Rich had another entire weekend off, so we knew we need to make good use of his free time and create some new Jackson family Christmas traditions. We planned early in the week to visit the Kentucky Horse Park and see the Southern Lights for the first time on Friday night. At just $15.00 a car, it was a bargain family activity.
Our 72 degree weather was long gone, so we dressed warm ready for some outdoor fun.
There are two parts to the lights. The first is a drive through light display, which was the best I had ever seen followed by indoor activities and the horse museum. We drove through lights for at least 15 minutes and were impressed with each new scene. Spanish Fork has the Festival of Lights and I think Thanksgiving Point has something similar, but this was amazing.
The first thing you saw was the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs and race horse would gallop across the lawn to the finish line. It made me miss Louisville and feel very excited for May!
Matt was hyperventilating at the huge Star Wars display. My camera wasn't quick enough to get the massive battle scene since I was trying to get a picture of Luke battling Darth Vader. Matt told me it was OK, we'll just have to snap a different photo next year.
Here is Keeneland. The horses would start in the gate and then gallop across the field. Very cool and very Kentucky.
They had huge displays for the 12 Days of Christmas.
There were massive colorful Christmas trees. You can get a feel for their size by looking at the car lights in front of us.
Next we ventured into the cold night to see the rest of the displays. Brynn is dressed and ready. Gotta love the costume peeking out from underneath the coat!
The Jackson 5!.jpg)
A perfect gingerbread house. Outside they were selling Kettle Corn, hot chocolate and funnel cakes.
So many cute Elfs!.jpg)
I loved how they only put on large snowflakes that covered the entire tree.
When we entered the buildings there were craft booths, Santa Claus, a model train display and the actual museum. They boys tried their hand at roping.
We drove to Lexington during Rich's second year of medical school and visited the museum. It was fun to walk through again.
Kaitlyn loved all the horses.
This is my favorite part of the museum. Behind the boys are the silks and trophies from two Triple Crown winners: On the left is Secretariat and on the right if Seattle Slew. These are two of the greatest thoroughbred race horses in history. For anyone who has ever lived in Kentucky, you understand how huge horse racing is here. You also appreciate how impossibly difficult it is to win the three greatest horse races by a single horse in one year. It has only happened 11 times (Sir Barton-1919, Gallant Fox-1930, Omaha-1935, War Admiral-1937, Whirlaway-1941, Count Fleet-1943, Assault-1946, Citation-1948, Secretariat-1973, Seattle Slew-1977 and Affirmed-1978). No horse has done it in nearly 30 years when in 1978 Affirmed won it for the last time. .jpg)
The Kentucky Derby trophy. Run the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky..jpg)
The Preakness Stakes trophy. Run two weeks later on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland..jpg)
The Belmont Stakes trophy. The race is run three weeks after the Preakness at Belmont Park in New York.
The Triple Crown trophy. Beautiful!
Our 72 degree weather was long gone, so we dressed warm ready for some outdoor fun.There are two parts to the lights. The first is a drive through light display, which was the best I had ever seen followed by indoor activities and the horse museum. We drove through lights for at least 15 minutes and were impressed with each new scene. Spanish Fork has the Festival of Lights and I think Thanksgiving Point has something similar, but this was amazing.The first thing you saw was the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs and race horse would gallop across the lawn to the finish line. It made me miss Louisville and feel very excited for May!Matt was hyperventilating at the huge Star Wars display. My camera wasn't quick enough to get the massive battle scene since I was trying to get a picture of Luke battling Darth Vader. Matt told me it was OK, we'll just have to snap a different photo next year.Here is Keeneland. The horses would start in the gate and then gallop across the field. Very cool and very Kentucky.They had huge displays for the 12 Days of Christmas.There were massive colorful Christmas trees. You can get a feel for their size by looking at the car lights in front of us.Next we ventured into the cold night to see the rest of the displays. Brynn is dressed and ready. Gotta love the costume peeking out from underneath the coat!The Jackson 5!A perfect gingerbread house. Outside they were selling Kettle Corn, hot chocolate and funnel cakes.So many cute Elfs!I loved how they only put on large snowflakes that covered the entire tree.When we entered the buildings there were craft booths, Santa Claus, a model train display and the actual museum. They boys tried their hand at roping.We drove to Lexington during Rich's second year of medical school and visited the museum. It was fun to walk through again.Kaitlyn loved all the horses.This is my favorite part of the museum. Behind the boys are the silks and trophies from two Triple Crown winners: On the left is Secretariat and on the right if Seattle Slew. These are two of the greatest thoroughbred race horses in history. For anyone who has ever lived in Kentucky, you understand how huge horse racing is here. You also appreciate how impossibly difficult it is to win the three greatest horse races by a single horse in one year. It has only happened 11 times (Sir Barton-1919, Gallant Fox-1930, Omaha-1935, War Admiral-1937, Whirlaway-1941, Count Fleet-1943, Assault-1946, Citation-1948, Secretariat-1973, Seattle Slew-1977 and Affirmed-1978). No horse has done it in nearly 30 years when in 1978 Affirmed won it for the last time. The Kentucky Derby trophy. Run the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.The Preakness Stakes trophy. Run two weeks later on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.The Belmont Stakes trophy. The race is run three weeks after the Preakness at Belmont Park in New York.The Triple Crown trophy. Beautiful!A perfect night together and a definite MUST for years to come!
3 comments:
Wow! What fun. I wish there was something like that here for us to do. The lights look amazing.
The horse race stuff is great. We have a racecouse just a few minutes from our house, and I'm hoping to go see a race before we leave. I've yet to see a live horse race.
WE did this at Thankdgiving Point on Friday Night. What fun!
I absolutely LOVE all the use you're getting from that costume! You'll have to do a montage for her when she's a little older of all the pictures you have of her in that outfit, it's adorable!
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