I ended part 1 of our Indiana trip with Tuesday night. We had reached the Indiana/Kentucky border and decided to spend the night in Louisville since I found a nice hotel there.
In an attempt to give us some flexibility on our travels, I had built in a free day on Wednesday. I made a conscious desicion to be willing to change plans, stay in an area longer, or just head off the planned path if I felt like it. We had no reservations at any hotels along the way and could be completely spontaneous. Definitely not normal for this planner!
We had mainly stayed on track, with a couple of minor adjustments, so we ended up having a day to do anything we wanted to do. I decided that we would take our journey a little farther South to the beautiful Kentucky Capitol city of Frankfort.
It was a gorgeous day for a drive through the Kentucky countryside and for a walk around this historic town.
This was both girls first trip to Kentucky. The Capitol was bustling with people and there were so many things for them to see and smell. We walked the grounds and the surrounding neighborhood amd really enjoyed being there.
We also took a walk along the Kentucky River to enjoy this scenic view. It's such a pretty river.
We ended our time in Frankfort with a drive through the historic cemetery. Not a bad view for eternity.
A number of important historical figures are buried here including a Vice President, but the most famous person buried here is Daniel Boone. We stopped at his memorial which overlooks the entire city. It's a beautiful place.
After a several hours in Frankfort, we continued our journey, making the fairly short drive from Frankfort to Lexington. After years of spending most of my vacation days traveling to Kentucky while Nicol was in school at UK, it had been years since I had been back and I decided we needed to change that.
We found a hotel for the night and then headed out to explore. I don't know how I never visited the UK Aboretum in all my previous visits, but we all loved it there! What an awesome spot for a walk.
The girls were very popular there and we met a lot of people, which they loved. They also thought that this was some of the best grass ever!
After driving around and checking out the area a bit, it was time for dinner. Joella's Chicken was recommended to us, so we decided to try it out. There was a small outdoor patio, so the girls could join me while I ate.
Of course they got to try some chicken too. It was pretty good and I'd definitely go back.
We finished dinner and then headed back to campus for another walk.
This walk took us along Avenue of Champions and the area of campus where Nicol's dorm had been. Since she graduated, they have torn down most of the old dorm buildings and replaced them with much fancier living spaces. This plaque commemorates the original dorm.
It had been another long, busy day and it was time to head to our hotel for the night. I was so happy we had spent the day in Kentucky! I do love it there.
Before leaving the next morning, we spent some time walking around downtown Lexington and visiting the historic cemetery there. I have visited this cemetery in the past and it also has several historic figures buried here including a vice president and Henry Clay, but probably most important to the UK faithful, Adoloh Rupp, famed UK basketball coach.
Traffic issues and a stop for a late lunch outside of Frankfort delayed our travels North, but eventually we crossed the bridge from Louisville back into Indiana where we had a stop planned at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.
While I thought this would be a short stop, it was not.
The weather was beautiful and the area was really interesting.
We took our time exploring and climbing all over the rocky formations. It was a really interesting spot and pictures don't do justice to how pretty it was there.
Before leaving, the girls made friends with a group of elementary school kids here on a field trip. While they enjoyed all of the sniffing and exploring, I think they liked making new friends most of all.
We now had a long drive across Southern Indiana ahead of us. Not many places to stop along the way, although I did make some quick geocaching stops to break up the travel. We also spent some time in the town of Santa Claus, but the forecasted rain for the day had arrived, so we didn't stay long before continuing our journey.
We reached Evansville where we planned to stay for the night and grabbed takeout before settling into our hotel. We all slept well for the night!
Looks like it's time for me to stop for now. Things to do and places to be. I will continue with Indiana part 3 and the end of our journey soon.
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