Kentucky
Where the roads are high.
Frankfort · Louisville · Williamstown · Millville · Owensboro
The Journey
Kentucky is one of the states that brings me the fondest memories.
Arriving in Frankfort, we visited the State Capitol, continuing our journey through every capital in America. The city felt small and intimate for a state capital. We photographed by the famous floral clock and enjoyed a beautiful stroll around the grounds.
The next day, we started the bourbon trail. We visited our all time favorite, Woodford Reserve, which Charny’s father is very fond of. We picked up some fresh bottles, even personalized them, and the girls got to learn about fermentation and how good whiskey is actually made. From there we went to Wild Turkey, a favorite of Charny’s grandfather, and naturally stocked up on a few bottles to bring back to New York.
In Lexington, we caught the horse races at Keeneland, getting our own taste of Kentucky’s famous horse racing culture. The girls loved watching the horses, and we even placed our own little bets, except ours were paid in candy.
One of our favorite stops in Kentucky was the Ark Encounter in Williamstown. As an Orthodox Jewish family who grew up knowing the story of Noah by heart, seeing a life size Ark built according to the biblical dimensions was a real treat. The sheer scale helped turn a story we had learned our entire lives into something we could actually walk through. The girls loved seeing the animal exhibits and imagining what life inside the Ark might have looked like.
Kentucky is full of culture, character, and uniqueness. Horses, bourbon, rolling hills, and little towns all seemed to carry their own piece of the state.
Jewish Kentucky
In Owensboro, we visited the beautiful white Temple Adath Israel, a modest synagogue with a remarkable history. Its building dates to 1877 and is the oldest synagogue building still in use in Kentucky. Standing outside it, in a smaller Kentucky city far from the Jewish centers we knew, made its survival especially meaningful.
Jewish life in Kentucky goes back even further. In Louisville, The Temple traces its roots to Congregation Adath Israel, founded in 1843, making it the oldest active Jewish congregation in the state.
Today, Louisville remains the largest center of Jewish life in Kentucky, with synagogues, Chabad, Jewish institutions, and an established community.
But for me, that little synagogue in Owensboro told the story best. Jewish Kentucky was never enormous, yet generations built communities strong enough that nearly 150 years later, you can still walk into the same building and find Jewish life inside.
What Stayed With Me
What stayed with me about Kentucky was the deep smell of fermenting grain. It is a smell I still think about when I crave a good drink. Somehow, it brings Kentucky right back.
There was something about the culture of the state that felt very real to me. Horses, whiskey, rolling green hills, family traditions, and people who seemed proud of where they came from.
It felt like real America. Not necessarily loud or flashy, just deeply itself. And maybe that is what I remember most about Kentucky.
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