Seeing Possible Stories in Lexington, Kentucky

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We are spending a few days in Lexington, Kentucky this week. It's Horse Country and also home to the University of Kentucky. You've heard of all kinds of trails but the one in this area is the Bourbon Trail where you can visit one distillery after another.

The weather has been near perfect--sunshine and 75 yesterday. We are with two other couples who are ongtime friend and are enjoying time together. The men have played golf each morning and the women have shopped and enjoyed exploring the area. Today, we are meeting our husbands, after gofl, at the Horse Farm for a tour.

Evenings, we seek out interesting, local restaurants. Last night, we ate at Malone's Steakhouse where the service, atmosphere and food all deserve several stars. The night before we tried a local Soul Food place that did the southern food justice.

We've found the people to be very friendly and welcoming. They seem pleased to have visitors to their area and I can say that we are happy to be here.

I see story possibilities everywhere we've been. Just a few are these:

• I noticed the hotel manager slipping his hands into rubber gloves. "Getting ready to operate?" I asked him. He grinned and answered "No, I'm going out to clean up the parking area." I was impressed that he was not delegating this job but doing it himself. 
• In a department store, the clerk looked at my credit card and smiled. "My name is Nancy, too," she told me. Just then, another shopped chimed in with "I'm a Nancy, too!" We three discussed having this old-fashioned name. 
• The steakhouse we ate at was filled with amazingly interesting diners. Any one of them could be used as a character in a fiction story or novel. A man eating his salad with chopsticks, rather than a fork, drew my attention. I wanted so badly to go ask him why! 
• Getting lost in a strange city, despite having directions, is always a good basis for a story line. And yes, we did get lost as we tried to find our downtown hotel.
• The people eating breakfast at the hotel intrigue me. Why are they staying here? Where did they come from? Where are they going? Business? Pleasure? Health issues (this is a regional medical center)? 

When you travel, use your writer's eye as you explore a new area and meet myriad people along the way. Make notes to use later. 

I'm looking forward to our visit to the Horse Farm this afternoon. There should be many story possibilities there.