Life In Frankfort, Kentucky

Are you wondering where you might get your haircut if you move to Frankfort? Historic Bridge Street is home to I Am Barber Shop where owner Jordan, Jaydon & Devon will keep you looking your best!

https://iambarbershop.com/

Located at 115 Bridge St, Frankfort, KY they offer a wide range of services for all ages, including haircuts, shape ups, kids haircuts, teen cuts, razor lines, facials, face shaves, eyebrows, beard cuts and lines, and tapers all in a friendly and welcoming environment 

Frankfort, Kentucky is a great place to have a pet. In fact the phrase, man’s best friend is a dog, was coined in Frankfort by an attorney & Senator, George Graham Vest. He use the statement in remarks to the jury in an 1870 trial in which one man sued another for shooting his dog.

There are ample trails for walking on Fort Hill and down by the Kentucky River.

There is also a brand new Humane Society where you can even adopt a new pet.

https://www.facebook.com/fchskyorg

The Tin Woof Inn is a great dog boarding facility which also offers classes and even swimming.

https://www.facebook.com/TinWoofInnFrankfortKy

Just B Paws is a downtown grooming salon on Broadway St. operated by experienced groomer Tiffany Armstrong.

502-219-0257

There are a number of veterinarians you can count on including the Frankfort Animal Clinic helmed by the effervescent Dr. Stephanie Kennedy, the second generation to operate the practice.

https://www.facebook.com/FACvet

And if you need in-home pet sitting look no further than Barbara Murray, Frankfort’s pet sitter.

https://www.facebook.com/barbara.murray.5249

Check out this nice available property in downtown Frankfort!

119 BRIDGE ST – DOWNTOWN APARTMENT– ATTRACTIVE UPSTAIRS 1 BEDROOM 1 BATH. LARGE LIVING ROOM, FULL KITCHEN, WASHER/DRYER PROVIDED. WALKING DISTANCE TO THE CONVENIENCE STORE, RESTAURANTS AND BARS, SPECIALTY SHOPS AND EVENTS DOWNTOWN!

$800 MONTH PLUS DEPOSIT. CALL 502.330.3330

When you move to a new town, meeting people, especially people who may share your interests, can be challenging. The public library is a great place to start! The Paul Sawyier Public Library in downtown Frankfort is one of Frankfort's gems. (Full disclosure, I'm the library director, but I am also a fairly recent transplant. PSPL is special, but that was the case before I moved to Frankfort.) The library as a gathering place is in full swing here. In particular, you'll find book discussion groups - the perfect place to meet others with similar interests. Check them - and so much more - out here: https://www.pspl.org/books/discussions.

What's up, y'all? I'm Chris Clair, Frankfort resident since 2015 and every day happy to be so. They want us to post pictures and videos, and I'll get to that, but frankly I have a face for audio and a voice for writing, so for interim purposes I'll stick to what I'm best at – typing.

How did I get here? In 2012 I was living in Chicago with my wife, who did some consulting work for the Commonwealth. She visited Frankfort several times and remarked once that it would be a good place to take a motorcycle trip (we both ride). So in the fall of 2012 we rode down here and spent a long weekend exploring Frankfort and the Bluegrass. By the day before we were to leave to return to Chicago, I was looking at homes for sale in Frankfort. My wife thought I was joking. I was, but only kind of.

I remember on that trip being struck by Frankfort's perfect little downtown, by the rows of historic buildings lining Main Street and St. Clair and Broadway and by the fact they were occupied. I was taken by the beautiful old state capitol downtown, by the winding river and the hills. And the people … I've lived a lot of places and you'd be hard-pressed to find more friendly folks than those who live here.

We returned to Chicago without actually buying a house, but I kept looking.

In 2014, we returned, this time to Lexington for a motorcycle rally. Again, we met more fantastic people and saw more incredible scenery - the eastern Bluegrass and Appalachian foothills. The last night of the rally, as people were drifting back to their hotels, I said, "We'll be back to ride with you all next year, and we'll be living here." I doubt anyone believed me.

But in January of 2015, the stars aligned. Kimberly was offered a job at the state agency for which she had been consulting. My job for the past 14 years had ended with a layoff, but a nice severance. Another job in the offing allowed me to work remotely, from anywhere. We moved to Frankfort that February.

We rented to start, but in the late summer of 2015 we bought a house in South Frankfort two blocks from our rental. The circumstances surrounding how we came to own this house speak to the kind of place Frankfort is. I was signing a lease for a storage unit because our house in Chicago sold faster than we expected. The fellow running the storage complex and I got to talking about whether we were looking to buy, and where, and what kind of house. He said, "I know someone who's going to be selling a place like that pretty soon." Next thing I knew I was talking on this guy's cell phone with the gentlemen who ended up selling us his house.

Many of our friends from Chicago, and other places we'd lived, didn't understand our decision to move here. Later many came to visit. Almost all of them ultimately said "We get it now." In 2017 my parents moved here from Oregon. A friend from high school, also in Oregon, came to visit in 2018 and moved here the following year. His wife said she would stay for a year or two but now says she won't leave. His daughter moved here, too, and is settled with a job and lives around the corner from us. My wife's mother moved here from Chicago in 2021.

So that's the story of how we got here. More to come on what life has been like here, but for now I'll say we have never once regretted our decision to move to Frankfort. We have made so many wonderful friends and memories since coming here.

You should come join us!