Kentucky Part 2

Part 1 of our Kentucky trip here.

The girls woke up from their car nap and we regrouped a bit in the hotel and headed across the street to Mussels & Burger Bar for dinner. Clementine ate this brobdingnagian grilled cheese:

Burger with Spanish cheese and brussels sprouts:

Back in the room. We had a much more restful night. In matching pajamas.

For breakfast we went back to the Highlands neighborhood for egg sandwiches and coffee with bourbon cream at Highland Morning. We walked for a bit and then drove to Lexington. As we neared the city Luke asked, what are we going to do for a few hours? "Walk around the city center?" I said as I googled "things to do in Lexington, KY".  Kentucky Horse Park was a first hit and about 2 miles ahead on the highway - we made a beeline there.

It was a bright and cold day otherwise we would have stayed longer. The park is beautiful and extremely stroller friendly: here we are visiting the Big Barn which houses the draft horses.

We saw 2 shows: the Hall of Champions - retired champions are walked around the ring and their careers recounted - and the Parade of Breeds - riders in traditional dress rode a horse while the announcer discussed that breed's origins, uses, etc.

Clementine was very anxious about this English Shire in knight costume.

"Is it a real dragon??"

"Will the dragon costume come off??"

A golden, shimmery horse from Turkistan.

On to the Crawfords' house! Laura and I went to high school together in Texas and now have girls almost the same age. As Ellie said: "there's a girl who's five, who's four, who's three, and two!"

Moana. The Crawford girls know all the lyrics - even the Polynesian parts!

Mediterranean takeout.

I call this "we spent way too much on a swanky hotel and they liked being in this dog crate a thousand times more."

There really isn't anything like someone else's dress up clothes and toys.

Our Airbnb was a two bedroom apartment in a student housing area (flags on the windows, random couches on porches, you remember those parts of town) and luckily wasn't too loud though when we arrived for the night I heard Party Sounds and groaned.

We met the Crawfords at the Keeneland racetrack for the morning kid activities there - face painting (which we just missed), photos with the costumed mascot, Buckles*, photos against a green screen in jockey attire, petting Shetland ponies.

*later C said this was one of her favorite parts: "hugging the horse who walked itself."

Doughnuts from North Lime - not your average doughnut! Absolutely delicious.

This gray horse was just magnificent. Out on the track the horses were warming up. I would love to go back for a race. And mint julep. And fancy hat viewing.

Back at Laura and Pete's horse, Laura painted their faces while Pete boiled eggs for dyeing.

Josie admires her horse (and wasted no time getting back in Someone Else's Dress Ups).

We dyed eggs, picked up Local Taco for lunch, and took a long drive for a Car Nap. Laura's street is every parent's dream - several families with similarly aged kids who get together on a lawn while the parents laugh and talk and have a beer. The kids played while we chatted - Clementine decided she wants a scooter and I decided we need to find a street like this!

Pete made burgers for dinner, more swing set time, Moana singalong, and back to the Airbnb. Thank you Crawfords for sharing your weekend, home, and every.single.toy in your house with us!

Morning cuddles before we drove back to St Louis. The girls watched their iPads and we listened to the Jason Isbell Spotify station and I read Oryx and Crake. We were home early in the afternoon - time to throw out the food in the fridge (this is when I renew my pledge to decrease our food waste), shop for staples, and get ready for Luke to head back to Texas.

We had such a great trip - Kentucky is so beautiful and even better with great friends to visit there!

I'm having trouble uploading photos from my phone to Blogger - luckily Luke took a bunch of photos with the Real Camera and I can't wait to see them!

Kentucky: Part 1

Luke took lots of photos with the real camera but here's my phone photo rundown. We planned a trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to see our friends Laura and Pete and also check out Louisville, a town I've heard good things about. I promised the girls viewings of horses and Moana. I found about a cool hotel in Louisville on Instagram and spent a while on the phone with the reservationist, trying to anticipate what a 2 and 4 year old would want four months in the future. (??? why do I do these things?) The hotel kids' package included vouchers to the nearby science center, nightly milk and cookies, and a teepee.

Because Louisville is less than 5 hours away and we were in no rush, Wednesday morning was very pleasant: we slept in, packed, got doughnuts and coffee from Felicia at Ray's Donuts, and were on our way. We listened to the Moana soundtrack and a bit of Hamilton, the latter saved for later because we couldn't hear the lyrics well (between the wind and the whining).

Josie with Hoe-see (very favorite lovey at the moment) and Uni, C's unicorn that she occasionally lends Josie because, simply, "Horsey and Uni are sisters."

Lunch at McDonalds: chicken nuggets, their ardor for which is a teeny blessing because they don't balk at similarly breaded fish... as long as I call it chicken.

21c Hotel. We arrived in Louisville during a brief cold snap and a severe storm was forecast for that night. 

Margarita in hand, we looked at the hotel's art collection. A current exhibit is The Future Is Female and it's so fun to hear the girls' impression of the artwork. Of this tentacled piece made out of acrylic nails, Clem exclaimed: it's a oppo-pus! I keep thinking about a scene in the documentary City of Gold (highly recommend!) in which writer Jonathan Gold takes his teenage kids to a museum and they contemplate a single work for 30 minutes and then discuss it.

image via

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Proof. Absolutely delicious. A whiskey flight (for him); a Hendricks and tonic (for her); grilled cheese and chicken tenders (for the kids); crusty bread with very salty butter that had been whipped with olive oil; grilled drumsticks with chili oil; rye cavatelli with squash and hazelnuts; an aged ribeye that was astoundingly delicious.

They watched movies on the tablet - rearranging the tent, the bed... it was maddening. They didn't nap and didn't sleep until midnight. Note to self: forgo swanky hotel for something with a Holidome and adjoining rooms. Luke went out to investigate music venues while I pondered how much better life would be in the cheap(er) suites and the children ran amok.

C took this picture, probably as a pretense to get her hands on my phone.

But at last, everyone slept (me alone and Luke with a child in the crook of each arm). Up the next day for breakfast across the street at Atlantic No. 5.

This David replica stands outside the hotel and Clem thought it was sooo funny that we could see his buns!

   

The only photo I have from the science center. The girls loved it. It was so cacophonous on a weekday I shudder to think what a weekend would be like. This is the same dread that has kept me from taking the girls to the Magic House here in St Louis.

Off to explore the Highlands, a cool neighborhood I had heard about. Unfortunately, the day was blustery, cold, and spitting rain - not ideal for the stroll I had in mind. We ducked into a bakery for a coffee, cookie, and cake ball while Luke was in a guitar store. This is C's new picture smile.

Mural on Highland Morning, where we had breakfast the next day. We had lunch at Qdoba to keep something familiar for the girls: they caught sight of it and rattled off their order - quesadilla (JUS' CHEESE!), appa-sauce, milk!

A kids' bookstore - what a treat! I bought two books recommended by the staff, Journey and Yoga Bunny, an illustrated book about horses, Beauty and the Beast with narrated CD, and some sticker books.

  C took this one: SAY CHEESE!

NuLu: coffee at Please & Thank You; chatting with the florist at Mahonia, a gorgeous home store - houseplant boutique - floral shop. I bought a succulent that made it home mostly intact after its harrowing ride in the backseat, enduring a torrent of flung-off snow boots, dropped iPads, and discarded water bottles.

We drove through NuLu and downtown many times while the girls napped - Nap Shark must.keep.moving.

Part 2 coming up: friends, horses, more Moana!

Opening Day

My sister and brother-in-law Brett drove down from Chicago for a visit and the Cardinals' opening day.

They arrived late Friday night and in the morning Elise and I went to the gym, ordered Imo's for lunch (her request but really it had been too long since my last Imo's), and checked out a nearby optical shop (I love glasses) in the interim. (Elise: Those round ones look like the guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark).

Another request was dinner at Bristol which was delicious (see Josie eating a lobster corn dog) and hilarious -- our table had a view of the kitchen and Josie said: Dare's a chef in dare.

Me: A what?

Josie: A chef!

(Turns out my mom taught her about this).

... thinking about the next time I can go to Bristol... biscuits... shrimp cocktail... fruity cocktails....

We enjoyed Silky's frozen custard at home and watched Moana. (Moana is the rare movie that gets better each time you watch it). The girls loved having Aunt Ah-yease and Untle Breh visit -- Josie woke up during the night because of a storm and got in bed with me; when she woke up her first words were: We go wake up Untle Breh?


Sunday morning was a breakfast of oven-baked bacon and scrambled eggs and another trip to the gym. Then downtown for opening day! We picked up take out from Dierbergs and met my parents at their room at the Westin, with a window on the stadium. 

We saw the Clydesdales, Hall of Famers, and a pretty tepid KissCam -- personally, I want some DISPLAYS OF PASSION on the KissCam or nothing at all.

Luke considering becoming a Cardinals fan.