracious service; and 40’s Weekend on May 16, a family-fun event with WWII operational equipment, swing dancers, costume contest and more. www.KyRail.org

Over at My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, things take a sinister turn with several murder mystery-themed excursions, departing March 28, April 25 and May 30. It’s 
two and a half hours of rolling through the Kentucky countryside while enjoying a four-course meal and trying to guess whodunit. www.KyDinnerTrain.com

At the nature preserve
Bernheim Arboretum is holding a Spring Break Adventure Week, April 4-10. On the agenda: daily drop-in activities and guided nature hikes for children of all ages, as well as on-your-own hiking, fishing, picnicking, wildlife viewing and free play at the Children’s Play Garden – not to mention fields, forests and creeks to roam.

On May 16 Bernheim hosts BloomFest, a celebration of the blossoming of spring. Families can explore nature through hands-on activities, help construct Bernheim’s Woodland Village, march in the Garden Faerie Parade (costumes welcome!) and much more. Visitors can also discuss best garden practices with our horticulturalists and choose from a selection of plants for purchase at the Spring Plant Sale. www.Bernheim.org

In the evening
On Friday nights, Bardstown raises the roof – and the dead. Tap your toes to weekly music variety shows featuring national acts at The Bardstown Opry at the Blue Grass Entertainment & Exposition Complex. www.BardstownOpryUSA.com

Interact through a psychic medium with the friendly spirits who once lived at Wickland Estate on weekly “Visit with the Spirits of Wickland” tours. The 90-minute paranormal tour is family-friendly and everyone can try their hands at the divining rods. www.HistoricWickland.com

Bardstown has lots of locally-owned eateries – everything from fine dining on beautiful Court Square to an old-fashioned drug store soda fountain. Choose from 17 bed and breakfast inns – including kid-friendly ones – and several brand name hotels. Visit www.VisitBardstown.com for information on events and accommodations for a springtime visit to Bardstown, Ky.

Media Contact:
Dawn Przystal, Vice President
800-638-4877 x 114
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission

Photo: It’s the great train robbery aboard a Kentucky Railway Museum excursion.
Credit: Kentucky Railway Museum

Hi- and Low-Res photos available.

About Bardstown, KY
Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World. It is home to six distilleries, including Barton 1792 and Willett Distillery, and these four Kentucky Bourbon Trail® distilleries: Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. Major attractions include KY’s Official Outdoor Drama, the Broadway-style “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 2014 – the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, two haunted tours and numerous religious attractions. Fodor picked Bardstown as one of “America’s Best Small Towns” and AARP named it one of its “10 best small towns.” 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.” Bardstown is one of Kentucky’s six certified Kentucky Cultural Districts. www.facebook.com/BardstownKY