August2014 Road Trip: Day 5-Charleston WV

Today is our second day in Charleston.  We plan to explore more of the town including the downtown area, an outdoor market and of course Hubby wants to visit the Greyhound Track and Casino.

We enjoyed at complimentary hot breakfast this morning.  It was great and will allow us to stretch out our food dollars.

The first stop we made today was the Capitol Street Market for some fresh fruit and locally made products.  The market is huge with inside and outside sections. There was all types of locally grown produce, plants & over vegetation, a wine market, fish market and bakeries.  We bought fresh salads for supper and peaches.

Our second stop today was the grounds & Capitol Building of West Virginia.  The Capitol  building is magnificent, The residents of West Virginia certainly have a building to be proud of.

The Governor's Mansion was grand and welcoming.  Afterwards we strolled along the Kanawha river, it was great to be able to walk right up to the banks.

 

Next we drove the Scenic Midland Trail which runs West to East along Route 60.  I really loved all the scenery and the waterfalls.  Temperatures were 10 degrees cooler than normal with a gentle breeze today so was a fantastic day for a drive through the mountains.

 

 

 

I was exhausted when we returned to the hotel and spent the rest of evening relaxing while Hubby went to the greyhound races and Mardi Gras Casino.

August2014 Road Trip: Day 4-Charleston WV

We are leaving for our next destination, Charleston, WV.  Temperatures are so nice, in the low-mid 60's...

We are staying 2 nights at the Country Inn & Suites, guess how much we paid?? nothing, Nada, Free baby !  We took advantage of Club Carlson's stay 2 pay 1 program for Elite loyalty members, meaning I used points for 1 night but actually got 2 free nights, great deal!  This program really allowed us to stretch our Club Carlson loyalty points.  Our room is beautifully decorated with a great view of the mountains.

It has a fridge & microwave, in-room coffee and includes complimentary breakfast.  I cannot find fault with our accommodations here, everyone from the front desk are super friendly!

After we checked In, we went hiking in the Kanawha State Forest. It is such a beautiful drive up the mountains. 

We spent 3 hours hiking two separate trails.  It was a beautiful experience.  We are beginner hikers and these trails were our most challenging for us so far. 

There were steep inclines and the trail followed along a gorge with huge rocks, but it was absolutely worth the effort.  The first trail was called The Lockout Trail, the lookout allowed gorgeous views.

 

The second trail was actually a bike trail called the Black Bear,

it included really steep inclines, makes me wonder how anyone could climb it with a bike!  One of the prettiest things we discovered on this hike was all the different colored mushrooms (no we didn't partake) just pictures lol

 

After a busy day of hiking we headed back home.  Our GPS quit working while on the mountain and of course we got lost on the way back to the hotel.  Hubby had to go against his "man code" and stop to ask for directions.  lol 

 

Supper was nearby China Buffet, it was good and had the usual dishes found at other Chinese buffets.  After supper we relaxed in the hotel hot tub which was super clean, we were only guests using it which was nice.

 

Our first day in West Virginia has been unforgettable.  The views, the people, everything is perfect!





August2014 RoadTrip: Day 3- Lexington KY

We begin our second day in Lexington Kentucky very early and headed to Keeneland Race Track.  We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Track Kitchen

, frequented by various Owners, Trainers & Jockey's.  From the moment we walked in we were greeted by wonderfully friendly people.  The ladies who work here are so enthusiastic about their work.  They gave us wonderful tips for seeing the ground and even volunteered to take a photo of us. 

We will absolutely eat here again if we are in the area.

After breakfast we drove to the Grandstand parking area.  Visitors are allowed complete access to this track.  We did the self walking tour which included the Grandstand....

......the Clubhouse, The paddock, the Winners Circle

and we were allowed to watch the horses do their morning workouts.

What a treat!  It was an incredible morning!  The New Orleans Fairgrounds would never allow anyone to visit many of these places without paying for a tour.  Don't miss this opportunity if you visit Lexington!

Next we visited Thoroughbred Park.  The life-sized horseracing statues are amazing.

 It was a beautiful day with a gentle breeze so we spent an hour or so walking around the park taking photos and reading various plaques of horseracing history.

Next it was time to visit Kentucky Horse Park.

This park pays tribute to many star horses like Secretariat & Man O' War

but it is more of an educational type park with equestrian riding/competitions as well.

There is a museum on horse history, my personal favorite was the barn of horses from around the world.  The Norwegian horses were beautiful with multicolored manes.

Today was a wonderfully exhausting day.  We thoroughly enjoyed every exhibit and every park we visited.  Supper tonight was downtown at Joe Bologna's.  It is located inside a renovated church, you walk into the restaurant with its dark wood and stained glass windows and the aroma will have you drooling in to no time.  Hubby and I choose the lasagna and it was perfect!

August2014 Roadtrip:DAY 2- Lexington KY

Today we are traveling to destination #2, Lexington, Kentucky.

Our complimentary hot breakfast this morning consisted of scrambled eggs,turkey
sausage,toast & coffee.  It was better than average.

So far this trip has only cost us gas & 2 meals.  Our hotel & breakfast was paid using points.

We will accrue 2X points on all our gas that will be used to pay for a future Princess cruise to Europe.

We stopped at the Kentucky Welcome Center and was surprised to find Kentucky Downs racetrack right behind it, how cool!

Our next stop...Wild Turkey Distillery.

We paid $5 each for a very interesting tour of bourbon making followed by a tasting.  We purchased their honey bourbon, BBQ & steak sauce.

We are staying 2 nights in Lexington at the Four Points Sheraton booked via SPG Hot Escapes promotion.  Our room is dated but clean.  Our room was spacious and undergoing much needed renovations.  Two things I absolutely didn't like about this hotel:

1. No complementary breakfast (we planned to eat breakfast at Keeneland)
2.  No in Room safe (we just refused maid service)

For supper we wanted BBQ so we decided to try a small local placed called Red State BBQ, it is #1on TripAdvisor and the place did not disappoint.

We had BBQ ribs to die for.  I highly recommend this BBQ place to everyone!

August2014 Roadtrip: Day 1-Pelham Alabama

We are visiting 12 states in 29 days on this Roadtrip.  This Trip was the dream trip of Ron's focusing on racetracks in Kentucky (Keeneland) and New York (Saratoga) with a few extra states added by me.  In addition to horse tracks, we hope to do some hiking and visit the Amish in both Pennsylvania and Ohio.

We have been hoarding hotel points we earned through various hotel frequent flyer programs in preparation for this long road trip.  We expect to end up paying very little, if any, for hotel accommodations.  We are elite members of both Club Carlson, Hilton, SPG & Hyatt.  We get BOGO free as Club Carlson members since we are redeeming points.  We also took advantage of  a recent IHG Points Break promotion to book rooms @ just 5K each night, which really allowed us to stretch our points.  The majority of our stays will include breakfast, saving on dining expenses.  We are not big breakfast eaters anyway.

We left home in the early morning heading to our first stop in Pelham, Alabama (near Birmingham).

Lobby area

complimentary coffee station

We arrived at Holiday inn Express-Pelham around 11am and were thrilled to discover our room was ready.  The hotel is undergoing renovations so weren't sure what to expect.

 Our room was clean & inviting.  We could tell it had been recently updated, it was perfect.  There was a small refrigerator & microwave but no safe.

The toiletries were bath & body and smelled really nice. So far I would say this Holiday Inn Express far exceeded our expectations!

After we brought our belongings into the room, We found nearby Oak Mountain State Park which offers hiking.

We hiked for about 2 hours, the park was very nice.

Supper was a small place named Margarita Grill.  They made fresh guacamole right at our table, everything was delicious.