Kentucky Roadtrip Part I

Jack and I have just returned from an eight day roadtrip to Kentucky, the land of impeccable horse farms, southern hospitality, French influence, bourbon whiskey, beautiful women and fast horses. (The adjectives for the last two nouns are frequently transposed from beautiful women and fast horses to fast women and beautiful horses!) Without a doubt every American should make a trip or two to Kentucky, The Bluegrass State. There is lots to see, do and experience in Kentucky.
And probably the most famous export of Kentucky is anything to do with the Kentucky Derby and horses although this coming week Louisville, Kentucky will be in the midst of Ryder Cup mania. But just take a look at the beautiful horse and rider and barn in this picture. I snapped this photo at the famous Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. I will share with you many more photos of this park in coming days.
Here is my hubby with his old Army buddy, Leon. We spent the week with Leon and his beautiful and charming wife, Helen. They live next door to the golf community that is hosting the Ryder Cup. Leon is a wonderful cook and Helen is a wonderful gardener so I have lots in common with them. Leon who speaks seven languages is the most debonair man I have ever met! (Sorry Jack.) When we were not busy attending the NARFE convention in downtown Louisville, we were enjoying time with Leon and Helen. Jack and Leon spent a lot of time reminiscing about their old Army days in Ludwigsburg: running Army payroll, traveling in Germany and Austria and of course, drinking beer at Rosies. More about all of that later this week, I promise.
This is Leon and Helen's lovely home situated in a cathedral of green trees and Kentucky bluegrass. I have more photos of their backyard and koi pond that I will share later. But look below at this last photo. See that Louisville Cardinal flag. It sits proudly at the entrance of Leon and Helen's house.
Leon graduated from the University of Louisville before he met my husband in Germany in the Army pay roll office. They were both fortunate to spend their days in Germany versus dodging bullets in Vietnam. Germany is the land of good food and beer and it sure beat a year in Vietnam. Leon is still a very active Cardinal at the University of Louisville, particularly with his old fraternity and the Jewish organizations on campus. I had fun teasing Leon because Louisville's arch rival college is the University of Kentucky in Lexington where I earned my certification in school library science. Leon extolled the virtues of the U of L Cardinals while I extolled the virtues of the U of K Wildcats. Both schools are basketball powerhouses in the tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio which is known for greaaaaaaat basketball! And all three states have boundary lines formed by the great Ohio River. Tomorrow I have lots of photos of the Kentucky Horse Park to show you all and on Monday I will explain what NARFE is and why we attended the NARFE bi-annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

I hope you all are having a great weekend and staying out of the path of Hurricane Ike.