2024 Schwieterman Summer Adventure Series - Part 1 - Lexington, KY

Travels with our Trachie

In our continuing pursuit to see as many National Parks as we can, our summer adventure this year was camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Being from Ohio, we certainly wouldn’t be covering as many miles, but we were hopeful that we would make just as many memories.

The first leg of our tour was a two-day stop at Lexington Horse Park Campground. We’ve passed by the horse park on interstate many times over the years but have never made it a destination. Now that our girls are older and have shown an interest in horses, I thought it was worth looking into. Our travel dates just happened to coincide with Pony Club Festival Championships. Ponies?! Yes, please!

We stayed in the loop B near the pool. Since we don’t tow a golfcart, we opted for a spot close to the amenities to cut down on walking. Our older girls were sun-screened and suited up for swimming within minutes of putting the slides out on the travel trailer. The temperature felt like the surface of the sun, so they couldn’t wait to cool off in the pool. But wait they would. Bummer! There were thunderstorms in the area, the distant area, so the pool was closed. Not the greatest start to the vacation, but we’ve dealt with worse (like the air conditioner breaking while camping in Las Vegas!)

Eventually, we made our way to the pool for some family fun. Swimming with our trachie is a two-person job. One parent is in charge of our trachie and the other is in charge of the ventilator. But we make it work. Our daughter's favorite pool activity is jumping off the deck into Daddy's arms. Her exuberant smile and sheer joy always attracts on-lookers, who also seem to be beaming with joy just to be watching her.  We rounded out the evening with dinner around the campfire with a camping favorite: chili cheese dogs (with a family secret recipe, award-winning chili) and we were ultimately lulled to sleep by the sound of an evening thunderstorm.

The itinerary for our final day in Lexington was a trip next door to the Kentucky Horse Park. We started the morning in the Kids Barn, and I think the girls would have been happy in there all day. The interactive exhibits were a big hit, all the girls loved sitting on the saddled barrels in front of the simulated horse racing screens.

We made our way to all the scheduled shows and saw two of the Pony Days racing events, but the highlight of the day was the pony ride for our trachie, and the 35-minute trail ride for our older girls. They all had smiles for days!

The Kentucky Horse Park is truly a must-see for any family. The grounds are beautiful, all the paths are paved, the attractions are well-timed out for a great half-day experience, that can easily turn into a full day. It gets our recommendation!

The Kentucky Horse Park Campground is conveniently located and offers shaded and spacious spots, clean showers, paved paths, and a large, heated pool. We were disappointed that the pool closed far too early, at 6pm, but the campground gets bonus points because its store/gift shop stocked Kentucky Bourbon Ale, my husband’s favorite (just get your shopping done before 6pm, they close up early in the south!)   

Overall, our Kentucky adventure was an excellent start to our summer adventure as we Travel with our Trachie!