LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington, a town in the heart of Kentucky which is surrounded by 250 thoroughbred horse farms, has usually been recognized as home to the Activity of Kings. Now, many thanks to “The Queen’s Gambit,” a best-providing novel by the late Walter Tevis and a Netflix miniseries viewed by upwards of 62 million persons around the world, it is also known as the property of the Match of Queens.
The last time the city received this kind of leisure visibility it was with a authentic-lifetime equine hero, Seabiscuit. This time all around, it’s a fictional anti-heroine – Elizabeth Harmon, a chess whiz whose good results is due in equivalent sections to her math genius and her habit to hallucinogenic medication.
Tevis’ novel and, consequently, the miniseries (No. 1 on Netflix rankings in 60 countries) are set largely in Lexington, a simple fact that VisitLEX, the city’s tourism arm, was fast to pounce on.
“’The Queen’s Gambit’ set a highlight on Lexington and piqued people’s interest in the town that served as the backdrop for Beth Harmon’s increase to fame,” suggests Mary Quinn Ramer, president of VisitLEX.
Knowing that they wished to take edge of the show’s world-wide acceptance, the VisitLEX group has developed a Queen’s Gambit Driving Tour, built, as Ramer puts it, “to roll out the crimson carpet for site visitors smitten by the show.”
The tour is a combine of areas that now exist and those people that no lengthier do. For example, you will not uncover Ben Snyder’s Section Retail outlet the place Beth and her adopted mom shopped on the website of the previous retailer is the city’s neo-classical courthouse with its array of dancing fountains – a most loved position for locals to cool off during the sultry summer months months.
Also, the Phoenix Lodge, exactly where Harry, Beth’s mate and chess mentor, experienced a space is no for a longer period there, acquiring been demolished to make way for the central department of the Lexington Public Library. Move inside of to see the world’s most significant ceiling clock, a Foucault pendulum that rises 5 tales superior, as well as a frieze depicting the historical past of the horse in Lexington. Then prevent for a selfie at adjoining Phoenix Park, a wonderful pocket park.
Many of the destinations prominently featured in the miniseries can continue to be seen. The previous Henry Clay Significant School on Most important Avenue, now household to the city’s Board of Education, was the website of various of the show’s chess tournaments. Magee’s Bakery across the road is a good put to prevent for a doughnut and cup of espresso.
New Circle Road, a loop close to Lexington, gets a shout-out in the early moments of the first episode, and it’s the greatest way to get to some of the area’s beautiful horse farms (just after very first grabbing makings for a picnic from Parkette Generate-In, renowned for its fried hen, and a midcentury icon real to the series’ time body.) You just cannot miss Parkette’s huge neon indicator.
It is the Chevy Chase neighborhood, even so, that truly provides Queen’s Gambit lovers a sense of spot. This region of tranquil, tree-lined streets and upscale retailers and dining places, just a stone’s toss from the University of Kentucky, wasn’t just Beth’s home in the collection, it was also Tevis’ authentic-existence ‘hood. He learned to participate in pool at a friend’s residence below ahead of going on to write “The Hustler” (you just realized it would be a reasonable go from pool to chess, now, didn’t you?).
Chevy Chase is also dwelling to iconic places which make for compulsory stops: the just one-of-a-form shops housed in bungalows on Clay and Euclid avenues the higher education hangout Charlie Brown’s, with its worn leather sofas and fireplaces, and the Chevy Chase Inn, Lexington’s oldest bar and usually worth a pay a visit to.
Roy Coffee, whose picture hangs on the wall of the 88-yr-previous bar, absolutely thought so. Roy rode his horse in Lexington’s Fourth of July parade each and every yr and made the decision the Chevy Chase Inn would make for a great watering hole submit-parade. On his first go to, he hollered inside of for the bartender to convey him a beer. The barkeep hollered back that he didn’t supply if he desired a beer to come in and get it. Undaunted, Roy, accompanied by his horse, proceeded within and a tradition was born. They do really like their horses below in Lexington.
Though you are in the place, you can devote time going for walks the roomy grounds of Ashland, 19th century statesman Henry Clay’s palatial residence, or the campus of the College of Kentucky, Tevis’ alma mater where by he gained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and researched with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist A.B. Guthrie Jr.
Wheeler’s Pharmacy, a Chevy Chase area icon for 50 percent a century, is a fitting substitute for the series’s fictional Bradley’s Pharmacy. If you’re at Wheeler’s in the course of lunch time, grab a stool at the soda fountain and enjoy a clean-cooked food.
And although, unfortunate to say, there is no authentic-everyday living counterpart to reel-everyday living Lex Liquors, the Lexington place is dwelling to 14 distilleries and the Brewgrass Path of craft beers, so there are lots of options to imbibe. Just make confident you designate a nondrinking driver and know that you owe him/her a evening meal at Tony’s or Jeff Ruby’s, two of the city’s upscale steak properties.
A Room Like No Other
Even Beth Harmon would be amazed with the Harmon Area at 21c Museum Hotel, a pop-up suite that is a collaborative exertion of the hotel and VisitLEX.
The Harmon Area is a time capsule of American midcentury modern design and style, accented by vintage components and interval furniture loaned by nearby antique store Scout and non-public collectors.
“I’ve been gathering home furniture from that period for three a long time,” states Lucy Jones, who loaned the lodge a pair of parasol chairs and the classic Tv cupboard. “It’s a joy to bring to life the wealthy scenes from web page and monitor.”
The room’s serene coloration palette of sand, apple inexperienced, mild blue and darkish brown claims attendees a tranquil night’s rest, in distinction to Beth’s vivid nighttime hallucinations. Personalized wallpaper functions illustrations or photos of chess figures. Scattered throughout the place are copies of Chess Critique Magazine and unusual chess books on bank loan from classic bookstore Black Swan Publications. There is even a handmade walnut and maple chessboard from Iron Bridge Woodshop for guests’ use throughout their stay.
In circumstance you haven’t witnessed the miniseries and plan to, SPOILER Inform.
The room’s most remarkable characteristic is a more substantial-than-lifestyle upside-down chessboard suspended from the ceiling in excess of the mattress as an homage to Beth’s drug-induced hallucinations. Made of plastic, the king and queen are 24 inches tall and together with the pawns weigh a lot less than a pound each.
“Everyone functioning on this venture did an unbelievable job,” says Brian Pulley, the hotel’s director of product sales. Pulley isn’t absolutely sure how long the Harmon Suite will adhere close to, despite the fact that he admits that “we’re organizing to have it available at minimum through late spring.” (Prices get started at $234 and fluctuate relying on the evening of the week.)
After immersing your self in Beth Harmon’s Lexington earth for a number of times, there’s no assurance you’ll develop into a chess professional like she did, but one particular thing’s for guaranteed — you are going to feel like 1.