Kentucky
The Bluegrass State
Kentucky is a state full of beautiful rolling green hills filled with horse farms, abundant history and beauty. Kentucky though is much more that just horse racing. You will find the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, aviation museums, Civil War Battlefields, one of the worlds longest caves and much more! Its a great state to see the excitement or horse racing and get away from the city to enjoy a slower pace. Donna and I visited Kentucky in October of 2017 with my parents a had a great trip!
Getting to Kentucky and Transportation
Other than driving to Kentucky flying is your best option to get there. I flew into Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (the airport is actually in Kentucky) since there airfare is pretty affordable. The Cincinnati Airport is only around an hour and a half drive to Louisville or Lexington Kentucky. There are regional airports in Louisville and Lexington that have service from most major airlines. A rental car is a must when traveling within the state unless you want to stay in one city and use ride sharing (Uber/Lyft) or taxis.
Louisville, Kentucky
The first stop in our trip to Kentucky was Louisville. Its the home of Churchill downs and the Kentucky Derby and Louisville University. Its also the home to the Jim Beam and the Louisville Slugger. The city has many things to do from the Kentucky Derby Museum and a tour of Churchill downs, distillery tours, the Louisville Slugger Museum and other museums and attractions such as the zoo. We spent most our time in Louisville at the Kentucky Derby Museum.
The Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs
While in Louisville a stop at one of the jewels of the Triple Crown, The Kentucky Derby. At Churchill Downs you can visit the very well done Kentucky Derby Museum. The museum chronicles the beginnings of the race, history, the culture and excitement that surrounds the race. You can visit the interactive exhibits that let you bet on fictitious races, hop on a horse and become the jockey yourself and try out other interactive exhibits. They have a great 360 degree presentation showing what it takes to get to the historic race and footage from the race itself. You can also purchase extra tours of Churchill downs that will take you to the almost small city that is the backside of the track where the horses are kept and trained. Since we were in the area near Halloween we took a night ghost tour of Churchill downs that was very nice that told stories of some of the sad stories involving the track. They also have a few horses at the museum you can visit. Its a great museum and well worth the time to go see.
Central Kentucky
Mammoth Cave National Park
In Southern Kentucky you can visit the worlds longest cave system. The national park has a nice visitors center and offers many different tours into different parts of the cave. Some tours are more strenuous than others. We took the Frozen Niagara tour that took us to that formation and partially into the cave. It is very important if you are going to Mammoth Cave to reserve the tour you want to go on before you get to the park (go to the national park website for instructions). We made the mistake of waiting until we got to the park and there were limited tours available. My parents stayed above ground a took a walking tour of the wooded area around the cave. Both tours were nice.
Makers Mark Distillery
Located in the small town of Loretto, Kentucky towards the center of the state is the Maker’s Mark Bourbon Distillery. The countryside surrounding the distillery is beautiful with the green rolling hills. You drive quite a few miles through the countryside to get the distillery. The distillery itself has gardens and artwork surrounding the buildings. The tour is free of the distillery and they give you a map to take a self guided tour of the different areas of the process. As you walk through the grounds you can smell the process of making the bourbon. At the gift shop you have the chance to hand dip the wax for your bottle of Maker’s Mark. There are quite a few distilleries in Kentucky you can tour. This is the distillery we chose to visit and it was wroth it.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park
Located near Hodgenville, Kentucky is the site of Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. It was a small farm build near a spring you can see today. There is a small visitors center that has a nice video about the young Lincoln family and the spot those chose for their first farm. A large monument sits on the site of their cabin. A small log cabin sits inside the monument. The log cabin is not Lincoln’s but what it could have looked like. It is a historic cabin though. The site is free and will take an hour at the most to visit.
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site
Located in the center of the state near the city of Perryville, Kentucky is the largest battlefield in Kentucky. Confederate General Braxton Bragg and the Army of the Mississippi against the Union Army of the Ohio as the Confederates were on the offensive in Kentucky. The Confederates won a tactical victory but were forced to withdraw so it is considered a Union Strategic victory. There is a museum at the park you can visit including that has a video explaining the battle and a nice gift shop. You can see many uniforms and weapons used in the battle at the museum. You can take a short driving tour of the battle to see the interpretative signs explaining what happened at the site and you can see cannons placed were they were during the battle. The scenery and the silence you hear in this once chaotic battlefield is very nice.
Aviation Heritage Park
In the City of Bowling Green is a nice park featuring many aircraft that storied histories such as combat missions in Vietnam, Libya and others. The park is free to visit and is a nice place to spend a little time reflecting of the pilots that heroically flew these planes.
Lexington, Kentucky
The second largest city in Kentucky is home to some interesting attractions and like most of Kentucky beautiful countryside. In the downtown area of Lexington there is a nice park featuring horse racing sculptures. The Kentucky Horse Park is a gem in between the cities of Georgetown and Lexington that has many activities and exhibits to see. There is a nice aviation museum you can visit at the Lexington Airport. In the Lexington area there are many horse farms that give free tours and you can see many thoroughbred horse racing champions. We visited the Claiborne Horse Farm. There are also many distilleries such as Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve you can tour in the area.
The Kentucky Horse Park
Located north of Lexington the Kentucky Horse Park is the highlight o the area and a must visit site. Your ticket is good for two days and you could definitely use at least one day visiting the park. The park is home to the Smithsonian Affiliate International Museum of the Horse that details the history of horses, the different breeds and uses for horses. You can also take a horse drawn carriage ride around the park, see racing champions, and a show featuring different breads from around the world. You can also see draft horses and how their harnesses are put on. There are many monuments to the different champions who are buried at the park. Legendary horse Man-O-War is buried at the park. Depending on the day horse competitions such as dressage and horse jumping can take place. You can also visit the American Standardbred museum at the park. The park will take at least a day to tour depending on if you see the different shows and take your time in the museums.
Claiborne Horse Farm
We visited the Claiborne Horse farm near Paris, Kentucky while in the Lexington area. The farm has bred many champions such as Orb (Kentucky derby winner, and had horses such as Secretariat retire to their farm for breeding. The farm is located in beautiful countryside. As you drive to the farm you pass many white fences with horse grazing happily behind them. The tour of the farm is free but you need to make reservations. We got to see many of the horses like Orb and War Front (one of the highest stud fees in racing). There are also many horse champions buried in the Farm’s cemetery including Secretariat. The tour will last around an hour and there is a small gift shop in the main building were the tour starts.
The Aviation Museum of Kentucky
At the Lexington Airport near the Keeneland Race Park you can visit the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. It houses many historic aircraft and exhibits about pilots for eras such as World War II. Its a nice small museum that is affordable to visit and will take an hour or so to tour.
Tips for Kentucky
Kentucky is a state with many wonderful attractions as seen above. Give yourself plenty of time if you plan on visiting multiple cities in Kentucky since there is a little driving time and the attractions are worth not rushing through. Getting a rental car is a must if going to more than one city. Also when looking for airfare give Cincinnati a look since the airfare is usually cheaper than airports like Louisville and Lexington.