We had a very good trip to Kentucky. We started out about 8:30 a.m. from Chicago, stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel just past Indianapolis, took the scenic Old Frankford Pike and Pisgah Pike detour and arrived into Lexington around 5 p.m. We settled into our hotel, Springhill Suites at the Red Mile - very nice, newer hotel, spacious rooms, comfortable beds, good showers, convenient hot breakfast for a AAA rate of $94 + tax. We also had a view of the track and enjoyed watching the harness race horses practice in the morning. Our dinner reservations were at Merrick Inn - fabulous food though the service was quite slow. Portions are generous and most appetizers could be shared.

On Sunday, we set out early for Kentucky Horse Park. We were very impressed by how nicely this park is kept. It was not very crowded for a holiday - curious how they are able to afford running such a large park? We initially purchased pony rides for my kids ages 6 and 10 since we thought the 6 year old was not allowed on the trail rides. The pony ride is really meant for very young children so it was not very exciting for the kids. Since my 6 yo is big for his age (over the minimum height requirement but not min age requirement of 7) we asked if they would let him on the trail ride. It was okayed and the four of us took a very enjoyable 45-minute trail ride. I thought it was pretty reasonable for $15 a head. Prior to the trail ride we had caught the parade of champions show which we found very interesting. We also took the horse-drawn trolley (included in admission) but this is very short. The museum is very interesting - wish we had more time for this. Lunch was okay - typical fare and prices for a theme park.

Next we hit the road for Daniel Boone forest. Our main stop was at Natural Bridge State park where we took a sky lift to the top of the formation. We hiked to where we could walk on the formation and then we hiked back to a point where we could see a view of it. The kids really enjoyed the lift ride. We stopped for ice cream at Rosie's - no southern charm in the service here! After returning to our hotel and cleaning up we went to DeSha's for dinner - good food but not same calibre as Merrick Inn - but nearly same prices. Pecan and Derby Pie were delicious but slices were tiny for the price. But for kids, this is a better choice in that it was more casual.

On Monday morning we again got up on the early side so we could take the drive down 68 toward Harrodsburg and the Shaker Village. We peered at the village from the hotel parking lot - it was very picturesque. Next we headed up through Frankfort, stopped at a scenic outlook for a view of the Capitol building and then took a Rebecca-Ruth chocolate factory tour. Being a holiday, nothing was being made but the story behind this business is very interesting and the Bourbon balls are worth the stop. After this tour we headed to Buffalo Trace for a bourbon distillery tour - this was an hour long - a bit too long for the kids - but interesting for us. I personally didn't care for the bourbon but I don't like hard liquor. The kids enjoyed root beer for their tasting. We pushed onward to Louisville for a late lunch at Lynn's Paradise Cafe - recently featured on the FoodNetwork's Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I tried one of Lynn's winning throwdown recipes - the Kentucky farmhouse scramble - very good but also very over-priced at $14.95. Coffee was excellent. My husband and older son had burgers which again were good but expensive ($10.95) Service was so-so....we had to wait quite a while for our food (and the place was nearly empty) and the order was mixed up. At any rate, this meal filled us up enough that we didn't have to stop for dinner on our way back to Chicago. We made it back home by 8 p.m.

Sounds like your weekend was pretty much what you had wanted. You certainly got to experience a variety of attractions in the area. I enjoyed reading your report. Thanks for posting it.