Versailles

Versailles is a wonderful town about 12 miles West of Lexington and not too far south from Frankfort. This geographic location is a big part of why I visit here so often. As I'm a Lexington resident, I visit Versailles a fair amount, though not as much as I did when my middle daughter, Abby, was into competition riding. I had to have her horse transported to Versailles more than once over the years, and that's a bit of a pain. The one thing that made it easier was that I liked Versailles so much!

There are a few wonderful restaurants in Versailles, but the one Abby and I visited the most is Melissa's Cottage. It's a small town place. A simple cafe with quality food and an absolutely fantastic atmosphere. Abby mentioned that after a recent trip to Versailles she took with some friends. She told me that she visited Melissa's and wasn't as impressed by the meatloaf she's always had, but she had a great time because of the memories and feel of the establishment. I couldn't agree more.

I think in some ways this is true of the town of Versailles. I'm never overly impressed by any one thing, but I always leave thinking it's a phenomenal place. That's worth a lot in my opinion. You can't necessarily put your finger on it, but you can generally count on the town making you feel welcome and happy.

I've never really considered living in Versailles, though I'm sure I'd be happy if I did. The schools are good, and though I never had one of my girls study here, I have enough friends recommend the schools that I'm happy to report they're going to make parents happy! If you want a religious education for your kids you can try Woodford County Christian Church or St. Leo's, both of which receive high marks from parents and standardized tests.

You won't have trouble finding a nice place to live, and you will probably love your neighbors. It's hard to ask for more from a town in Kentucky!

Well, I wrote up a review of Lawrenceburg yesterday, and one of the main selling points of that town was how close it is to Lexington. Today I write about the little town in between. It's smaller than both Lawrenceburg and Lexington, yet it's not truly small like some of the towns of around 2-3 thousand. There are around 10 thousand people in Versailles, and while it's not quite as prosperous as the towns directly East and West, it's still doing quite well.

Versailles has a fair number of local businesses, and as this is true bluegrass region, there are a lot of horses nearby. No doubt people from Lexington come to Versailles quite a bit to check out new horses, or possibly even stable their horses here.

The big benefit of Versailles is that it's a bit more scenic than many other towns. There's plenty to see here, but most of the beauty comes from the countryside, of which there is plenty. To complement this you can check out the small town trappings like the Olde Towne Antique Mall, which brings in some visitors from nearby towns, and The Gallery is a nice little art gallery if you're interested. There's more to do here than you might expect from a small town.

In addition to the above average shopping, Versailles has a fair number of restaurants. For some good Southern cooking check out Callie's Homestyle Restaurant. It's not good for you, with a majority of the menu deep fried, but the onion rings and fish sticks are excellent. For more authentic home cooking, try out the Silver Spoon. They have good food made by good people. Very friendly and delicious.

There are a few schools in Versailles, and while they're friendly I don't think they get the best test scores. Woodford Community Church is a nice private school, as is St. Leo's. Again, not the best for education, but they're safe and clean.

You may not find the hippest bars in Versailles, but you will find a fair number of quality restaurants, fewer big chains and plenty of horses and farms. If you're looking for a nice small town that's not too far from a bigger city, Versailles is a good choice.