Lexington Things to Do

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Beautiful relaxing park in the middle of the city. It seems so secluded that it is almost like you aren't in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Great place to just sit with your special someone and watch the fountains. Many people go here to picnic or just to read the newspaper. Right in front of the Convention center in case you need to catch a special event. Beautiful place with no charge. Parking can be a bit tricky but there is a free parking garage about 1/2 mile before you get to it on Main street located by the police station.

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This is a beautiful scenic drive off the main rd. 9 acre maze offered day or night. We did the daytime maze and it was $7 per person. Took us about 2 hours. There is also a giant hay skyscraper to climb up. They offer hayrides for $2 as well. A huge pumpkin patch for the kiddies to pick that perfect pumpkin for carving. Food and drinks onsite. Sodas and hot apple cider are available. For food I had grilled corn, sweet potatoes, and a hot dog. They had other choices as well including funnel cake. Very friendly people run this. A lot of fun for the family! Just go on a cooler day, we went and it was about 80 degrees outside.

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Huge area full of beautiful plants!! It has a walking track around it and you are welcome to bring your pets to the track. There is a welcome center and gift shop on site. Very relaxing. Bring a blanket and your picnic basket and have lunch under a shade tree by the beautiful fountains. Another amazing free thing that Lexington has to offer.

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Great place to relax on a lazy Sunday afternoon! They have picnic areas and grills set up for you to use. They have a huge playground area for the children. You are welcome to fish here with a license. My favorite thing is the paddle boating. It is $2 per boat for 30 minutes but as long as there aren't lines it is not enforced. They provide life jackets for free. You can stay out until dusk. Great exercise and an inexpensive day out for the family.

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What a relaxing place! Beautiful and peaceful. The best time to go in my opinion is in the Spring when the Tulips are in full bloom. The flower gardens are beautiful. Home to a few celebrity graves as well such as Jim Varney (Earnest)

Visit the thoroughbreds! There are tours and pamphlets everywhere. I was invited to an event at Three Chimneys - which is a breeding farm to the southeast of the city (I think!).

Gorgeous, clean and with horses worth millions of dollars, their accomodations show it.
All that Kentucky bluegrass in rolling hills surrounds the place. Then, the breeding area had a four-plex of stalls for great winners like Big Brown. The horses were shown to us in the center area, adjacent to a breeding room. They are magnificent, huge, gleaming coats and muscles. The mares are flown in from all over the world, and these stallions have their breeding time twice a day, according to the owner from Jan. 2 through the season, so when the foals grow into two-years olds they are competing against horses born the same year (not before the first of the year) and about the same age.

Then, I guess the season continues for those horses from the Southern Hemisphere who race in the opposite season. The horses have a rest period in between, they are ridden, and they get to go outside in the evening.

Now if a horse commands $30,000 per mating, or one we saw was $100,000 and that is twice a day for at least 3 or 4 months .... you do the math. The mare's owner pays when the foal is born and stands up to nurse.

If you're in town during the Keeneland meets (I believe one month in fall and one in spring) you definitely need to take a day and go see the ponies at Keeneland. Its one of the more beautiful settings ever and was actually the site where a lot of the scenes from the movie 'Seabiscuit' were filmed.

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Raven Run is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary in rural Fayette County, just outside of Lexington. There are hiking trails that lead all over the property, the most popular leading to a lookout on the famous palisades over the Kentucky River. There are often classes going on about the flora and fauna there as well as occasional nightime ones about star gazing.