Bad Habits

Of my many bad habits, one is making pictures without recording subject matter. This photo is from a trip to Kentucky a few years ago and popped up in my Snapfish account while looking for something else. It took some thinking and a quick Google search to figure out that it’s St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Lexington, Kentucky. The perspective is  through the glass of a very nice hotel room window.

It strengthens my desire to not just record my surroundings but to document where I am and to tell as many stories as possible. Meanwhile, I’m still wading through the 7,000 pictures (that’s not a typo – 7,000 pictures) pulled from my iPhone last month. If I ever get caught up with sorting through that mess, I’ll start weeding through the digital and print pictures from the past.

What are your bad photography habits? I can’t be the only one that has them!

Sleep In A Wigwam

Have you ever slept in a wigwam?

I have.

Years ago I went on a road trip through Tennessee with my then boyfriend. We spent half the week in Memphis where we stayed in an antebellum mansion turned b&b and then the other half of the week in Nashville where we stayed in an ultra modern hotel.

But first, we stopped at the National Corvette Museum at Bowling Green, Kentucky and then spent the night at the Wigwam Village motel in nearby Cave City.

This place is exactly as the name suggests- a motel that consists of a collection of wigwams.

Built in 1937, during the rise of the automobile, this motel represents a golden era of travel in America and true roadside kitsch.

At one time, there were seven of these wigwam villages all over the country. Today there remain only three – in Kentucky, Arizona and California.

The wigwam we stayed in, pictured above, felt a bit like a time capsule. Not many changes had been made over the decades. I loved the tile work and the unusual shape of the room. I felt like an adventurer here.

However, I feel it necessary to stop and say something.

This is a roadside motel with a fun hook that makes it an attraction. It wasn’t an especially nice place to stay.

I am so glad to say that I’ve stayed here but am not sure I would go back. Maybe if it was just for the night …..or maybe for some interior pictures which I evidently forgot to take the first time!

However, by no stretch of the imagination do I want you to read this as a no-strings-attached endorsement. If you like kitsch and if you’re in love with the idea of staying in a place so iconic, it may be a good fit for you.

If you’re looking for a nice hotel with a lot of modern amenities or a shower head that doesn’t resemble an outdoor spigot in a cramped, slanted shower, you may just drive by for pictures.

Speaking of pictures, isn’t this sign fabulous? I’m such a sucker for unique signage!

Intrigued? You can read the full history of the Wigwam Villages by clicking this link. You’ll also find rates and reservation info for the Kentucky wigwams where I stayed.

Let me know if you go! I would love to hear about your experience!

Road tripping adventures

Mr. Wonderful and I spent our long weekend adventuring through parts of Kentucky and southern Ohio. As is true of most fun times, this weekend went far too fast and I’m a little sad to be home. But we have a lot of memories and pictures to keep us company until our next adventure.

We are reasonably tame as adventurers go. No ziplines or lion taming here. I won’t bore you with all the details but here are a few highlights.

We were two of four people on a tour of Ashland, the Lexington home of Henry Clay. The tour was very informative and the house beautiful. Pictures inside the home aren’t permitted but I could take all the pictures I wanted of the grounds and gardens.

Isn’t it lovely?

I have a thing for architectural elements. This guy was too awesome to not share.

Tours of the home cost $9 per person and are worth every dime. Our tour guide was informative and the home is beautiful. I think you can walk the grounds for free though.

We also toured the Wild Turkey Distiliary. I’m not a drinker but still enjoyed learning about how this product is made. It amazes me that it takes just three days to make but years to age. Wild Turkey ages for at least six to ten years in a world where we expect everything to happen instantaneously. Few companies would invest in a product they can’t sell for a decade.

In case you are wondering, the tour was free so it was a great value!

Another place with great photo ops was the Kentucky Horse Park. This place is sprawling and, if you enjoy horses, you could literally spend the entire day. We just had a few hours so we only took in the highlights.

Admission to the horse park is $16 per person but that includes admission to all the museums, the shows and even a horsedrawn trolley tour of the park.

We also ate really well (or badly, depending on your perspective) on this trip. One great meal came from Billy’s Bar-B-Q which is near the Henry Clay Home in Lexington. We had the special that day – a delicious pulled pork plate with two big sides and cornbread. Their  cornbread, a combination of cornbread and white bread, is tasty!

It was seven or eight dollars per person and a great value for the money. As an aside, our fast food meals later that evening were about $6 per person. Sigh. What a rip off.

But the centerpiece of the trip was the Bob Dylan/Leon Russell concert at Riverbend in Cincinnati. Bob doesn’t allow cameras so I have no pictures but I promise you it was a great show. I’m not a big Bob Dylan fan but Mr. Wonderful is a super fan. He was in seventh heaven and I enjoyed seeing his zeal.

So that’s the weekend in a nutshell. If you’re planning a weekend or vacation and you’re within driving distance of Lexington I would highly recommend this city. The city has an amazing mix of historic and modern elements and is a very southern town with great hospitality.

I feel guilty because this isn’t an especially frugal post but trust me when I say there are a lot of things to do that cost little or no money. We opted for some of the more costly activities because we had limited time and those were the things that interested us most. Since we saved a lot on the hotel by using Priceline we could afford to splurge a little in other areas.

We are already talking about going back sometime to take in the things we couldn’t do. Isn’t it wonderful to leave a place feeling there is so much more to discover than you could experience? That leaves the door open for future exploring!

Road trip here we come!

We selected Lexington, Ky as our whirlwind weekend road trip destination. I am so excited to get away for a couple of days it really doesn’t matter where we go but it sounds like Lexington is a terrific choice.

We plan to visit the Kentucky Horse Park, tour some historic sites and maybe even the Wild Turkey Distillery. Some of these places charge admission while others are completely free so I think it will be very affordable to entertain ourselves. There’s also a Half Price Books that’s already calling my name.

When it came time to locate lodging we looked at a lot of different options. Finally, Mr. Wonderful decided to take the plunge and try the Priceline name your price option. Guess what!!! We are staying at one of the nicest hotels in town for just $52 plus tax! That’s cheaper than a Red Roof Inn. If you are traveling and don’t mind not knowing exactly which hotel you will end up with, I would absolutely recommend the Priceline deal.

Adventure, here we come!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! I will report back with details next week.