I Like Your Christmas Lights*

I interrupt the Disney World trip report already in progress, which interrupts a summer road trip report already in progress, to bring you some Christmas cheer via local-ish Christmas displays I visited this season.

First up was a trip to Louisville the day after Thanksgiving. The main purpose of the trip was to give my niece her Christmas gift–tickets to Wicked.

Local Color…Or Lack Thereof

The past few weekends we have been on a quest to see some changing leaves. Maybe we are too early, but it seems like we usually have more color around these parts by now. Nonetheless, we’ve had some fun exploring local attractions (two I had never visited before).

We spent a long afternoon driving around the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I was inspired to become a rock climber! The Gorge is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest, so some of the roads to trails were closed when the gubmint was shut down for a few weeks. Otherwise, we could go pretty much anywhere, even the crazy scary Nada Tunnel.

There were so many signs warning of bears in the area that we were intimidated to venture too far on the trails. We did make lots of noise…sorry other hikers.

Hellloooo! Any bears in there?

Harses, Harses, Harses

Our family is taking a two-week road trip in July (will it be our last adventure together???) to California, so we skipped taking the niece and nephew on a Spring Break trip. But, we did do a few local things just for the heck of it. Both things centered around horses.

On April 2, I took my niece to see WarHorse at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. We both loved it! While the story is a bit thin, the staging more than makes up for it. The puppetry was just exquisite, and I totally forgot these beings weren’t real. The story is a bit heartbreaking, and the reminder that war is so brutal really is depressing, but the love between man and horse was beautiful and made this show worth seeing.

On April 3, the horse theme continued as we took the niece and nephew to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Our main purpose for this jaunt was to get my niece on a horse. She has her heart set on taking a trail ride in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on our big July trip. So, this was a test to see if she even liked horseback riding. She loved it!

A Calamity? Really?

November took us on two brief Kentucky adventures.

First up was an afternoon jaunt to Frankfort for the book fair. It was nice, but nothing spectacular. We did get to meet Erin Walton! (Really, actress Mary McDonough, who was promoting her book Lessons from the Mountain. How cute is she?)

 

Lincolnpalooza

Last weekend we had time to squeeze in one more road trip before back-to-school time for my niece. We decided to complete our Quest for Lincoln: The Early Years and crazily jammed a whole lotta Lincoln into one day.

Our adventure began at a McDonald’s near my house, where we saw an adorable dog driving a car.

Paws at 10 and 2

While this has nothing to do with Lincoln, it did set the stage for the wonders we would experience all day!

How Do You Pronounce the Capitol of Kentucky?

Ahahahaha…it’s Frankfort, not Louisville!  Yes, my dad still tries to tell that joke as if he made it up.

So, taking a rest from the Conchords (I think we all agree we need a little time apart. It’s not you, guys, it’s me), I trekked to Louisville on June 19 to see another pair of funnymen, Joel McHale and Chris Hardwick, at the Palace Theatre. Being a complete dork, I made a day of it and soaked up some Louisville history beforehand.

It was probably about 104 degrees (F) when I reached Louisville at 1:00 pm. Or at least it felt like it. First stop was Locust Grove, a home owned at one time by Lucy Clark-Croghan (and her hubby), sister of war hero George Rogers Clark and William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. Must’ve sucked trying to live up to those siblings. The Croghan family also owned Mammoth Cave and Stephen Bishop, the slave who mapped out much of the cave in the 1800s. An interesting and unexpected connection to my April trip to Mammoth Cave!

Mammoth Cave Is Aptly Named

Not only did I have the opportunity to see the Conchords last weekend, but I was also able to attend another sold-out event: the 12:45 Historical Tour at Mammoth Cave!

I hadn’t been to the Cave since I was a little, little kid and remember nothing but being freaked out by the fish with no eyes. Sadly, the public is no longer welcome to view the sightless fish due to pollution problems that the boat rides caused. No freak-out this time.

I told someone that I had bought my tour ticket online when I knew I was taking the Nashville trip. She laughed mockingly. I laughed triumphantly when I rolled into the visitor’s center to pick up my ticket and saw that everything was sold out until 3:45. It’s a good idea to reserve online, especially for busy weekends.