But after being cooped up in their homes for more than a year, people in and around Lexington are getting more comfortable in crowds, seeing more and doing more.
Herald-Leader visual journalists set out to capture that return to normalcy in a 24-hour period, from 6 a.m. Friday, July 9 to 6 a.m. Saturday, July 10. What they found was a city hard at work, but a city that still knows how to have fun.
Here are the pictures they took of life in the Central Kentucky city for an entire, full day.
Yearlings are brought inside to a barn at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington at dawn on Friday, July 9. Many of the horses will be offered at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale this fall. Mill Ridge was started in 1962 by pioneering horsewoman and legendary Thoroughbred breeder Alice Chandler. Chandler’s son, Headley Bell, is now managing partner at Mill Ridge. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
A fisherman waits for a bite at Jacobson Park reservoir in Lexington on Friday, July 9. The 216-acre park includes a basketball court, dog park, sprayground and marina. Paddle boats are also available for rent. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
A summer day camp for 5- to 12-year-olds at North Lexington Family YMCA kicks off with open gym time on Friday, July 9. Camps at area YMCA locations continue through August and include games and sports, arts and crafts, science and technology, and outdoor adventures. More information: ymcacky.org/programs/camps/summer-day-camp Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
Members of the Lexington Fire Department participate in a training exercise with simulated smoke Friday, July 9 at a structure on Armstrong Mill Road. The firefighters were practicing rope-assisted large-area search techniques. In another training scenario in the basement of the structure, teams practiced rescuing an injured firefighter by first finding them in total darkness, and then carrying a 200-pound mannequin up a flight of stairs. Battalion Chief Jordan Saas said training reinforces the concept of continuous improvement and builds muscle memory and confidence for the firefighters. “This allows our crews to operate more efficiently and seamlessly during actual emergencies, when fractions of time really do determine the outcomes of life or death situations,” he explained. Ryan C. Hermens rhermens@herald-leader.com
Emma Wright and her horse Kernel trot around the ring during a lesson with owner Debbie Grier at Fantasia Farm Friday, July 9. Wright has been riding for about three years. “She started here at summer camp and fell in love with it (riding),” said Emma’s mother, Kat Wright. Gabi Broekema gbroekema@herald-leader.com
Innovation Arts Academy music director Erin Tuttle helps young actor Dae’Corion Lancaster pull up his hood before the start of a Friday, July 9 dress rehearsal for their show “Winnie the Pooh Kids” at ArtsPlace. Innovation Arts Academy executive director Mary Joy Nelson runs the Winnie the Pooh youth camp and gets the children to learn a whole show in just six days to perform for friends and family. Gabi Broekema gbroekema@herald-leader.com
Brittany Bruce jokes with her co-worker Artemis Luna while packaging muffins during a lull at Third Street Stuff and Coffee Friday, July 9. “You should see us during happy hour,” said Bruce, referring to one of their busiest times of the day. Third Street Stuff and Coffee’s happy hour is at 5 p.m. everyday, when they offer half off drinks. Gabi Broekema gbroekema@herald-leader.com
Will Darnell performs a double front somersault into the water Friday, July 9 during the University of Kentucky’s Diving Camp at Lancaster Aquatic Center. The three-day camp only had six participants, designed to focus on athlete to coach ratio. Ages ranged from 8 to 14 with levels ranging from beginners to those of recruiting level.. Campers used video feedback to analyze technique and refine skills.. Gabi Broekema gbroekema@herald-leader.com
Joe White switches bowling between two separate lanes at Southland Lanes bowling alley on Southland Drive Friday, July 9. “I’ve been bowling for a long time. As you get older, you just don’t bowl as well as you used to,” he said. Joe had been bowling intermittently for 60 years, and had become a regular at Southland Lanes as he practices during the summer before joining a league in the winter for competitions. “I bowl here and in Richmond, just to try something different. Different lanes, different conditions.” Marcus Dorsey mdorsey@herald-leader.com
Bluegrass Youth Ballet students hold a pose as they finish rehearsing a section of their performance in their studio on Southland Drive Friday, July 9. The students, ages 12 to 17, were finishing their first week of the summer intensive program before performing for family later in the afternoon. Director Adalhi Aranda, left, who founded the ballet program in 2003, played music through a speaker while signaling to her students through the mirror. After each set, Adalhi would switch out groups to give each of them time to rest. Marcus Dorsey mdorsey@herald-leader.com
Harper Branham, left, smiles big in the passenger seat of a go-kart as her mother Ashley Branham, right, steers it around tight corners and past slower drivers at Malibu Jack’s Friday, July 9. The indoor theme park, which opened 2018 in a former K-Mart store on Nicholasville Road, has attractions like electric go-karts, a small roller coaster, mini golf, bowling and several arcade style machines. The park was bustling full of energy and noise as guests of all ages enjoyed the attractions the Friday afternoon. Ashley was with her husband, Brandon, from Paintsville to let their twin children play on the attractions. “We celebrated their third birthdays here the year before as well.” Marcus Dorsey mdorsey@herald-leader.com
Groundskeeper Chris Pearl was focused hard on grooming the baseball diamond 30 minutes prior to fans entering the Whitaker Bank Ballpark stands Friday, July 9. The stadium, located off of North Broadway, has been hosting the Lexington Legends minor league baseball team for home games since its opening in 2001. Players of the Legends were warming up at the edges of the field as ballpark staff got the field and concession stands ready for the 7 p.m. game against the team’s fifth opponents of the season, the High Point Rockers. The Legends won, 6-4. Marcus Dorsey mdorsey@herald-leader.com
Margeau Zeigler, left, and Kayala Moon sampled Bear & The Butcher’s Lexington Burger Week offering Friday, July 9 at the Chevy Chase restaurant. The Pig Mac ‘n’ Cheese Burger was a popular item that night — a quarter-pound Angus beef patty topped with Bear’s brew-braised pulled pork, white cheddar mac & cheese, and kettle chips finished with a spicy sriracha drizzle served on grilled brioche bun. Zeigler said it was her second time out for the popular Lexington dining event where restaurants craft special burgers for only $6. Her first stop was Drakes. At 6 p.m. Friday night at the Bear, there was a 90 minute wait for a table for four. Brian Simms bsimms@herald-leader.com
Referee Jordan St. Clair watches as Laderemey Fielder goes up to block Woodrow Friend during a Friday, July 9 beach volleyball league match at Marikka’s Restaurant & Bier Stube in Lexington. The family-owned German restaurant has six volleyball courts, three indoor and three outdoor. Leagues play Tuesday-Friday with three different skill levels. Bar Manager Will Dwane says all the players know each other and it’s like a family. St. Clair, who was subbing in as the ref, and Fielder, both say they just got into the sport a couple of years ago and each are playing at least three nights a week. “I basically live out here,” Fielder said. Brian Simms bsimms@herald-leader.com
Cars go down Lexington’s West Maxwell Street as people wait in the drive-thru line at Wildcat Liquor, Friday, July 9. The downtown liquor store is known for getting some rare bourbon’s in stock and letting customers know on their social media pages. But rare bourbon wasn’t the No. 1 item on people’s minds as they went through the drive-thru this night according to employee Zachery Byram. He says the most requested item was Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. “A lot of Fireball,” he said. The liquor store has been drive-thru only since the COVID pandemic began and Byram said it might become permanent since it gives them more storage. Brian Simms bsimms@herald-leader.com
Sunlight streaks through clouds shortly before sunset over downtown Lexington Friday, July 9. Alex Slitz aslitz@herald-leader.com
Kids swim Friday, July 9 during a family dive-in movie night at the Lexington Polo Club. The 1986 comedy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was shown as members swam and lounged around the pool with popcorn, popsicles and candy. The club opened in 1967 on the Waller Squires Estate, just off Richmond Road, south of Man o’War Boulevard. It is a private, member-owned pool and tennis club with membership capped at 80. There is no maintenance or cleaning staff so members fill that role. Officer Greg Merritt said there is now a waiting list to join because of the demand for pools due to the COVID pandemic. Brian Simms bsimms@herald-leader.com
Cydney Kanis, a charge nurse at Baptist Health hospital, works to admit a new mother in the maternity unit Friday, July 9. Kanis is one of about ten nurses working the night shift in the maternity unit. Twenty-three babies were born at the hospital between 6 a.m. Friday, July 9 and 6 a.m. Saturday, July 10. “Team work is essential here,” said fellow charge nurse Susan Jackson. Several nurses are also on call at all times and will be called in if extra help is needed. Alex Slitz aslitz@herald-leader.com
Lexington police officer Brian Hall writes a citation during a traffic stop on Richmond Road Friday, July 9. Hall, a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, has has been a police officer with LPD for nearly five years. Hall works the third shift in Lexington’s east sector and patrols the area from Athens Boonsboro Road to Winchester Road. He enjoys the variety of the job in the east sector. “I like to say we do ten different jobs while we’re doing one job. We go to one call and it’s a theft report and then you go to another call and it’s a burglary in progress and then another one might be a mental illness, you just never know what pants you’re gonna have to put on when you get there,” he said. Alex Slitz aslitz@herald-leader.com
Jake Stewart performs a kick flip while skateboarding with friends at the Woodland Park skatepark Saturday, July 10. Stewart has been skating for about a year and a half and says he skates at Woodland Park nearly every day. Alex Slitz aslitz@herald-leader.com
People walk past the old Fayette County courthouse toward bars on Short and Mill Streets Saturday, July 10. Alcohol can be served until 2:30 a.m. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com
As the bars downtown start to shut down, the crowd at at Goodfellas Pizzeria on Milll Street on Saturday, July 10 started to get larger. The popular pizza place, known for their New York-style slices, closed at 3 a.m. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com
Cars drive down downtown’s Vine Street Saturday, July 10 in this long-exposure picture. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com
A bus pulls into the Lextran Transit Center downtown Saturday, July 10, 2021. On Saturday the earliest bus that leaves the center is at 6:20 a.m. But Monday-Friday there is one that leave at 6:05 a.m. Lextran has 25 fixed routes around Lexington with 896 bus stops. In 2020 they had 3.95 million passengers. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
