In the heart of downtown Bowling Green is the 2-acre Fountain Square Park, the city center and focal point of this charming town. The fountain, statues, landscape and ages-old trees draw you in, much as the town itself does. The 19th-century buildings, nearby Western Kentucky University campus and outlying rolling farmland make you want to get to know this area, which has so much to do and see that 24 hours just might not be enough.
As the third-most-populous town in Kentucky, Bowling Green has roots dating back to its incorporation in 1798. Although Kentucky was considered neutral at the start of the Civil War, Confederate loyalists declared the city to be the state capital in 1861. That distinction didn’t last long, as Bowling Green was taken over by the Union army in 1862.
Visitors can tour locales related to Bowling Green’s role in the War Between the States on the Civil War Discovery Trail. This itinerary includes caves where soldiers purportedly hid out, historical markers and homes, and Riverview at Hobson Grove Historic House Museum, a home with a foundation that originally was used as a fort.
Residents of Bowling Green have been starting their day at Riley’s Bakery for more than 60 years, so you probably should, too. You will quickly realize how Riley’s earned that kind of dedication. It’s tough choosing from among all kinds of scrumptious pastries, cakes, cookies and breads tucked into the display cases, but locals recommend the Hungarian coffee cake and the dreamy cream horns.
A must-see while in town is the National Corvette Museum. This huge showroom is an ode to the true American sports car, the Corvette, or ’Vette for short. The museum has around 75 or so cars on display, and you can learn about each one and see rare collections and memorabilia. It also features an unusual exhibit dedicated to the Corvette Cave In, a surprising phenomenon that occurred in 2014, when a giant sinkhole opened up under the museum, and eight of its prized ’Vettes fell in. Luckily, no one was there when it happened. The museum filled most of the hole and replaced flooring but decided to turn the cave-in into a learning experience for everyone. Enjoy the interactive exhibits, view the beat-up cars that were swallowed in the incident, and take a peek down the windowed manhole cover that remains so visitors can see all the way to the bottom of the 30-foot-deep hole.
Every Corvette on the road today is made at the General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant across the street. The factory gave tours for years, but temporarily ended the tours in June due to construction. They are scheduled to begin again in January 2019.
If there are kids along for your visit, you might want to make a day of it at Beech Bend Park and Splash Lagoon. In business since 1898, the park is a legend in this part of the state. I t has more than 40 rides, a miniature golf course, and an oval track and a drag strip for racing.
Bowling Green has an abundance of eateries. In fact, Warren County has about 450 restaurants, so plan ahead to make the most of your meals.
For lunch or dinner, Cambridge Market & Café, a soup-and-sandwich deli, offers daily gourmet specials and some serious homemade pies and specialty cheesecakes.
Another option is Mariah’s, which has been around more than 30 years. The restaurant’s amazing and complimentary fresh, hot rolls served with creamy cinnamon butter are a fantastic precursor to the meal. Delicious entrées such as steaks, salmon, Hot Browns and Mariah’s famous chicken fingers are all great choices. But the eatery also is known for its wood-fired brick oven that pops out some memorable pizzas.
Afternoon activity choices can involve museums or caves, but you’ll have to balance your time if you try to fit it all in.
Although Mammoth Cave National Park is only about 25 miles from Bowling Green, there is a cave tour right in town. Lost River Cave offers Kentucky’s only underground boat tour. Visitors float along the river in a huge cavern, where it is always a comfortable 57 degrees. While you are there, you can walk the wooded trails above ground and do a little bird-watching, too.
If you missed lunch or it is nearly time for dinner, about a half-mile from Lost River Cave is Lost River Pizza. It has a sports bar feel, with televisions mounted at every angle, plus a huge selection of pizzas. It is the perfect way to end a day of spelunking adventures.
Bowling Green is home to a gorgeous 1925 Classic Revival-style railroad depot that has been restored and is home to the Historic RailPark and Train Museum. The kids will thrill to the interactive exhibits, and history lovers can examine the authentic artifacts from the heyday of train travel. Be sure to take the tour through retired train cars parked out back. There is a 1950s L&N train engine, a 1953 luxury Pullman sleeper car, the Duncan Hines Dining Car and a Chessie class caboose.
On the beautiful campus of Western Kentucky University, which has recently surpassed the University of Louisville in enrollment to become the Commonwealth’s second-largest university, you will find the Kentucky Museum. Full of history on the Commonwealth, it has maps, letters, furniture, toys, diaries and even an 1800s log cabin. There also is an exhibit on Bowling Green’s native son, Duncan Hines. This name, synonymous with cake mixes, belonged to a man who had a storied career writing restaurant guidebooks and producing more than 250 products aimed to aid the life of a housewife.
Dinner options seem to be endless, and there are plenty of eateries in the downtown area. One fun place to visit is White Squirrel Brewery, which has menu options as unique as its beer selections. Entrée choices include burgers and bar food but also not-so-common selections like duck fried poutine, fried chicken and waffles, and skirt steak and polenta. The food is delicious, but the establishment doesn’t have “brewery” in its name for nothing, so try the beer. The small-batch house beers are the White Squirrel Kolsch, Nut Brown and Pale Ale; a few other craft beers also are on tap.
No matter where you choose to eat your evening meal in Bowling Green, you must save room for dessert. And you can get that dessert in the form of ice cream at Chaney’s Dairy Barn. This working dairy farm, in the Chaney family for generations, features a big red barn where you can order homemade ice cream. Chaney’s has all the “regular” flavors you could wish for but also fun, delicious choices such as Mocha Moo, which is coffee-flavored ice cream with a fudge swirl, caramel and chocolate flakes. Or the aptly named Cookie MOOnster. Who doesn’t love blue ice cream with cookie chunks? The Big Red Rumble is white chocolate ice cream with red velvet cake, chocolate flakes and fudge swirl. And if one of these is not enough, Chaney’s is known for its moo pies—a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie served in a small skillet and topped with a scoop of ice cream. You won’t leave hungry.
For evening entertainment, Bowling Green has its share of bars and clubs. But if you want to take in a show, check out the SKyPAC, the acronym for Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, or the The Capitol Arts Center. Both downtown venues feature concerts and entertainment throughout the year.
STATELY LODGINGS
When something is advertised as “grand,” it’s always nice when it really is grand. That’s the case with the Kentucky Grand Hotel and Spa in downtown Bowling Green. Though this eight-suite, four-story boutique hotel opened just months ago, it looks like it’s been there for decades.
That’s the way Dan and Jenna Murph planned it when they found a prime piece of property next door to the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center and across the street from open-air entertainment venue Circus Square. “We went to painstaking diligence to make it look like it’s been here for a long, long time,” Dan said. “The brick exterior was done after visiting lots of historic cities like Charleston and Savannah.”
The hotel and piano bar weren’t Dan’s first venture as a property developer in Bowling Green. Restoring a former Dollar General store and turning it into desirable office space just a few steps from the town’s historic Fountain Square Park was a hint of things to come. Dan recognized that Bowling Green, unlike many cities he had been in, didn’t have an old landmark hotel still standing. “None of the old hotels had survived, so we wanted ours to look like it was one of them. It had to have an old, rich, traditional look to it, even if it is brand new,” he said.
Dan is quick to say that he wants his hotel to be infused with all of Kentucky, not just Bowling Green. “We have an ongoing collection of old photos from throughout Kentucky on our walls,” he said. “Guests can see some of the state’s history.”
The lobby features a huge chandelier that once helped light Grand Central Station in New York City.
Even though Dan and Jenna have achieved giving the hotel a 1940s look on the outside, it’s the inside that separates it from other lodgings. “We have a lot of nice hotel rooms in Bowling Green, but they are all similar,” Dan added. “But some travelers and corporate people want something different. The smallest of our eight suites is 960 square feet, and the largest is 1,600. Our penthouse is the largest in Kentucky.”
King-size beds, comfortable seating, elegant décor, small kitchens and contemporary oversized baths, along with a deluxe spa on the first floor, let visitors know this is no average hotel.
The floor-to-ceiling windows with unobstructed views of downtown are the crown jewel in each of the suites. Some come with a tripod-mounted telescope for an even better view of the outside.
The Murphs didn’t just settle on a hotel, however. From the lobby, visitors can walk through a large 1920s speakeasy door—peephole included—and into the Derby Piano and Dessert Bar. The bar is a big-city throwback with a classy, comfortable feel that features a signature blue grand piano behind and above the main bar on the back wall.
“We want something going on here all the time,” Dan said.
A wide food selection, including full meals, complements an assortment of cocktails and other drinks. The 65-seat bar has become a destination in itself and adds another layer in the continued r enaissance of downtown Bowling Green.
But the Murphs’ story is much more than the Kentucky Grand Hotel. Dan grew up in Dallas and attended Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee, in hopes of playing football and to be closer to the Nashville music scene. But in case a hoped-for songwriting career didn’t work out, his college life included debate, broadcasting and quarterbacking on the football team. “I started writing songs in high school,” he said. “I made the connections, and it worked out through an internship in Nashville.”
One of his best connections was Jenna. “I came to Nashville from Pennsylvania to David Lipscomb College to major in music,” she said. “We lived for a while on Music Row, and then when we had a family, we lived in Orlinda, Tennessee, for a while.”
By then, Dan’s songs were being performed by Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban, Vince Gill and Alan Jackson, to name just a few.
It was 2007, and their lives were about to take a turn that neither expected. “Jenna was out driving and discovered Bowling Green. She told me I had to see this place,” Dan recalled. “We came up here, and the rest is history. I refer to it as having a big-city flair with just the right touch of small-town charm. I want my family to develop roots here.”
Speaking of roots, no one could have blamed Dan if he had gravitated back to Texas. In 2002, he wrote Texas Giant, a biography of his grandfather, Price Daniel, former governor and U.S. senator from the Lone Star State. Another Texan, President George H.W. Bush, wrote the foreword. And if that’s not enough, Sam Houston, one of the most legendary names in Texas history, was Dan’s fourth-great-grandfather.
— Gary P. West
For more travel ideas and fun facts about the city, stop by the Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. You can’t miss it, as it’s housed in a distinctive log cabin at exit 22 off I-65. The members of the friendly staff are happy to help you plan your visit.