Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide to Good Times
This trio of towns combines for a triple-the-fun getaway for gal pals with one-of-a-kind sights and delights from river cities Covington/Newport and Maysville to jazzy Georgetown.
Northern Kentucky
Bustling river city, a former haven for gangsters and their molls, a showroom for dummies — Covington and Newport celebrate the unusual and the upscale.
Sip a lavender and honey latte, poke about a hodgepodge of antiques and collectibles as well as books by local authors on area history and adventures at The Roost Latonia, an adventure in shopping, a community gathering space and a quirky coffee house all in one. Girls, just wanna have fun? Visit the other antique shops in Latonia’s Ritte’s Corner Historic District.
Schedule a tour of the world’s only museum dedicated to ventriloquism. Tour the new galleries at Fort Mitchell’s Vent Haven, which traces the art of ventriloquy back to Edgar Bergen, his beloved puppet Charlie McCarthy and the figure-makers of the 1800s. Hundreds of dummies, each with a story to tell, pose in the galleries, including Jeff Dunham’s Peanut and Walter.
Snails and Tails? “Redneck” Rockefellers? Dinner at Newport’s Purple Poulet is New Orleans fresh and spicy meets Kentucky down-home and sassy to plate up “Southern bourbon bistro” made with farm-fresh ingredients.
About those molls . . . Learn about Newport’s checkered past as a gambling and bootlegging mecca from the 1930s through the 1960s — the Vegas before Vegas — on American Legacy Tours’ Newport Gangster Tour. The plot thickens as you depart from a former illicit casino, now Gangsters Dueling Piano Bar.
Sip a handcrafted cocktail in a place where ladies once shopped for dresses and gloves. Coppin’s Restaurant and Bar is an upscale gastropub set in an airy but cozy setting within Hotel Covington.
Unwind at one of Kentucky’s top luxury lodgings at the Hotel Covington, a world-class boutique hotel that pairs chic sophistication with contemporary comfort.
Maysville
Birthplace of “girl singer” Rosemary Clooney. Hometown of heritage bourbon. Small world. Big charm.
Exquisite jewelry made with real gold, gems and crystals and elaborately embellished hats, gowns and gloves are shrunk down to Lilliputian size at the Kathleen Savage Browning Miniatures Collection at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center. Wander through the Palladian-style gallery with its world-class fine art collection in 1/12 scale to see historically accurate re-creations right down to the itty-bitty accessories, including stamp-size carpets made on equally tiny working looms. The collection’s pièce de résistance is the re-creation of Spencer House, the magnificent eighteenth-century aristocratic palace and ancestral home of Princess Diana.
A few steps away from the museum, enter the heyday of local bourbon making in the bourbon history galleries at the Old Pogue Experience. Enjoy a tasting of one of Kentucky’s heritage brands.
Walk along the Ohio River to see the story of Maysville unfold through beautifully detailed Floodwall Murals created by world-renowned artist Robert Dafford — from Native American bison hunts to the Underground Railroad to Rosemary Clooney to the historic Russell Theatre.
Gab over a pizza and pasta at local favorite Pasquale’s Restaurant, known for its generous portions and genuinely friendly staff.
Spend the night in Maysville’s Downtown Historic District at Moon River Bed and Breakfast Inn, one of seven row houses built in 1888 and part of Cox Row Houses. Located in the Downtown Historic District, the row houses are named after the days of the week, starting with Sunday, so Moon River is Friday.
Georgetown
A small town bursting with charm in the midst of Kentucky Horse Country. A Victorian streetscape crowded with shops. A gem of a getaway tailor-made for girlfriends.
Walk through the Tokugawa gate at Yuko-en on the Elkhorn, a sanctuary for the senses, and enter the Zen zone. A Japanese-style strolling garden with native Kentucky plants, a koi pond, graceful sculptures and bridges, this Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden is where girlfriends can celebrate their connection.
Flowers for the ladies? Choose and pick your own at Lavender in Bloom, a u-pick farm that also has workshops (wreath making, bath bomb making) and yoga in the field.
Georgetown speaks “girlfriend” with a beautiful, walkable historic downtown district lined with nearly two dozen locally owned boutiques and galleries, filled with designer and trendy apparel, one-of-a-kind gifts and vintage finds.
Settle in for an evening of gastronomy — a seahorse appetizer, fresh diver scallops wrapped in prosciutto, a classic wedge salad with the chef’s own creamy smoked tomato dressing. Rodney’s on Broadway is tucked inside an early 1800s brick home with gallery-like dining rooms and patio seating.
Taste from a rotating selection of eight wines available by the glass at the Wine Project. Build your own wine flight, choose a featured flight or pour your own from the WineStation. (Think: “adult soda machine.”) It’s like magic. Upstairs, independent bookstore Fabled Forest KY spins its own enchantment.
Book Bleubird Studio’s two guestrooms, each with an en suite bath, and enjoy the run of the second floor, which includes a gleaming shared kitchen. The owner brings an artist’s eye and a yogi’s soul to the design motif of this light and airy charmer that also has a yoga studio and an art gallery filled with gorgeous local artworks.