Shelbyville, Ky.

On our way to Evansville, Ind., to spend time with Chris' family, we stopped in Shelbyville, Ky.

I don't know very much about Shelbyville except that it's near Kentucky's capital, Frankfort, and is home to one of our employer's central offices.

We spent a couple of hours walking around and checking out the historic downtown. We always check out a city's downtown to gauge how well local businesses are doing and to admire the architecture.

There were a few locally-owned business, including a coffee shop, gift shop, fabric and needlepoint stores, clothing store and, I think, a furniture store.

Here is some of what we saw:

Shelbyville looks very busy for a Thursday afternoon, a couple days before Christmas.

This 1902 building is in great shape. Shelbyville appears to take very good care of its buildings. In fact, there were a couple buildings surrounded by scaffolding, so I assume those were getting a face lift too.

I'm trying to capture the whole feel of this building -- from the stained glass windows to the columns and entryway. I don't think this picture does this building justice.

I really liked this cute building. It sticks out among the brick buildings, but it has character and I'd love to live/work here.

Another shot of the house/office.

The building to the right is the visitor center and museum. The shopping directory is located in the front yard.

I'd love to know more about this historic building. It appears that not only was it a school, but at one time was or is an inn.

Here's a shot of the inn's sign. I love how the tree and vines frame the walkway.

This is some sort of jail. I wonder if it's still used. I doubt it, but there was a cop car parked along the road beside it.

Even if it's no longer used as a jail, it may still be used as an office, as indicated by this sign.

This is Shelbyville Fountain. You can read info about it in the photo above.

The shopping signs outside the visitor's center and museum was very helpful. Shops are listed by category and a map shows you want street and building to find them. I think every shopping district should have one.

I'll write about Making Ends Meet, a shop I visited while we were in Shelbyville, in a few days.