Living in Kentucky

In Kentucky all seems to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

R*A*C*I*S*T

Very beautiful in places. But it's all Dollar Stores, Churches and gas stations.

The sun shines bright.

Two words: Rand Paul

It is one of the most beautiful states I have driven through. The horse farms are gorgeous.

It's like living in Tennessee.

But worse.

It’s absolutely beautiful. Lexington and surrounding areas are heaven.

We go South of the Mason-Dixon Line a few times a year to antique and such. The antiques of the rebellious Confederacy can always be taken from them for a price, they are still smarting from the war of Northern Aggression after all. When we finish we return to the safety of the North.

Did you watch the second season of the Real World? Jon "true storee" guy was from Owensboro.

That's what it's like.

I’ve got a friend who lives outside of Louisville and I love it up there. The riverfront on the other side of Indiana is really nice. She’s also very liberal and gave me the side eye when I asked about her senators. Andy Beshear seems like a good governor. Unfortunately he has to deal with the likes of Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.

My friend’s husband is a registered Republican and she told him to change his party. He said he won’t because he can vote AGAINST Trump and his likes in the primaries.

And the drive east out of Louisville is absolutely beautiful. I currently live in Tennessee and and considering moving there because at least their governor is ok unlike my shitty Trump asslicking governor.

My partner and I moved to Louisville from Oakland in 2018. I like it here; decent gay community and it's more progressive than I had anticipated. It was pretty easy to make friends and find things to do.

The weather is only unpleasant at the peaks of summer and winter but it rains so much more compared to California, it's really green and scenic. And yes there are religious and political crazies in abundnace outside of the cities but it's not any more glaring than the central valley of California.

The sweetest air you will ever breathe.

Seriously.

Oh, and there are two cat cafes on Louisville. One of them was based on Call Me Kat.

I lived in Old Louisville which is a neighborhood of Victorian mansions. Loved living there. It’s the third largest Victorian neighborhood in the country. Louisville is known for Churchill Downs, but there’s much more to it than that.

Thats where I live, R15! All the old houses are beautiful. We live on a walking court, I hadn't ever seen anything like it before.

Y’all can have it. I have done my time (as a child) in a red state with shitty weather. I’m glad I was exposed to California as a child so that I knew there was an alternative to the HELL of the Confederacy. Not sure how they (LGBTs) do it there, but I’m eternally grateful I no longer have to (Shudders to self). Sheer torture, the little bit of time I spent there as an adult.

Most places in the United States are nice if you're white and rich.

Oh boo hoo.

Move there then, tough cuntress.

There is a difference between Louisville and the rest of the state, though Louisville has gone to shit since the pandemic and the unrest following the Breonna Taylor shooting in early 2020

Kentucky is beautiful and elegant in some parts, but unholy and white trash in others.

The people are really sweet and friendly.

Very Old South manners.

A delightful place!

Lots of beautiful plantation homes!

I've only driven through the western half of the state, but it's the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen.

Some beautiful, scenic landscape and not redneck in cities I've visited. My brother went to school there for a few years and I visited and really enjoyed it. This was 15+ years ago but there was a gay scene and several bars. I wouldn't live there because the weather is too hot and sticky for me but fine to visit.

I lived in Cincinnati and went down to Richmond in Madison County once. It was extremely beautiful, the forests almost jungle-like with so much vegetation. Saw the Lincoln cabin and museum and some famous cemetery (in Lexington?). A very nice trip.

I hear that there are a lot of soup and other soft food places that don't require a lot of chewing.

Excellent barbecued mutton, if you don’t have babytastes.

Just great food all around, historically.

Fabulous Southern antiques. If you can get your hands on an antique Kentucky sideboard, buy it.

[quote]Fabulous Southern antiques. If you can get your hands on an antique Kentucky sideboard, buy it.

Sweetie, just because someone has it on his lawn next to several cars on cinder blocks doesn't make it an "antique."

Shhhheeeeeeeitttt.

Kentucky culture is definitely Is divided between old families and Appalachian hillbillies.

That’s very true. I find both types endearing, myself. I just love the accent.

Love it! So soft and lilting.

MARY!

One of the more humorous things in VA is if you look at the number of people with the last name "Shifflett".

As a mostly lifelong resident of Louisville, I've found that people who move here from major cities either fall head over heels in love with it or get the hell out as soon as they can manage. People raising kids seem to love our relatively low property values so they can get a nice house for a fraction of what they'd pay in the big metros. We don't have some of the major retailers like Neiman Marcus, but Chicago's only an hour's flight (or 5 hour drive) away. We have good restaurants, a thriving arts scene, and one hell of an annual party for the Kentucky Derby.

Outside of Louisville and Lexington (home of University of Kentucky and center of the thoroughbred horse industry), it's lots of lovely country but pretty dire socially and politically. Very churchy and conservative. The Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky is racked with extreme poverty and all that goes with it. It's like a hillbilly East St. Louis or Gary, IN.

I hope my fellow Kentucky DLers will do everything they can manage to help Charles Booker win his Senate race in November and finally rid us of the dreadful Rand Paul.

When the Derby comes to town, the prostitutes of all stripes stampede to the roadside motels. Those of the S+M persuasion endear their clientele as the Kentucky Blue Ass.

Have you guys from Kentucky seen the University of Kentucky cheerleaders perform? I'd live to see one of their performances.

R39, YouTube exists. They aren’t even the best in the nation right now.

It's a great place. I love it. They take a long time to accept outsiders as it's quite insular. You won't have a problem with Lexington so much as it is a university town.

Fabulous fried chicken.

Have any of the Louisville DLers been to Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville? It looks so nice from the road, but I didn’t get to eat there.

Two more words, R5: Mitch McConnell.

R44, your type isn’t welcome anyway.

Lexington is very genteel.

[quote] Did you watch the second season of the Real World? Jon "true storee" guy was from Owensboro. That's what it's like.

Did you watch a show that aired 30 years ago and remember it like it was yesterday?

Stay Gold, Datalounge.

Stay Gold

What is it you think is 'my type,' R45?

If you mean I don't vote with far right white supremacist politics, you're right.

I visited Mammoth Cave in 2003. The cave was extraordinary; the state, not so much.

I'm disappointed their grass is not blue.

One of the little known facts about Queen Elizabeth is that she has close friends in Kentucky (horse people) and has visited them many times over the years privately, without the public knowing a thing about it.

I lived in Shelbyville for a short while and yes, the horse farms are beautiful.

Outside of the horses and Louisville and Lexington, the state is a poor version of Alabama -- racist, homophobic, rightwing, and impoverished. We used to get stoned and got to Walmart playing the game of Who Can Spot the Most Teeth? Sometimes you'd get zero.

Horrible state. Not a coincidence that its senators are among the worst in the country.

R49 is quite correct.

Kentucky has the highest rate of return of people who left to live and work in other states.

Kentucky was good enough for Mrs. C.V. Whitney (that's Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney), who maintained a home there for many years, so I'm sure it's good enough for most people.

Just all around wonderful people, even the poverty stricken ones have a lovely gentleness of manner and speech.

Horse ppl that aren’t hateful alt right types seem to find each other there. A good place to visit, I would not live there. There are some other places with a similar subculture within a culture in Northern Va, Maryland , Aiken SC and North FL but sadly they are all within alt right locations. It is extremely rewarding to find like minded people in an alt right zone. I wouldn’t live there because if a person becomes disabled the medical system and local governments might not treat me so well due to my demographic category. The police are horrible too . Pretty much every decision maker with a state license hates anyone that is not wasp. It’s an honor culture and the bigots want to get revenge on their “enemies “ and “own the libs”

Kentuckians say "please" when they mean, "I didn't hear you".

The men are very courtly, even the lower class ones are very charming.

I’ve had some hawt encounters when visiting!

Yes, Louisville and Lexington are the state's two exceptional places. Largely liberal and reasonably enlightened, lovely architecture, enough cultural and commercial sophistication to get by on if not enough to thrive, these cities are at once a bit down at the heels and very attractive. Connect in the right circles and you will meet interesting people who have been everywhere and are happy to know you.

People are friendly to meet and hard to keep as a rule. Most will be glad to see you in whatever context you meet, but you will be very lucky to meet someone with friend potential whom you come to know in different contexts. They definitely exist, but it's needle-haystack stuff.

If you can make a nice trip elsewhere (even a long weekend in Chicago) every couple of months or more, the smallness of the place and the small, tight social circles are not so wearying. If you are a car trip type, there's Chicago, Nashville, Cincinnati with a couple museums...but for me it seems isolated to be such a long drive to mostly mediocre places (outside Chicago.)

There are some interesting native people who moved away and later moved back for a less stressful life, to have a house they could never afford in L.A. or NYC, because they can downsize their career or work from home. It is easier, probably, to never meet the local people who can make all the difference in how you experience the place.

Both cities feel very small very soon. If you can travel a lot, if you're very self-contained socially, you can probably get by well enough. Both towns have a lot if boosterism for civic and cultural events, the street fairs, art fairs, house tours, food festivals, etc, but again, a lot more boosterism than fun unless you make an outing with friends. There are some small historic towns worth exploring. It's small.

Lexington's good historic architecture is fairly pricey, certainly for Kentucky, and likewise for Louisville, though the latter being a bigger city has more such neighborhoods and more variety including in price.

Ate the men hot?

Yes, r59!

What is a walking court?

And very affectionate.

But you do have to help them watch their weight. That’s just the reality of it.

They smell of bourbon, tobacco and horse shit.

R61 There's no street in front of the houses, both sides face a median with sidewalks. This one is a few blocks long with most houses built in the 1890s.

His family was openly violating the law in the 1920s?

I was in Louisville twice with my 1st husband. 3 months once,6 the last time.Didnt hate it,didnt love it but those Kentucky country boys are delightful to look at!

Another unknown secret about Queen Elizabeth and KY: She boarded Princess Anne at Churchill Downs for years. Anne even won a few qualifying races for the derby, not as a jockey, but as a horse. Mother knew her little filly would never amount to much, but she loved her mobile glue factory just the same…….

McConnell and Rand Paul have to go. And that fat ho who tried to stop gay marriage Kim something. Then it might be okay.

Kaintuck ain’t worth a fuck.

I spent a year in Louavuhl one weekend.

R70 is a filthy Yankee.

My Cincinnati grandpa sold real estate. He called Kentuckians “Briarhoppers” and said they really hurt property values when they moved into a neighborhood…and he meant the White ones! Lol.

I used to work with a fucking bitch that was from Kentucky and not only did she look inbred, but she was dumb as shit and a trouble making shit stirrer. Between that cunt and Mitch McConnell, I don’t have a high opinion of Kentucky.

Berea is nice.

Kentucky is the fifth poorest state in the Union.

Are hillbillies cut or uncut?

So it's a shithole unless you're rich?

This thread is useless without hillbilly dick.

You have to love those Kentucky hillbillies for their can-do attitudes.

This stallion is super hot. The horse ain't bad either.

Wow r65, that looks amazing. Imagine living there!

The women there take such good of their hair and dress well.

I like how the states postal initials are KY.

How about HI!

[quote] Kentucky is the fifth poorest state in the Union.

Yeah, so what? Out of 50 states California is the 24th poorest. They didn't even break the top half of wealthiest states in the country. The land of milk and honey, the California dream. Maybe for a few, but for many it's just another state of misery.

I like these threads where the Op lists a state and people give their opinions as far as living there.

I have a few (some I’ve visited, some not) that I’d be curious about living there.

Let me know if these have already been done:

South Carolina

Virginia

Oklahoma

Washington State

I don’t know but I’ve met some hot guys from Kentucky

R9 Soooo you travel down to steal their fabulous antiques and then carp upon them. How grownup of u

Did G ever get back or did she become a kept woman for a toothless hillbilly?

I grew up there, although I live in Connecticut now.

My family's farm was about an hour west of Ashland, along the Ohio River. The air was clear, it got hotter than hell during the summertime, with high humidity. But at night, there wasn't all of the lights that stay on 24/7 in the urban areas, so there were many more stars appearing and it looked as if you could reach out and touch them. I remember just stretching out on the hood of my car, looking at the stars. It's the most peaceful time I have ever known. Just amazing

This is what it's like OP based on this recent 2021 YT video. Some rural roads have no visible signs

to tell you if you're on the right road & some have the same ratio of houses to churches on them =

^ That road looks like it's for two lane traffic but it's awful

narrow to be going that fast around those kinds of curves.

“Representative-Elect Herron will fill a nearly 15-year gap in LGBTQ representation in the Kentucky General Assembly, and we need her now more than ever before,” Hartman said.“

“The Office of Emergency Management from Hurricane, WV stepped up to send the Mobile Infrastructure Response Team. Edwards noted, “this team is currently working on water lines, water plant, sewer lines, clearing roads and other needed tasks.”

Edwards remarked, “We are blessed here in Hurricane, WV and are thankful we are able to help others. We continue to think of our friends in Eastern Kentucky and look forward to a full recovery in the future.”

It seems fitting that the help came from a town named “Hurricane”.

Don’t forget about Northern Kentucky including Covington, Newport, Florence, etc. It’s the ‘south side’ of Cincinnati where South meets Midwest meets Appalachia. Collectively, it’s KY’s second largest city with a population bigger than Lexington. It’s also home of Covington Catholic High School!

R87, I live in Virginia and used to work at a bus garage in Fairfax (Northern Virginia) several years ago. Even though the pay was low for the industry, one of the foremen at the time used to commute for his night shift from West Virginia - a commute so long that he only made it on the weekends, sleeping in his car during the day on weekdays even in summer. I can only imagine how depressed the economy must have been for someone to need to do that.

There are no Appalachian hillbillies in Western Kentucky where Owensboro is located. Rednecks yes, but no Appalachian hillbillies.

Owensboro, Kentucky is very Midwestern not "The South".

[quote] where South meets Midwest meets Appalachia.

... meets Sodom meets Gomorrah. That's Covington- South Cincy for you.

R96 Florence Y'all!

Lol @ R86. California has the world’s fifth largest economy, fool. That you even attempt to compare the two shows how stupid you are. SMH.

KY does have a hot governor.

It looks like R76 and R86 were referring to poverty rankings by state, R102. The personal wealth of the citizens of a state and the state's economic output are measured differently.

Also, people who type out "lol" and "smh" probably shouldn't be assessing the intelligence of others.

I love to visit and gaze upon those gleaming, straining, rippling haunches racing by as they reflect the afternoon sun.

KY jelly is what my bf uses to fuck my asshole

[quote] KY does have a hot governor

Andy beshear is presidential material.

An apple and orange, R104. Two different points, two different sets of statistics, by at least two different posters. Kaintuck is at the bottom of the heap for both results. Please name a positive economic indicator that posits Kentucky is in better economic shape than California? Interesting that you make a similar assessment of me using far more crude and more subjective criteria than I did. I’ll stick with my conclusion, perhaps adding you to the same category, barring any production of the requested data.

[quote] Please name a positive economic indicator that posits Kentucky is in better economic shape than California?

No one claimed it was. The other poster simply pointed out that CA wasn't in the best shape either concerning people living in poverty and you touted their GSP as some sort of rebuttal to that, when they aren't really connected. Apples and Oranges indeed.

[quote] I’ll stick with my conclusion, perhaps adding you to the same category

I'm devastated, truly.

No, you’re a cunt, truly. And one who cannot back up spewed hyperbole with any facts. Stay in Booger Holler, we will all be better off.

I want some derby pie y’all!

Are there gloryholes

I saw one in Lexington. No i didn't indulge. What do you think i am, a ho?

My husband lived in Lexington from the mid to late 80’s and has fond memories of Cafe LMNOP and tales about the antics of drag performers like Bradley Picklesimer, Sky Scraper, and Charmaine LaTrash and grandiose gays from horse farm families who held court.

R9 Did you find a treasure?

R89, it’s done with affection. Some of the things we’ve heard over the years from Kentuckians is almost caricature material. We have dealers and sellers we specifically go to see because we really like working with them and we have gotten to know them. We freely admit we are Northerners of less genteel stock.

[quote]Unfortunately he has to deal with the likes of Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.

I couldn't deal with the two of them.

Are the McConnells and old Kentucky family?

I want to a genteel Southerner as my boyfriend.

R118 - No!!!!!!!!!! McConnell was born in Sheffield, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Athens, Alabama, where his grandfather, Robert Hayes McConnell Sr. and his great uncle Addison Mitchell McConnell, owned McConnell Funeral Home.

^ Well he is an undertaker.

I wouldn't call it living.

The Governor isn’t hot. He’s more like lukewarm on a good day. He has a womanly ass and child bearing hips.

Sister in law lives in Murray. Has to stand in the bathtub every time the tornado sirens go off.

I moved away from Louisville in the 90s but I’ve been back several times. I can see Louisville with more perspective now than I did earlier in life. It’s actually a nice town, but definitely feels more town than city. It’s quite pretty in its setting, but seems to push the bourbon tourism pretty heavily. The Highlands is shockingly fun, with several gay bars and excellent restaurants.

Whoever asked about the Claudia Sanders restaurant in Shelbyville, it’s still open although was closed for several years due to fire. It’s one of those places where the servers are all black men in jackets, but the food is pretty decent. Great tomato soup, biscuits and gravy. Not really date night material unless you live in E. Bumfuck.

“During the late evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a violent, long-tracked tornado moved across Western Kentucky, producing severe to catastrophic damage in numerous towns, including Mayfield, Princeton, Dawson Springs, and Bremen.[1] Crossing through eleven counties of the Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field regions during its lifespan, the tornado was exceptionally long-tracked, traveling 165.6 miles (266.5 km) while at times becoming wrapped in rain. It was the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in an outbreak that produced numerous strong tornadoes in several states.”

“Tornado Alley” is shifting north and east, putting western Kentucky in its cross hairs.“

Kenfucky

I always figured there was be some beauty. So place is really completely ugly.

Drive north to Ohio, r129.

Are the cities like average American cities or deliverance?

R131 - The larger cities are like average American cities. The cities in Cumberland Plateau-Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Kentucky are in a class of their own.

“Remember, it’s OK not to be OK,” the Democratic governor said. “I don’t think our brains or hearts are designed to deal with trauma and loss at this level.“

Someone told me that if you live in Louisville you have to eat ass lickity split.

“After the coal companies blast apart the mountaintops, they dump the rubble into neighboring valleys, where lie the headwaters of streams and rivers, like the Kanawha, Clinch, and Big Sandy. The exposed rock leaches heavy metals and other toxics that pose enormous health threats to the region’s plants and animals — and people.“

The mudslides and loss of homes and loss of lives are a direct consequence of mountaintop removal. That plus flooding mitigation plans that were never followed through on.

I wouldn't wish it on my worst friend.

I just couldn’t live in Kentucky

More people are moving to Tennessee. Makes me wonder why. It is behind the Red Curtain, so there’s that.

The best thing about Kentucky is that you can visit Cementville, the top truck stop in the country for gay action -- actually, action doesn't even begin to describe what goes on here. You can participate, you can watch, you can buy -- any homo activity you want you can find in Cementville. My friends and I use to drive up there every month or so just to take it all in.

R29

I could be described as having baby tastes, and would be interested in mutton.

Kentucky would be livable if it got ris of its senators.

R140 ...Do you mean Clementsville?

If I meant Clementstville, I would have said it.

Cementville, just across the river in beautiful Indiana, serving Kentuckians for a scores of years and scores of homos.

I went there for YEARS in my young gayling days. Used to be Theatair X back in the day (drive in movie playing pornos), until they closed down the drive-in and beefed up their adult bookstore product.

Still room for 18-wheelers to pull in, park …

In Cementville all seems to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils

A woman speaking Kentucky talk.

I see that there are actually homes in cementville is it like a gay resort town?

So nice to see the good side of DL - details about obscure truck stop sex havens. A nice break from “cities are filled with crime” trolls everywhere else. Good to hear redeeming qualities of these smaller cities. Spent 2 days in Louisville for work. Like 75% of places in America outside of the big cities, it seemed like you could live an OK quiet life.

They have been trying to shut down Theatair X for decades, but it just refuses to die. It's a comfort knowing it will be here long after I'm gone.

Are Kentucky men hunkier than Tennessee men?

Their sorority girls are quite insane evidently.

St James Court