Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism

I talked about this briefly in Friday’s post, but last week I got the opportunity to go to an event hosted by Kentucky Tourism & Kentucky State Parks at the beautiful Lake Cumberland State Resort Park. Starting today, May 14^th, you can visit the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail, part of the Better In The Bluegrass Culinary Tourism Initiative by picking up a passport to try regional cuisine and the best Kentucky food at nine of the state parks. Keep reading for photos of the foods featured as well as photos from the event!

{This post is sponsored by Kentucky Tourism & may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through a link in this post. Thank you for your support of What Nicole Wore.}

Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism | A Foodie Destination

Most people know of Kentucky for its bourbon but did you know that it’s also considered one of the best states to visit for a foodie vacation? While Louisville and Lexington have consistently been listed as destinations on best foodie cities, the rest of the state also has delicious offerings.

This inevitably led to the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail. This food tourism initiative educates visitors on the variety of food regions throughout the commonwealth and with the help of historians and chefs, the state was broken into nine regions. For me personally, this was such an incredible idea! While I’m super familiar with the Louisville and Lexington food scenes, I haven’t done a ton of venturing out to other parts of the state.

RELATED: How to Eat Like a Local in Louisville, Kentucky

Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism | The Culinary Trail

Kentuckians and visitors can pick up culinary passports at any Kentucky State Park and then embark on a tasty journey. Each of the nine dishes calls a state resort park home; the selected parks are all over the state making it easy to combine a love of food and travel. Today through October 31, you can get a stamp at each park as you try the meal and if you complete the passport, you’ll even get a free gift. During the launch and preview event, I was given the exact same passport and got to go wild trying out all the best meal offerings that Kentucky has to offer.

Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism | Cumberland Falls State Resort Park

Driving down to Lake Cumberland, I was immediately struck by how beautiful the park was. {Seriously, despite being late I got distracted when I came across the first scenic stop and literally gasped at the view!} I can’t wait to check out some of the other state parks this summer; Lake Cumberland seems like the perfect place to head for an unplugged weekend with how peaceful it is. The park was peaceful, you could rent jetskis, the rooms were incredibly nice with balconies, and the dinner lodge where the event was held was well lit and a beautiful event space.

RELATED: Explore Kentucky: 3 Things to Do in Louisville

Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism | The Food

I had big plans to try all nine of the meals and pretty quickly realized that it wouldn’t physically be possible. Here’s what I sampled: the Hot Brown, peach cobbler, tomato pie, cucumber and tomato salad, Kentucky cheeses, bourbon biscuit pudding, and Ale 8 Cherry. You guys – it was all delicious!

I was very curious about the tomato pie; it wasn’t a dish I was familiar with and I was so surprised to find that I loved it. For those that haven’t had tomato pie, it kind of reminded me of a quiche but with no egg. Definitely a rich and savory flavor. {Now looking for a good tomato pie recipe so if you have one, toss it my way!} Best of all, each of these regional meals uses local producers so that you’re getting Kentucky produce and meats. Fresh is where it’s at.

Experience the Best Kentucky Food with Kentucky Tourism | You’ve Found Your Summer Plans

What I love about the timeline of the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail is that it’s just in time for summer. I don’t know about y’all but summer is always when I’m itching for a good road trip. This is perfect for a weekend getaway with friends or even a lengthier vacation to visit the whole trail. You’ve heard what I think, now let me know in the comments would you go on a trip centered around food?

Some photos contributed by Emily and Sarah!