This family road trip itinerary is about the greatest two minutes in sports and a hero that set a record in 1973 that is yet to be beaten. This road trip itinerary is dedicated to Kentucky Derby and an amazing horse named Secretariat.
As a background to this itinerary and the movie here is an exciting 3 minutes video about Kentucky Derby:
The movie is based on a real story about the 1973 Derby winner, Secretariat, who not only set an unbeatable time record at this race but also won two more prestigious races in a span of 5 weeks (Belmont Stakes and Preakness) to become a Triple Crown Winner, a title that only a handful horses achieved in about 140 years of the Derby history. One does not have to be knowledgeable in races or horses to understand the significance of this achievement.
Kentucky Derby is a very elegant and high energy event at the same time, each of the horses participating in it is already a star in its own right and every one of them is a stunning beauty. The Derby is frequented by A-listers from all over the world, from Hollywood stars to Queen Elizabeth II. I am not a gambler or horse races connoisseur but after watching the movie “Secretariat” blessed by fantastic performances of Diane Lane and John Malkovich I was hooked. I wanted to be part of the spectacle that is Kentucky Derby.
Not so fast. A ticket to the race that guarantees you a seat on a metal bench under the scorching sun (or pouring rain) costs a couple of hundred dollars. If you want a more decent covered seat on a balcony protected from the sun and rain you are looking at 4-digit dollar numbers. And most of the good tickets get snatched pretty quickly after the sale opens. So my challenge was: how to create a great Kentucky Derby family road trip itinerary without breaking the budget? And here is what I came up with.
Stop 1.
The next best thing after Derby itself is actually visiting Churchill Downs (the race track in Louisville, KY where the race is held) during off-season and take a guided tour of the venue, then visit the museum and a cafe on site. Behind the Scenes tour is fantastic. It gives you information about the history, the races, the horses and so much more and you are allowed to go where you won’t be able to go during the famous race, like, the track itself and the Millionaires’ Row, a part of the venue designated for rich and famous guests. You could see what nobody else sees, unless they are, say, Bradley Cooper or the Queen of England.
After the tour you can visit the museum with the Derby memorabilia and some cool interactive exhibits – the most favorite one for kids is the race simulator (to be honest it is great fun for adults too 😉 )
You can end your visit with a lunch at the Derby Cafe that serves some of the food that is a staple on the day of the Derby, such as their famous Derby Pie and Mint Julep.
Stop 2.
We were surprised to find out that Churchill Downs racetrack was founded by Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. the grandson of the famous William Clark, explorer and organizer of the Lewis and Clark expedition. With that information at hand we could not miss a historic site commemorating the aforesaid expedition. Across the river from Louisville, on Indiana’s side, there is a nice State Park called Falls of the Ohio, right on the bank of the Ohio river. The Park is of great interest from historical and geological perspective.
From historical point of view it is interesting because it houses the “Clark home”, which is an integral part of the Lewis and Clark expedition story. Meriwether Lewis met William Clark here, and together they recruited the “nine young men from Kentucky” that formed the core of the Corps of Discovery that departed October 26, 1803. There are a couple of the original structures, some interpretive stands here, a monument to both explores and a replica of a the expedition boat, which kids love to explore. You can say it is a birth place and a starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
From geological perspective the Park is fascinating because it is home to world’s most accessible Devonian-age fossil beds. You can see a lot of well preserved fossils on the banks the river which will definitely be interesting for junior paleontologists to investigate. You can also add hiking and bird watching to the mix and you will have a great time.
If you are interested to find out more about traveling in Indiana, check out Fort Wayne family fun.
Stop 3.
When in Louisville, it makes sense to take a one and a half hour drive to Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave encompasses the longest cave system in the world, which includes more that 400 miles of passageways with beautiful mineral formations (stalactites and stalagmites). You can visit the cave on one of the guided tours organized by National Park Service. In addition to that, the area around the cave within the Park has some good hiking and biking trails that are definitely worth exploring.
Please note, that Mammoth Cave is located in a different time zone than Louisville (1 hour difference) even though they are just a little more that 1 hour apart in terms of driving time. So when you are planning time for your cave tour, bear that in mind.
Stop 4 and 5.
There are a lot of interesting attractions in Louisville itself that you can visit depending on your interests. Our family is not into baseball so we were not interested in Slugger Museum. But we absolutely loved Louisville Zoo and Kentucky Science Center. Both places will take a couple of hours to explore so you may combine them in one day. I always like to have activities both indoors and outdoors in my itineraries so that you can pick and choose them depending on the weather.
The Zoo is impressive in size and covers many different habitats and the entrance and parking fees are much less than a lot of other similar size zoos in the country, which is a tangible bonus. It will also be expending in 2019 adding snow leopard and African primate exhibit
Kentucky Science Center is an excellent science museum with various hands-on activities and a 3-D movie theater. If it rains on your parade they have you covered for a good half a day.
This whole family road trip itinerary nicely packs into a long weekend (4 days was sufficient for us). If you are interested in a longer stay in town there is a lot more to see and do. A lot of attractions in Kentucky focus on bourbon, which is great if you travel with adults only but if you plan to visit with kids here is a list of family friendly attractions in Louisville.
If you found this family trip itinerary useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
Where to stay: we stayed away from downtown at Embassy Suites by Hilton in East Louisville. Since you are away from the center of town you get much lower prices but with all the perks of Embassy Suites like huge suites, free breakfast in the morning and free manager’s reception in the evening, etc. And there is no issues with driving around town because Louisville is on a smaller size and not as congested as many metropolitan areas. For current best deals on hotels in Louisville, check Booking.com
Where to eat: I am usually cautious about giving advice where to eat because people have very different tastes, dietary restrictions, etc. But in the case of Louisville I can’t help mentioning Havana Rumba. It is a Cuban restaurant (there are 3 locations in town) with the yummiest food and the friendliest atmosphere for families. We ended up going there twice because the food was so good and the prices were very reasonable. Check the following link for more cool dining option in Louisville and other things to do in town.
Additional resources for kids:
To increase the educational component of the trip, here are some great books that kids will love to read:
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