our trip to Frankfort

This weekend, my in-laws took our two younger boys to the lake with friends, so we could get away for two days and a night. We've been to most little, local places and enjoyed them: Lexington, Cincy, Madison, Indy, Columbus/Nashville, Evansville, Bardstown, and Horse Cave. So, we thought about revisiting an old haunt (Columbus/Nashville is our fav), but decided on Frankfort-- and after visiting, decided that we should have done it earlier.

After picking up an item in Lawrenceburg from Craigslist, we drove into the Josephine Sculpture Park, about two miles south of I-64 just off US-127. It was raining hard, so we only saw what we could from the car-- but it looked like a nice place to walk around.

We saw Jordan Peele's movie “Get Out” in the Grand Theater-- an old theater and a good setting. It was my third time and Tonia's first to see the movie. Afterwards, she was really upset that I took her to see it. She hates scary movies, but GO is more creepy and tense/suspenseful than scary. Still, she hated it. After talking about it afterwards and after she was able to relax, she's better with it, but still not happy. But yes, I still strongly recommend the movie for those with the stomach for a really well-done movie with some crassness but wide-ranging social commentary on a vital contemporary topic. (See: my review here.) 

As for Frankfort attractions, we saw the Floral Clock and the outside of the "New" Capital building. We did the three parts of the Thomas Clark Historical Center tour ($8), including the Kentucky Military History Museum (at the old Arsenal) and the "Old" Capital. The highlights of the latter were the keystone/self-supporting stone staircase and the story of Gov. Goebel's controversial assassination-- the only murder of a sitting governor in U.S. history. (The lowlight was a knowledgeable tour guide who lacked self-awareness and ended up in TMI-land.) We also went to the Rebecca Ruth Candy Museum/Store. We skipped the $5 tour and just bought more candy from the inventor of the Bourbon Ball. (I had the Capital City Museum on the list, but we skipped that. We may do the Capital View mountain bike trails if we go back with D and J.)

We wrapped up with two good outdoor ops: 1.) the Frankfort Cemetery, including the grave of Daniel Boone and a surprising Memorial for the Unborn on the backside. A deer jumped out of the bushes as we approached and then stood about 20 feet away. Some of the memorial's funding came from SECC and it was dedicated to Wayne Smith! 2.) Cove Springs Park, including a really nice waterfall near the entrance and a variety of hikes. Again, we were surprised to bump into a "Memorial for Children" on the Meadow Loop.

As for dinner, I had a number of options on my list, including Pollo Bandido, Mi Fiesta, Mami Monchitas, and Miguel’s (all Mexican-- the latter recommended by Matthew Pryor), Thai Smile, Bourbon on Main (David Burt recommends a burger), Kentucky Knows (Angel/Carlos recommend the coffee and the tour), and Rick’s White Light Diner (which apparently serves Cajun). But we ate at Mai Saigon (a good Vietnamese restaurant downtown) and Cliffside Diner (a dive near the New Capital, but good food, especially the cornbread and bean “soup”).