Thursday, March 24, 2011

13 Places Favorite Places to Kill Time

Spring is in the air and it makes me want to jump in a car and go visit some of my favorite places! Since I am attached to a desk with a ball and chain these days unlike the good old days when I could always plan a side trip whenever I wanted as I cruised the back roads of America, I must visit my favorite spots in my Minds Eye....and here at Thursday 13.

1) Lexington Cemetery - Always beautiful even in the winter. Not only a place of rest for the departed, it is also a arboretum that is constantly changing and always breathtaking. I love to just go sit at one of the lakes and watch the ducks. It's soothing. It may be odd to some, but I always find cemeteries calming and peaceful. I love to take photographs any time of the year. There is a bronze statue of a girl with her palms faced upwards and her head thrown back and it as if she were caught running for joy! I have always wanted to photograph her at night with lightening bugs dancing all around her, but the cemetery shuts its gate before dark.





2) There is an Architectural Salvage place in Louisville on Broadway that I could spend all afternoon browsing around. I can not wait to go back.

3) In Ft. Wayne there is the coolest ever indoor Farmers Market tucked in a old residential part of town called South Side Farmers Market. I love it! If the weather gets chilly they fire up a pot belly stove located in the middle of the "E" shaped building. You can find anything from flowers to hand cream made from bee's honey. The Amish are there with their baked goods. You can find vintage jewelry and potted plants. Odds and ends of everything. Oh, and fruits and veggies.

4) The best kept secret in Lexington was the Book Cellar at the Lexington Public library. I think I stumbled in when it first opened and before they discovered E-bay. I picked up some priceless first editions. It has expanded to the down stairs lobby and houses some fantastic collection of Travel Books and Cookbooks. Always something unusual for sale. You never know if you will find maps from the 1700's or a magazine from the 1950's.

5) Beale Street in Memphis. When Joe finally found out we were heading back to Memphis the first image that popped into my head was fun on Beale Street and those Big Ass Beers! woo-hoo!

6) Lynns Paradise Cafe in Louisville. Every time I spend the night in big L, I meet my friend Cathy at LPC for breakfast. A very popular place in the Highlands, the wait for a table can sometimes make your head spin. But it's worth it. Watch out because on Sunday's you can not get a Bloody Mary until after 1pm. Boo-hoo. Food is fabulous and the whimsical, fun and colorful exterior is a show stopper. Inside the decor borders on fantasy land and most asked for table is a glass covered table that houses a working miniature train. Every summer at the State Fair there is a contest for the most unusual decorated lamp and the winners end up adorning the 50 style tables at Lynn's.



7) Kentucky Horse Park. When I worked for the beverage company this park was in my territory and one of my major accounts. It was so much fun to drive up to the guard and flash my badge and be waved in. Yea baby! I would park and walk around and "check things out". Which of course meant visiting the gift shop (found the coveted Zenyatta tree ornament at the store - they can not be found any where else), the show ring and walking around the hilly beautiful bluegrass checking out the horses from all over the world. I had the best job ever.

8) The Hyde Brothers Bookstore. The moment I stumbled into this old store I felt like I had come home. Books stacked to the ceiling and worn maroon carpets, old newspaper articles and maps taped to the book shelves along with stuffed animals , comic books, and knick knacks, it was like a falling into a technicolor dream. You could enter by the back screen door and immediately descent into the basement where the mystery section and the travel section were kept. My favorite thing was to open books and find all sorts of interesting items used as book marks. I have found European paper money, 1950 Girl Scout memorabilia, flight tickets, train tickets and old newspaper pictures, business cards and holy cards. It was like treasure hunting.

9) Versailles Flea Market. This place exists no longer and it is a crying shame! The occupants were given a 30 day notice to vacate as the shopping center had been sold to a developer and he wanted them OUT. The saddest thing is the deal fell through and the old K-Mart building which at one time was a Treasure House of old stuff looks like a broken down old vehicle. I have found some of the coolest stuff ever tucked away in the many stalls at the VFM. Half of a Coheleach set of Snow Leopards (I keep searching the Internet for the second piece to complete my set), iron skillets, old photographs, scrapbooks, and lots of useful old gadgets that are practically impossible to find! Old flour sifters and wooden rolling pins. A walk through this wonderful living and breathing history store was a great way to spend an afternoon or kill an hour.

10) Christ the King Church - Whenever I was having a bad morning and needed some grounding I would go catch the noon Mass at this church. There is a retired Jesuit priest that said Mass and gave a quick sermon based on the Gospel reading that day and it was always interesting as all get out. Once he told us all about his experiences with exorcisms. I hung on his every word. The last time I slipped in for Mass he was not there. I was very disappointed.

11) Lexington Arboretum. The parking lot sits high on a hill overlooking the walking trails and the meticulously maintained acreage it was the best place to sit and do paperwork on a late afternoon! Also to get out and stretch! Lovely spot.

12) Reeds Orchard - Hidden way down these little bitty country roads, at least they called them roads, they just as well could be trails! is a fantastic orchard in Bourbon Co. I would make the last mile on the gravel rock and pray I did not pop a tire and once I crossed the little wooden bridge I knew I had made it once again. I discovered hot pepper jelly at this far off the beaten path Orchard. The apple trees are fantastic in bloom. The apples themselves are juicy and beautiful.




13) The newest addition to my list Eagles Nest Bar and Marina in Paris Landing. I was instructed to find this place and meet up with some of my college buddies that I had not seen in many a year. The tables sit on a boat dock and there is entertainment and fabulous food. What is better than the sun on your face, boats coasting lazily in to dock, cold beer, old friends and foot stomping music. Nothing. I will go back again and again. Reminded me of Key West...a lot.



So there you go! And there I go if only in my dreams!


You can kill some time by visiting Thursday 13 by going HERE.

5 comments:

CountryDew said...

THose are great places to visit. Thank you so much for sharing, and for visiting my blog!

Anonymous said...

We've got an architectural salvage place here in town that I've always meant to visit, but never get around to.

Jon said...

Very intriguing choices! Unfortunately, here in West Texas there's no place to kill time but Wal-Mart.....

Mia Celeste said...

Good places. I like cemeteries too and I'm excited about Spring. Happy TT!

Rachel said...

Sounds like a bunch of awesome places!