Breyerfest 2014 - Real and Steel Horses

[cowboyup3371]

After promising the wife for the last 6 years that she would get to go to the Breyerfest horse festival in Lexington, Ky, we finally made it there this weekend. The festival is a 3-day celebration of the model horse company through horse exhibits, model sales, and other shows (more info at www.breyerhorses.com). As we couldn't leave until late Friday evening due to work commitments, we rode/drove down on I-75 to stay in Georgetown KY about three miles north of the Kentucky Horse Park. I must say I'm glad I bought the Vista Cruise throttle lock system as I hate riding on the highway; but that made it much easier to endure.

We parted company early Saturday morning so they could attend the day's events and where Charmayne got to lead a Sugarbush Draft horse in an exhibition breed show.

As much as I love horses and will watch many shows, I really wanted to spend some time out riding. Taking Marvinsc's advice, I headed west on US-68 out of Lexington. The first part of the highway was fantastic although I fought with a lot of traffic for most of the day. I made a short sightseeing stop at Fort Harrod in Harrodsburg then made my way to Campbellsville. After a quick lunch I headed east on KY-70 where I again had to deal with a lot of cages that felt it necessary to ride their brakes around 30 mph curves. Turning north again in Liberty, KY, I made my way back to US-68 and into town again.

Scott recommended I stop off in Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill but I ran out of time as I was supposed to meet up with the family for a Celebration of Horses show that evening which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We left the next morning for home taking the very twisty, narrow, and beautiful KY-32 into Falmouth where we then picked up KY-22 and KY-10 to Maysville. Kentucky 32 and 22 are perhaps the best roads I traveled all weekend. KY-32 is extremely twisty, unmarked, and only wide enough in spots for two cars to pass IF they hug the shoulders (my truck would never have made it). Most of the turns are rated at 25 to 30 mph with a few 90 degree ones after a rise. I had to really grip the tank on one of them as I carried in too much speed. I made it through but wish I could show them off using my GoPro; sadly I'd left the actual case for it at home (brought the camera and mounts).

Although I intended to drive out to Portsmouth before turning back to Miamisburg, we chose to head back a little earlier. We then crossed the river there and headed north on OH-763; it too was a fantastically twisty road but I took it much easier than I did in Kentucky as Charmayne jumped on as a passenger. We ran into a short rain storm about 70 miles from home but made it home before the bigger storm hit last night.

Pictures with stories to come.

[cowboyup3371]

Leaving the hotel I traveled out KY-460 to KY-922 for a fun but small wakeup to Kentucky. I was able to show off a gorgeous looking farm to the wife (expensive homes along the way) and Charmayne within only a couple of miles from the hotel



Making my way through Lexington (great downtown area) to US-68, I had to pull off as the car in front of me didn't make the road as fun as it was on the way back. But the view was great with a small creek below





I crossed the Kentucky River when I immediately ran into some construction; I believe they were replacing the guard rail.





I stopped to see Fort Harrod, the first permanent settlement in Kentucky. Although a replica, it was built across the street from the original grounds (now a parking lot) using the actual plans found in writings that are kept at the Smithsonian.



Built by James Harrod, it's supposedly one of about three forts never breached by Indians during the Revolutionary War.





Outside of the fort remains the original graveyard of its inhabitants and it was interesting to note some of the signs. One, a child of about 2, that died in 1802 and the preacher who married Abraham Lincoln's parents are buried there. It's also interesting to note that none of the headstones had any markings on them.

[cowboyup3371]

Some great trivia found in the graveyard as well



Outside of the cemetery was a tribute to all of Kentucky's unknown deceased



After paying a very modest $5 fee (worth much much more), I toured the inside of the fort. They use re-enactors who sound as though they know their stuff and were very well versed in the history. The first person I met explained how the fort was built around a natural spring, something most other forts in Kentucky weren't. It helped prevent the breeching of the fort but also led to problems for them as both human and animal excrements ruined the water





Where/how they stored their gunpowder





and a working blacksmith shack



Some of the wood tools used then:

[cowboyup3371]

The ordinary house where people from the road could stay, sleep, and eat. I enjoyed the idea of paying 12 cents for a cold one...













Re-learned how soap was made back then

[cowboyup3371]

And the first school house



Anybody want bacon? (five years old, supposedly okay to eat but the folks said they'd only go as far as 2 years old)





The largest tree in the country is actually larger than the National tree but can't be called as such since it's broken:





blocking the sidewalk



Lincoln's parent's marriage cabin inside of the chapel. They put it there to protect it from further destruction by the elements. Unfortunately, the picture I took of the cabin didn't turn out well.





Later in the day on KY-70, another stop to get away from vehicles in front of me.

[cowboyup3371]

Joined the family at Breyerfest for the evening show. Thanks to the lighting conditions, my iPhone didn't work so well but I managed to get a few shots







These horses are remarkably well trained to handle sparklers at their legs



including one of some of the most beautiful horses - Friesens, Andalusians, and Lippizaners. There were also two gorgeous paints (a horse I'm partial too) but those pictures didn't turn out.



The ride home; Charmayne took most of these pictures from the Chevy and had a lot of duplicates so I tried to pare some of them down







I liked this police station though - pretty small for a pretty small town



I am looking forward to going back to Kentucky to try more roads out; we're also planning on making it back to Breyerfest next year.

[marvinsc]

Nice write up, though I have passed Fort Harrod many times, I had never stopped. Danville is another cool town, Kentucky's constitution was written there but politics of the time screwed them out of being the State Capital. You would enjoy Pleasant hill as well when you get time.

[cowboyup3371]

Nice write up, though I have passed Fort Harrod many times, I had never stopped. Danville is another cool town, Kentucky's constitution was written there but politics of the time screwed them out of being the State Capital. You would enjoy Pleasant hill as well when you get time.

Thank you Scott. It was a lot of fun and I want to try to find more roads next time.

[winfield]

I just ran across this report. Excellent photos and write-up. You were in some perty country. The photo of the KY River brought back good memories for me. I used to pass that very spot every Sunday on my way to Gravel Switch--look that up on the map. It was 20 years ago so it occurred before much of Rt. 68 was straightened out. It used to have many more curves.

Fort Harrod was a blast. You'll have to get out to Perryville and go to the battle ground--Civil War era. The United Methodist Church there was used as a hospital and took a cannon ball and musket balls through the wall. A GSR member lives near Perryville in a smaaaall town called Mitchellsburg. I think his handle is Brownsford.

High Bridge is another place of minor interest (as opposed to a full-blown tourist attraction like Ft. Harrod and Shaker Village). The road dead ends there and there is a railroad bridge that spans the KY River. Built by the same guy that built the Brooklyn Bridge. Down at the river level is a lock and its kind of interesting. Some college age boys tried to canoe over the spillway there around that time (20+ yrs ago) and one of them drowned.

Thanks for posting.