Sarah R. Wiley

Entourages rush Lower Broadway ’til the wee hours in designer cowgirl boots and matching tiaras and sashes, hustling veiled brides-to-be in and out of honky-tonks. The walkable strip is boisterous yet safe—Vegas without the sleaze.

Louisville may have two famous minutes of thundering action this month, but another well-bred Kentucky city, Lexington, has virtually everything else equestrian.