Friday, May 21, 2010

Show Us Your Life- Hometown


Today over at Kelly's Korner show us your life Friday, everyone is blogging about their hometown and what makes it so special!

I live in Lexington, KY the horse capital of the world! It is a beautiful city and I really do love living here. As much as I love the beach, I would never want to live there because I would miss having all 4 seasons. Living in Lexington we get a true spring, summer, fall and winter. Fall is my favorite season in Kentucky, you just can't beat it. The crisp temps, the beautiful trees and UK football! It's the best!


This is a picture of our downtown. The downtown Lexington corporation is in the process of really sprucing up the downtown in preparation for the World Equestrian Games that are coming later this year. I am loving all the improvements! They are repaving roads, adding some really neat outdoor spaces and just doing some much needed maintenance.

I also love that Lexington has Keeneland! It is so much fun to get dressed up and go to the races for the spring and fall meets. Keeneland is absolutely beautiful. They actually filmed the movie Seabiscuit there.

Lexington's downtown is a great spot to get out and walk around too. We have lots of cute restaurants to eat at and some funky little shops. If you dont want to walk you can swing by and pick up a yellow bike. The yellow bike program was started in 2007 and is the coolest idea! You pay a $10 one time fee and get access to the yellow bikes that are located in various spots downtown. You unlock the bike, take it for a spin (up to 3 hours) and just return it to the location you picked it up at. How cool is that?!

Ahhh, triangle park sits right in the heart of downtown and is a great spot to sit and people watch on a summer night. And although I'm pretty sure you arent supposed to play in the fountains, it's almost like a Lexington rite of passage. If you grew up in Lexington, odds are you played in the fountains at some point.

Lexington is also the location of the Henry Clay Estate. I wont sit here and pretend I am a huge history buff, but I did want to add this because I think its pretty neat. The estate also sits in the middle of a really neat part of town called Chevy Chase. The neighborhood boasts beautiful historic homes on tree lined streets that are within walking distance to a grocery, ice cream shop and restaurants. Chevy Chase is also home to Christ the King church that holds one of my favorite fall events, Oktoberfest!

Oh yes, and did I mention we have a castle? The story goes that the castle was built about 25 years ago by a man named Rex Martin. Apparently Rex was building the castle for his wife but they divorced before it was completed. The castle actually caught on fire several years ago but was purchased and restored recently. It can now be rented out for wedding receptions. Talk about a fairy tail wedding!

There is no way I could do a post on Lexington without talking about the University of Kentucky and more specifically, UK sports! If you grew up in Lexington the blue is in your blood! My family always had tickets to basketball and football games so they started me young! I look forward to the first football game of the season every year. The SEC take their sports VERY seriously. There is not much better on a sunny October day then heading down to Commonwealth stadium to tailgate and watch those Cats! Ok, I need to quit talking about this, I don't want to wish my summer away.
It is also fun that UK is here because it makes Lexington a college town. There are a lot of fun bars to go to downtown and they are always filled with students. I rarely go out anymore, but when I do, you can bet that I will run into people I know. That's what makes it fun!


I saved the best reason for last! I love Lexington because all these people also live here. I don't ever see myself leaving because I would have such a hard time being away from my family. I want to watch Breck grow up and can't imagine only seeing him a few times a year. And on top of that, I have such an amazing circle of friendships here. I love that the majority of the people I love live in this city. I am proud to call it home.

8 comments:

Andrea @ The Dawley Fam said...

I love your town, it's so cute! I also live where my family does and can't stand the thought of moving away from them! Hope you have a great day! Andrea
http://www.andreasattic-andrea.blogspot.com

Jennifer said...

Thanks for stopping by and commenting Andrea!

Christa said...

Loved hearing about your town! Cute blog!! New follower!

Beth said...

I lived in Lexington for 3 years when I was in elementary school & I loved it, but being so young, I never realized just how beautiful it was until I brought my kids back a few years ago. I would move back in a heartbeat!

Rhoni Jo said...

I had the amazing, wonderful privilege of visiting nicholasville/lexington last October. My son had a two week training seminar in the area and I went along to see 'horse country" - I have now become a Kentucky Fanatic. I looked over the entries on Kelly's blog just for the Kentucky entries. I was so excited to see your entry for Lexington.

I walked in the mall every morning with the older folks and met such wonderful people. I explored and enjoyed everything about Kentucky. As I sit here in my KU sweatshirt, I dream of the day that I can permanently live in such an amazing place!

Brooke said...

Really enjoyed this post Jen :)

Shoshanah said...

I'm not a big biker, but I think that yellow bike program is a great idea.

And I love that castle. How fun would it be to get married there!

Jennifer said...

Rhoni- I work at the mall and see those walkers every morning, they are so cute!

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone!