Traveling Through Your State And Need Your Favorites!! (Louisville, Bowling Green: houses, wedding)

[younglisa7]

My DH wil be traveling south from Ohio and to TN on I-75. I would like your recommendations for your favorite must sees and must dos. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[censusdata]

North to South

NKY metro Cincy - Newport Aquarium, Newport on the Levee

Central Ky - Toyota factory tour (free), Kentucky Horse Park, Historic homes in lexington (Mary Todd Lincoln, John Hunt Morgan, Henry Clay, etc etc), hiking at Berea College forest, Appalachian craft shops in Berea

Southern KY - Renfro Valley, Cumberland Falls

[rnc76]

When are you going? Keeneland's closing weekend for the spring meet is this weekend. REALLY worth the time to get over there for live racing if you've never been there.
Keeneland Thoroughbred Racing & Sales (http://ww2.keeneland.com/lists/events/calendaralt.aspx - broken link)

Also, the Woodford Reserve distillery is about 30 minutes out of your way but worth the drive through some gorgeous horse farms. Midway is a neat little community to stop at and visit on your way. Spending a couple hours just driving around the horse farms in Woodford Co and western Fayette Co is a treat.

[CraigCreek]

Shakertown at Pleasant Hill is not far off your path, either - it's near Harrodsburg, on US 68 - while you're in that area, check out Old Fort Harrod State Park in Harrodsburg - it features a reconstructed pioneer fort on the site of the original, with a pioneer cemetery nearby with remarkable coffin-shaped grave markers, plus the Lincoln Marriage Shrine (which houses the cabin in which Lincoln's parents are said to have been married plus a small local history museum. Shakertown itself is a restored Shaker village with an excellent restaurant in the historic and architecturally significant Trustees' House, Shaker craft demonstrations, a good gift and book shop, a working farm with early breeds of farm animals, gardens, and about twenty additional original Shaker buildings, plus hiking and riding trails and a riverboat ride from Shaker Landing on the nearby very scenic Kentucky River.

Also near I-75 is Fort Boonesboro State Park, just beyond the Kentucky River - this is another reconstructed pioneer fort, obviously associated with Daniel Boone. It offers similar activities to Fort Harrod, along with special weekend events - an 18th century trade fair is coming up shortly. Not far away is Whitehall State Historic Shrine (or park, not sure of the precise designation). Whitehall was the home of abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, a very colorful figure in Kentucky and national history. The house is large, elegant - and haunted, reportedly.

Berea's additional nearby attractions include hiking trails at Indian Fort Mountain, just east of town, (as noted previously) and Anglin Falls, a spectacular nature preserve about twenty minutes south of town. Berea is the home of historic Berea College, and free tours are available of the campus and college crafts. Boone Tavern would be an excellent place to break your trip overnight, or at least to enjoy an outstanding meal. Just outside of town, quite close to the northern I-75 exit to Berea, is the Kentucky Artisan Center, featuring Kentucky arts and crafts and books. It also includes a cafeteria-style restaurant with surprisingly good food, and craft demonstrations are scheduled for most weekends here.

London is the home of Levi Jackson State Park, which includes part of the original Wilderness Road, a pioneer cemetery associated with an Indian ambush of encamped travelers on the Wilderness Road, a restored water-powered gristmill which operates seasonally, and a cluster of historic structures, most of which are log, brought here from throughout Laurel County.

Cumberland Falls State Park includes a very handsome and historic rustic lodge, which should be viewed. It provides another opportunity for sampling traditional Kentucky dishes at reasonable cost, as well as overnight hospitality. There are also pleasant cabins at Cumberland Falls, along with hiking trails and of course, the "Niagara of the South", very much worth seeing, especially if it's a full-moonlit night, when the famous moonbow, one of only two in the world, appears (the other is at Victoria Falls in Africa).

Hope you enjoy your trip - with all these suggestions from different posters, you may never get out of Kentucky!

[kygman]

Craig, it's a good thing they aren't traveling I-65 isn't it? With Louisville, Bardstown and on down to Bowling Green they'd really be a while getting to Tennessee. lol

[younglisa7]

Thank you all for the ideas. Now it's time for me to do some more research on them.

Originally Posted by kygman

Craig, it's a good thing they aren't traveling I-65 isn't it? With Louisville, Bardstown and on down to Bowling Green they'd really be a while getting to Tennessee. lol

Hey we're not done yet. That's just another trip

[CraigCreek]

I spend six days in Berea annually for a short-term educational event which includes some free time, and only live 45 minutes away, and visit frequently - and I've still never seen and done everything there is to see and do there in that one remarkable small town!

We truly are blessed to live in a place like central Kentucky. One lifetime is not enough to experience all this place offers...

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by CraigCreek

We truly are blessed to live in a place like central Kentucky. One lifetime is not enough to experience all this place offers...

I love your optimism and enthusiasm for central Kentucky. Having said that, that statement would apply more to where I live now, not central Kentucky or anywhere in Kentucky for that matter.

It only takes so many trips through horse farm country or across the Valley View Ferry before you're bored.

That being said, I have never toured any of CKY's distilleries and wineries. I've only been to one winery for a wedding, and I've briefly tried Wild Turkey and Jim Beam. Guilty as admitted.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by EclecticEars

I love your optimism and enthusiasm for central Kentucky. Having said that, that statement would apply more to where I live now, not central Kentucky or anywhere in Kentucky for that matter.

It only takes so many trips through horse farm country or across the Valley View Ferry before you're bored.

That being said, I have never toured any of CKY's distilleries and wineries. I've only been to one winery for a wedding, and I've briefly tried Wild Turkey and Jim Beam. Guilty as admitted.

Gosh, you still haven't grown up yet.....

[LiterateWolf]

Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY is a must! Great German beer and food with a view of Cinci.