MOUNT VERNON – When the gnarly, nasty cold hit Ohio in January, where was Vicky Lambert? In Atlanta. Specifically, she was taking a food tour.
It wasn’t an unusual thing for her – she typically does this when visiting big cities – but this one made her think. She was having fun, learning about the city through the food she ate and the places she went.
“And I suddenly thought, ‘Wait a minute, Mount Vernon is right to the point where I think we could do this now,’” the Fredericktown native recalled Friday. “We just have so many new restaurants that are quality restaurants, and I wanted to showcase those, along with the unique history of Mount Vernon.”
Lambert wanted to establish a downtown Mount Vernon food tour that would allow visitors, from Knox County and abroad, to experience the city’s heart and soul with all of their senses. So she did.
Lambert began giving walking food tours in July through her new startup, Walk Eat Mount Vernon. She offers two tours – The Yesteryear Tour on Friday and The Sensation Tour on Saturday – both running from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The Yesteryear Tour is focused on Mount Vernon’s history. Participants will learn interesting facts as they pass buildings, landmarks and monuments downtown. The Sensation Tour will allow participants to “smell fresh-cut flowers at the Farmer’s Market, enjoy a visual array of architecture and monuments, touch materials used by local artisans, and listen to interesting stories from the past,” according to Lambert’s online guide.
Both tours have one thing in common: food. Participants will stop at 5-7 downtown eateries throughout the day, Lambert said, depending on the tour. North Main Café, The Joint, Stein Brewing Company, Local Smoke, The Alcove, EDEN Cold Press Juice and Half Baked Café are all on the schedule.
“I’m hoping to begin pulling people from outside of Mount Vernon, because our community really has a lot to offer and people don’t really know that,” Lambert said. “So if you’re going to be in the area for a couple of days, this is a great introduction to the community. You can find out where you want to eat and go back.”
Lambert said she reached out to as many downtown businesses as possible when putting the program together. Tour participants not only eat at local restaurants, but they also visit downtown merchants during the Saturday tour.
Each tour requires teamwork between Lambert and the restaurants involved. When Lambert has a set number for her tour (participants can register online), she calls each restaurant/food stop, so that they can prepare the appropriate amount of food. Participants are given sample-sized servings at each stop, according to Local Smoke owner Jennifer Farmer.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for folks who are not familiar with our culinary landscape to take an opportunity to taste and try things in small servings. As a business owner, I think it’s a lovely service, for her to introduce people to our business,” Farmer said.
“Because all our food is made from scratch, it gives us a chance to give people a sample serving of things they might not otherwise try.”
The food is included in the tour cost ($49.95 per person), but alcoholic beverages and any additional items purchased are not. There is a maximum of 12 people allowed on each tour.
While participants will certainly get a taste of downtown, they’ll also learn about the history of the area. Lambert’s goal, especially on the Friday tour, is to give people perspective on where Mount Vernon’s been and where it’s going.
This aspect of the tour came naturally to Lambert. As someone who taught in Mount Vernon City Schools for nearly 30 years, Lambert took her third-grade classes downtown for historical tours as a part of the district’s curriculum.
“I’d forgotten a lot of it,” she admitted at her ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, cracking a smile, “and I did have to go back and study more. I worked with the Knox County Historical Society and Jim Gibson to make sure everything was correct, and they helped me out a lot.”
Walk Eat Mount Vernon is intended to benefit the tour-goers, but in reality, it benefits the entire community. The tours stimulate the local economy and inform residents of all downtown Mount Vernon has to offer. They can also benefit local organizations; Lambert offers fundraising opportunities for organizations, where they can earn a portion of the profits from each ticket purchased.
Rebecca Ajodhya, co-owner of Half Baked Café, seemed thrilled about Lambert’s concept. As a new business owner downtown (the bakery opened in April), Ajodhya said publicity from the tours has already helped foster new relationships.
“I think it’s definitely helping us raise awareness that we’re here and hopefully it makes them feel like there’s businesses, like ours, that are special in the area that they can come to,” she said.
Ajodhya said the tours could help bring people downtown from other areas of Mount Vernon, which is sometimes a struggle.
“I think a lot of people, especially in the surrounding areas, tend to stay in their area. And it’s funny, the more people you talk to, if they live on the other side of Mount Vernon – especially over by the big box stores – they might not even venture over to this side,” Ajodhya said. “So I think it helps raise awareness of that.”
Carol Grubaugh, executive director of the Knox County Chamber of Commerce, called Lambert’s new business “wonderful.” With downtown Mount Vernon beginning to blossom once again, she believes services like this will only add to the positive momentum of the area.
“I absolutely love Mount Vernon, [and I] really believe in what the downtown has to offer,” Lambert said. “And all the restaurants right now, we have an exploding culinary scene. I just thought this would be a great way to combine all of that.”
