Girl's Trip!

What do you get when you mix my mother and a local souvenir shop in Frankfurt, KY? A coaster of many popular cities in this commonwealth! As soon as mom realized that all the names were places, she told us that it will be her goal to visit all of them. (Because who can own something that has an unvisited location on it, not mom!) Mom had already been to a few of them, like Frankfurt, Louisville, and Elizabethtown. This trip went very smooth and the nasty weather cleared up quickly when it went over, but of course we had to make a few wrong turns (or miss an important turn) and conduct a last-minute cowboy boots search for mom after she decided that she needed a pair (a lady at Keeneland Park was sporting a pair that helped mom seal the deal). 

And this leads us to the girl’s trip of January 2024! To knock out some of the remaining cities, I was in charge of planning what to do for the next two: Covington and Lexington. Covington is located just over the river in Cincinnati, OH, and of course we had to stop at Jungle Jims along the way. I had not been to Jungle Jims since my freshman year of high school. It was so nice to be able to stock up on some foods from “home” (South Korea), venture into some more curry flavors from India, and gather some teas and snacks from the UK and Europe! 

I always try to find some local cafe to stop at during road trips or vacations, and Covington had a very neat bookstore and cafe combo! I told mom that she could go explore the suspension bridge while I ordered a latte and enjoyed a good book at Roebling Point Books and Coffee. (The bridge we drove over that goes from Covington to Cincinnati is called the Roebling Suspension Bridge.) Sadly it wasn’t the most Christian cafe, but it is a cute store to pop into if you want to enjoy a coffee in a room filled with books! Mom found a restaurant right at the end of the bridge called “The Gruff” (from the Billy Goat Gruff tale), and it was delicious. 

After spending the night in Lexington, mom and I had some free time to spare before our scheduled food walking tour downtown. We decided, after mom asked some people at the hotel, to drive out on one of the highways and drive until we see something interesting. (After years of highly scheduled trips with the parents, it was time for me to plan things and this is how I like it! Very chill until we find something that piques our interest.) It was just our luck that after driving for only a couple miles we saw a sign reading “Keeneland Park” (now mind you, we do not watch horse racing so we did not know what we had just found). After googling what this park was, we had fun making many wrong turns within this big park and even got a little bit of a free personal tour! Mom and I were able to watch some of the horses and jockeys practice before the afternoon sun, and this is where mother noticed a “must-have” pair of cowboy boots that a lady, who was also watching them practice, was sporting.

Previously during our girls’ trip planning, we were searching options on what is neat to do in Lexington, in the middle of winter. Mom found a couple different walking tours, and chose the food option. It was our first time doing something like this, and we actually had a blast! We were introduced to a local farm to table restaurant chain, I tried crawfish for the first time, also had my first ever not-well-done cut of steak, and we had excellent Japanese fried chicken that made me miss Asia! Our lovely tour guide, Dana, helped us figure out which hotel would be best for us to stay at, when we wanted to stay on the outskirts of Lexington for the next couple of nights so we could easily drive around the countryside during our free time. The night was concluded by some lite shopping, including visiting Lexington’s Wild Birds Unlimited for me to pick up a book of Kentucky Birds. 

There are miles and miles of farms and acreage on the outskirts of Lexington, and we had the pleasure of driving around these parts on our way to the Kentucky Horse Park (located in between Georgetown and Lexington). If you ever visit this part of the Commonwealth, there are maps you can pick up in the area called the Bluegrass Driving Tour. It gives a numbered route around Lexington, from the west side, along the north, over to the east, and then in the middle of the city. We just covered the west and north part of this drive. We slowly made our way over to the Horse Park, and thankfully the sprinkling rain stopped soon after we arrived. This park came recommended to us by a friend, and even during the winter season, it did not disappoint! There are several museums open across the Horse Park campos and three main stables where you can meet and greet with multiple horses throughout the day! My favorite horse to meet was Colin, a Clydesdale, and he was a gorgeous, and very large, horse.

That evening, mom and I decided to shop at an antique store before eating at another farm to table restaurant. Wallace Station is located east of Lexington, on Old Frankfurt Pike, and is a building that has had many different “hats” throughout the years. I believe it was once a general store, and later on was a gas station, until it was bought and turned into a restaurant. I had the “Big Brown Burger” (maybe only because I saw that Guy Fieri put it in his top 5 favorite burgers), and it lives up to its reputation! 

For the last day of our trip, I chose for us to visit and tour the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill (and it was conveniently not too far out of the way for the route home). At one point this was the largest settlement in Kentucky, and is still kept nice and running for tourists. You can even stay at one of their old buildings-turned-hotels and eat in the main hall! Even though it was cold, and all the leaves had fallen, it was still very pretty with the historical buildings and the rolling hills, and I think it would be worth it to visit anytime of the year, especially during the off seasons when it might not be as busy. We took a couple different tours including their meeting hall, where they would have their Shaker meetings, and one of the main houses where the men stayed on one side, and the ladies on the other. They conduct seasonal tours of the gardens and Shaker traditions, and have a year-round barnyard friend tour! Mom was harassed by a jealous turkey and I enjoyed watching the Indian ducks running around as a group!