We got in Thursday night around midnight which is a foreign hour to my family, as we like to go to sleep around 9 pm! I am sure Chad thinks we are crazy though, haha, as he is a night owl. On
Friday Meredith took us into Wilmore to show us where she works (and where Chad goes to school) at Asbury Seminary, and then we headed into Lexington to go to Keeneland. Keeneland is a gorgeous horse track that only races two months out of the year, and we were lucky enough to be there while they were racing. When you first walk in there is an area in the middle where the handlers walk the race horses around, so you can get really close to them. It was amazing to see those horses up close - they are huge and solid muscle. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed to Dick's Sporting Goods (love this place, and there are none in Houston so I had to take advantage) where Meredith bought me a nice Nike running shirt for a belated b-day gift. Then we went to Moe's (my all-time favorite place to eat! Again, none in Houston) which is a build your own burrito place and had a great dinner - a "Home Wrecker" burrito. Also just to note - my Zone diet went out the window on this vacation, but that was the plan.
Saturday we woke up relatively early and Meredith and I got ready for the 5k we were running in. It was out at this guy RJ Corman's property - he has made millions, probably billions, in the railroad industry - and it was absolutely gorgeous. He ran most of the race just a few steps ahead of us, which was cool. The weather was hideous, about 40 degrees and misting, but the scenery was great. It was private land so there were no cars, just nice paved paths through rolling hills. We finished in a little over 25 minutes which was a pretty decent time. After the race we stopped by their local coffee shop Main and Maple for coffee and hot chocolate, then headed back to their house. Chad had to do some work at the school, so once he got back home we headed into Lexington for lunch at a pizza place called Pazzo's. UK had a home football game that day and they just happened to be playing UL-Monroe which is where my dad went. So Pazzo's was near the campus and it was cool to see all of the tailgating and people going to the game. Not many people in ULM Warhawk gear though, haha. Pazzo's is known for their beer I guess - I can't even guess how many beers they have on tap but I am guessing it is well over 100. So that was Chad and my dad's main focus, while I stuck to water and Meredith and my mom had tea. I was starving and downed a calzone that was roughly the size of a small child. It was delicious! After lunch we headed back to the house and took the dogs to the dog park. It was a pretty day, but we were the only ones there. But that was nice and the dogs got a chance to run around and sniff all over the place. Later that evening we headed out to Wilmore for a bonfire at Chad and Meredith's friends house, the Strebecks. Everyone was so nice and there were so many cute little kids. Glad to know that Meredith and Chad are surrounded by such nice people! So after that we headed home and I think we may have ended up watching the Bodygaurd? Haha - it was just on tv and we were all sort of watching it, it was weird, I'd never seen that movie. Anyways it got to be about 10 pm and I had to throw in the towel and go to bed.
We had a lazy Sunday morning then headed back into Lexington to go to Alfalfa's for breakfast, a sort of eccentric place that Meredith had gone to after a 5k a while back. It was really good, and afterwards we headed back home so Chad could get to work on his gumbo. We took the dogs for a walk and then headed out to Boyd's Orchard "fest". This is an apple/pumpkin orchard where you can pick your own stuff, and throughout October they have different fests (Harvestfest, Orchardfest, Octoberfest, etc.) each weekend. It was a beautiful drive out there, and once we got there the place was packed. There were tons of kids running around and going down the huge slides and on hay rides. We stuck to the food, and bought some apple cider, pumpkin pie, apple doughnuts and pumpkin doughnuts. Now I am not a huge apple cider or apple juice fan, but that cider was delicious. I drank it cold, and it tasted like someone was just squeezing an apple into my mouth. And don't even get me started on the doughnuts. Heaven. Once we got back we had a couple more hours to go on the gumbo, so we just relaxed for a while. Chad's gumbo was ready right at dinner time and we dug in. It was perfect - sausage and chicken gumbo, white rice and thick, toasted French bread. And I got to try Ale-8 aka "Kentucky crack". Pretty good! Like a mix between Mountain Dew and ginger ale. After we had stuffed ourself with the gumbo we had the pumpkin pie from Boyd's and some of the chocolate pie that Meredith had made. It was all delicious and Meredith and Chad are excellent cooks. Well, Chad at least! Haha, Meredith is a good baker, and I only say this because Meredith recently had a rough experience with a chicken.
And then it was over! Monday rolled around and we had to get ready to pack up and head out to the airport. It was a great time with Meredith and Chad, and I love that we got to see them on a relatively unexpected trip. We missed Michelle and Brit, but we will all be together at Christmas.
Some pictures:
Pod and his best friend Emma, and a Kentucky weather map.
Meredith and Chad at Boyd's Orchard.
Meredith and I at Boyd's.
On the world's largest Adirondack chair!
Great post! I am going to steal some pictures from here for my forthcoming blog post. I wish I would have taken more pictures. I will have to get lots of "pics" at Christmas!
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