Bed and Breakfast... and Then Some
Avoid the same old, same old -- try a weekend at a bed and breakfast

WHETHER you're traveling for business or pleasure, where you put your head on a pillow at night can make or break a trip. When planning your next jaunt in the Bluegrass state, consider taking a respite from the same old, same old hotel stay regimen. Add a welcome personal touch to an on-the-road overnight or weekend at a bed and breakfast.

Every corner of Kentucky harbors these cozy alternatives, from the waters of the Mississippi's Great River Road and the Land Between the Lakes in the far west, to mysterious cave country and gorgeous Bluegrass horse farms in central Kentucky, to the wooded Appalachians and impressive Cumberland Falls in the east. Each home or inn has its own distinct personality, breakfasts are often sumptuous and there's no such thing as a stereotypical room or lodging.

Take the Jailer's Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bardstown, for example. Iron window bars, 30- foot thick limestone walls and a hefty steel door slamming behind you may not seem too hospitable. But two remodeled circa 1819 jails comprise this National Registry of Historic Places inn, where you can "do time" luxuriously in what was once the old Nelson County jail's ladies' cell, now posh with two original bunks and a waterbed, private bath and a black-and-white Elvis motif.

Or stay in one of five other rooms -- like the angel-themed dungeon room, where prisoners once were chained and former jailer Maxie McKay used to hang her hams to cure -- all now furnished with lovely antiques. Two include jacuzzis.

Can't get enough of Civil War history? Then gallop over to Lebanon for a stay at Myrtledene Bed & Breakfast, though General John Hunt Morgan beat you to the punch a century or so ago. In 1862 the "rascal" Confederate raider chose this stately brick home with imposing white columns as his headquarters, and once rode his horse through the front door and up its steps to the second floor, leaving hoofprints that remained well into the 1900s.

Though history holds forth, this hostelry's heavy on hospitality, especially its full gourmet breakfasts. The house specialty is "a takeoff on Eggs Benedict" -- homemade biscuits topped with baked country ham, poached egg and tomato sauce with fresh basil. "I've always liked to cook," innkeeper James Spragens laughs. "People don't eat lunch after one of my breakfasts."

Another historic lodging, The Poet's House, was the home of James Tandy Ellis, Adjutant General of Kentucky and a noted poet. Halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati in Ghent (locally pronounced jent), this 1868 Federal Style National Register brick house has a jacuzzi and hot tub, and a cottage available as well. A gourmet breakfast -- such as the "Sunday Sundae," a Mandarin Fruit Puff, "a sort of crepe and pancake cross served with fruit sauce," says innkeeper Lonnie Sundermeyer -- is served in a brand new sunroom overlooking the Ohio River.

If you're a "townie" looking for a dose of country air and room to stretch your legs, Kentucky boasts a raft of bucolic bed and breakfasts.

Just twelve miles from Paducah and its noted quilt museum, Trinity Hills Farm B&B is a "hobby farm," says its innkeeper, Ann Driver, whose husband Mike added a 1,000-square-foot stained glass studio to the new 3-story home. A great room called Camelot with its heart-shaped whirlpool "is truly a love nest," she says.

Amenities include fireplaces, hot tubs and an exercise room, and guests can see the stained glass process, hike, fish, go birding and boating, and visit "Critterville," a barnyard replete with peacocks, pheasants, miniature donkeys, llamas, horses, ducks and pygmy goats.

Another lodging cum menagerie sits a mile off the road on 186 rolling acres next to the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. Beginning its twelfth year, Canaan Land Farm Bed & Breakfast is a working sheep farm, where the flock is protected by watch-donkeys, and guests can help with spring lambing (1999's crop numbered 96 babies), see shearing or help feed in the winter.

Featuring a swimming pool and hot tub, the farm's antique-filled accommodations are in a restored 1795 National Register brick farmhouse and an 1815 log cabin with two fireplaces. Privacy and seclusion are watchwords here.

At another rural retreat near Lexington you can bring your horse along. A small horse- boarding operation once part of a distillery, Silver Springs Farm offers bed and breakfast in a gracious 1880 Federal home that smells of childhood gingerbread kitchens. A rope hammock and comfortable swing entice you to relax. Friendly kittens loll around the patio, and pets are allowed, with prior approval.

"My guests like to come here because it's like a grandmother's place," says owner Cindy Loving. "Many are professionals, doctors in town for meetings or horsemen here for the Keeneland sales."

Twenty minutes from downtown Cincinnati, First Farm Inn near Burlington is an elegant, renovated 1870's farmhouse on 20 partially-forested acres above the Ohio River. At this pastoral hostel guests can go horseback riding, fish in a bass-stocked pond, learn to quilt, have an in-room massage, ogle antique farm equipment, rock on the veranda or enjoy a natural health retreat.

Want more wildlife and less farm? Located in Burkesville, just seven miles from Dale Hollow Lake and twelve from Lake Cumberland, the Cumberland House Inn has won awards for wildlife conservation. Says innkeeper JoAnn May, "If you want to see wildlife, this is the place to come."

Known for its food -- bountiful breakfasts and lunches, five-course dinners and high English teas -- Cumberland House has a sauna in its game room, a nondenominational chapel and come Christmastime, an 18-foot tree loaded with antique ornaments.

Park yourself in a lazy rocking chair, porch swing or hammock with a cool lemonade and take in a Cumberland Mountains vista from the veranda of RidgeRunner Bed & Breakfast, on a hill overlooking the town of Middlesboro.

Or if bodies of water soothe your soul, Whispering Winds Inn in Cadiz is "85 steps away from Lake Barkley," innkeeper Maria Gonzalez says. "Every room in the house faces the lake and the sunsets are beautiful."

Looking for a bed and healthy breakfast? At the 1895 Duiguid House Bed and Breakfast in Murray, innkeepers George and Karen Chapman avoid "the four basic elements of Southern cooking -- salt, sugar, grease and grit." Their made-from-scratch house specialty is Fulton French Toast, grilled with lowfat cream cheese and bananas, and named for Fulton, Kentucky's annual Banana Festival.

Find healthful food in the city at Louisville's Gallery House, a modern Victorian that overlooks Central Park smack in the midst of the Historic Preservation District. Guestrooms feature original art, some by innkeeper Gordon Moffett, whose studio is open for perusal. Wife Leah Stewart's full vegetarian breakfasts and evening snacks come in part from their backyard herb and vegetable gardens.

The Bluegrass boasts its own splendid urban bed and breakfasts. At the 1843 Richardson Romanesque home that's a true inn, you can stay in a room named for the city's most infamous madam, Belle Brezing. Or loll in the lap of luxury at the Brand House at Rose Hill, Kentucky's only AAA 4-Diamond bed and breakfast, where every room has a private bath and whirlpool. Both are in Lexington and are listed on the National Register.

Whether you're looking for history, fine architecture, scenery, animal or human comradery or just plain warm Southern hospitality, Kentucky's got bed and breakfasts that will guarantee a memorable stay.

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

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