Labor Day In Lexington

A three-day weekend allowed for a rendezvous with my girls in “The Horse Capital Of The World”. We selected the Crown Plaza Hotel since it appeared to have the best swimming pool for my daughter--who I believe is part fish. On Saturday, we started out in the hotel pool and then moved downtown where my daughter ended up swimming in the public water displays. Lexington has a nice selection of fountains that encourage public participation—and we took full advantage of the opportunity. For lunch, we ended up buying a watermelon at the Farmers Market and mixed in some Chicago style hotdogs for a picnic lunch. Next stop was the Talon Vineyards to pick fresh grapes off the vine. During the evening hours, we sampled the local culture by attending harness racing at The Red Mile. There has been harness racing at this track since 1875. The $4 entry fee proved to be a great value.

Our day trip for Sunday was to the Kentucky Horse Park, which is home to the US Equestrian Federation as well as a retirement home for champion thoroughbreds and the final resting place for the finest horses from the last three decades. We visited the Hall Of Champions for a close up view of John Henry, DaHoss and Cigar (left), who retired as the leading North American money winner of all time with $9 Million in earnings, a record that stands to this day. Afterwards, we took in a polo match, steeplechase event and made time for a pony ride.

As luck would have it, the Bluegrass Classic Dog Show, a sanctioned event of the American Kennel Club, was also taking place at the Kentucky Horse Park. This event features over 140 dog breeds and more than 10,000 entries which compete over 4 days. Since my daughter is a proud owner of a terrier and receives Dog Fancy magazine, we felt obligated to attend. It was amazing to see the amount of preparation that went into “showing” each dog. By the end, my girls were contemplating trading in our terrier for an Afghan hound.