Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Part two of our Bluegrass Driving Tour Lovers…I said that I was going to post more about the actual driving tour information in this post but I am going to do a separate post with all of that information.

I had researched this driving tour last year but it just did not work out.  It does take a fair amount of strategy to figure out the best route but I must say all the planning paid off.

This is a note to all who want to take the driving tour.  Keeneland Race Track is open the entire month of October.  Howl ever…they do not run on Mondays and Tuesdays.  This is why I planned our trip on these days.  We basically had Keeneland to ourselves and we could explore to our hearts content.  This is a beautiful track and really very stunning.

We left Frankfort, KY very early so we could travel to the Keeneland Track Kitchen, about 30 minutes away.

Folks, this place is a little known treasure.  5 dollars for a down home KY breakfast.

This is where the jockeys, trainers and owners of the fast paced fillies eat.  It is hard to find but just look for the big black water tower.  Also I found an address but I don’t know if it would show up on GPS.  4345 Track Kitchen Dr., Lexington KY.

Plus, it meets our dog friendly dining requirements.  If you look right above my head you can see the basset hauling vehicle with the young Mayor inside taking her morning nap.

After a huge breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits with gravy, grits, apples and hot coffee,  we took our own walking/waddling tour. I am looking at the map for the walkers.

Dogs are allowed everywhere.  Since it was an off day for racing the folks were all so laid back with lingering warm greetings.  We heard more than once, “beautiful hound”!

We could have stayed all day but the changing leaves wait for no hound!

We left out of back gate lane and made a right on a country road that 2 cars cannot pass without slowing down and moving over.

See the fences on this back road picture?  All of the fences on the right are white and on the left black.  This was not explained and I could not find the answer why.

Then around the corner an estate that some say inspired the look of Tara in Gone With the Wind.

One more of the spectacular Winchester Farm.

There are 42 points of interest on the Bluegrass Driving Tour and if you drive non stop to all of them it takes about 3 hours.  Of course, in bassethoundtown we do nothing non stop!  LOL!

Part Three – Daisy Lynn makes lots and lots of friends….

More working on Part Three later…Love Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB loving Draft Horses;)

 

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Dog Friendly Kentucky Lovers…Part one of our leaf viewing trip via the Bluegrass Driving Tour was to Midway and Frankfort, KY.  These cities are considered Country Side Trips.

Grandma, Daisy Lynn and I drove to Midway and had a KY Hot Brown at Darlin’ Jean’s.  This was to be Daisy Lynn’s first time waiting in the car while we dined.

We picked this day because the weather was a perfect 55 degrees for keeping Daisy Lynn in the car.

This place also met our other requirement.

I have to see the car from my seat at the restaurant.  Check out the outside porch!  Dogs are allowed!  The star of this place…Hot Brown, not to mention Daisy Lynn – she did great except for some crying and barking for a few minutes.

There is so much to do in this area of KY.  We decided to veer off the Bluegrass Driving Tour and hit the bourbon trail for one stop.  Yes, dear readers, there is a wonderful trail for you bourbon lovers.  Buffalo Trace was on the way to our next stop in Frankfort.  What a cool place.  Daisy Lynn was a rock star!  Dogs are allowed and welcomed whole heartedly.

Daisy Lynn did a mini photo shoot for the distillery’s new dog section of their website!  I even bought a bottle as a gift for a friend of mine.  Do you know that this spirit can only be called bourbon if it is made in Kentucky?  All others must be called Whiskey.

We left and drove to the state Capital in Frankfort about 10 minutes away.  The Capital has a wonderful, wide, wrap around veranda around the entire building.

The grounds are gorgeous!  Dogs are walking everywhere.  I stayed outside with Daisy Lynn and Grandma went in and looked around.  I was going to go in after her but they shut it down at 4:00pm???  Seems a bit early but it is well worth the trip back.

Then we were ready to go to our Dog Friendly Hotel, always a nervous experience.  OMDAWG, OMDAWG!  The Capital Inn in Frankfort KY!!!

Look at the size of these connecting rooms!  Daisy Lynn was right at home with her Grandma and her Gully!

Daisy Lynn starting looking at the menu right away!

Now here is the best part.  Dogs are allowed right outside of the grill where we ordered dinner!  Look at this place!

This is the other side of the wall of glass fountain!

What a wonderful place to stay.  The Capital Inn is very affordable and they love dogs.  We were all thrilled!

More getting to part two later…Love Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB sending good vibes for the young Mayor)

PS – Soon I will be doing detailed reviews on Trip Adviser and Dog Friendly Kentucky for all of these places.  4 Paws Up!!!!

PPS – I will post more information about the Bluegrass Driving Tour Map in the next post.

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and updates about the Baby Mayor Lovers…

First…Daisy Lynn now weighs in at 44.6 pounds!

Second…Daisy Lynn’s paws are 95% better.  Yes I said paws.  Turns out, all of her paws were scratched up.  One more than the others.  Her pads are still very soft even though we walk almost every day.  I guess, I do keep her in the grass for large parts of our walks.

Third…I am still brushing her teeth everyday.  Her vet was very impressed!

Fourth…Daisy Lynn is 100% potty trained, if it does not rain!  LOL – she makes a rare mistake if it is pouring down raining even though she has a covered back porch.

Last but not least!!! She now rides in her new collapsible mesh cage in the car!

The Rescue Remedy did not help enough to let her enjoy a car ride.

It is a very nice princess palace.

She has mesh so she can look out between the arm rest that she was trying to climb up on for most of our car rides.

She can still be right between Grandma and Mama.

Here she is pushing her nose against the mesh, still crying but not as much.

100 bucks well spent.  You can’t put a price on safety.

More loving the new car cage later…Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB knowing they were the best car riders ever)

PS – Daisy Lynn’s first bassethoundtown car trip coming soon…

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Dog Friendly Road Trips with Bassethoundtown Lovers…

Today Grandma, Daisy Lynn and I took off to explore one of the great wonders in our region, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park.  We give this park 4 paws up!

The namesake pyramid

It’s the home that gives the park its name, the entire structure is built into the hilltop and capped by a large glass pyramid that floods his sunken living room with soft, natural light. Harry Wilks, attorney and philanthropist designed the place – sketching preliminary ideas on a legal pad while walking his dog around a nearby lake.

“I saw some deer on the top of the hill and thought, ‘Why can’t I go through that hill?’ I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind,” he said.

Pyramid Hill is one of few sculpture parks in the United States. Upon opening in 1996, it was touted as the “most beautiful natural setting of any art park in the country” by Atlantic Monthly. This 335-acre  park features more than 60 monumental contemporary sculptures. The park’s Ancient Sculpture Museum displays antiquities from the Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Egyptian civilizations.

First off we found an artistic place for our picnic.  Just look at that tree, we named it the Daisy Tree!

We enjoyed a lunch of chicken, chips, and cold frozen margaritas.

Then it was off to explore art and nature!  Daisy Lynn was curious about this larger than life frame for a tree!

The next stop…A steel tower to attach a leash too;)

We found this stone sculpture bench.

Daisy Lynn was posing like a super model!

We spotted this orange funny looking thing between the trees with orange leaves.

Keep in mind, there are lots and lots of walking paths.  If you are not able to walk or too tired you can rent an “art cart”!  There are golf cart paths that link all of the 60 sculptures.  You can even take your dog in the cart if you wish.

This place not only allows dogs, they encourage them. 

Given Daisy Lynn’s nervousness over motor vehicles we decided to hoof it this time.

We took a longer walk over to the Pyramid House.  The House is private property but you can certainly see it from the paths.

But first Daisy Lynn wanted to look at the water spout.

This was one of my personal favorites…

You can kind of see the Pyramid House in the way background from this shot.

Here is my artsy shot of this sculpture with the pyramid of the house through it!  If you knock on it there are musical sounds that echo.  So cool!

Harry had a sculpture of himself designed and he sits right outside of his home.

Harry is now 88 years old and is famous for saying….

“Follow your passion—don’t do the easy thing. Passion gives you energy and keeps you going.”

No truer words have ever been spoken.  Today Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park was our passion.  Thanks Harry!

More loving dog friendly road trips with bassethoundtown later…Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB riding in golf carts over the rainbows.)

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Alexandria Community Park Lovers…We adore this park that is located about 20 minutes from bassethoundtown.  Interestingly, it is hidden so it is hard to find.  We stumbled upon it with the Late Mayor Chaps Wayne Rudert about a year ago.  For those of you looking for the park it is on Alexandria Drive in Alexandria, KY.

We did not know it at the time but a big blue heron was standing on a stump off to the right!

Grandma spotted the blue beauty and took this picture.

We could not get a picture of blue beauty as he or she jumped up and ducked behind the trees but it look just like this picture I found on the internet.

Wow!  What a wonderful sight to see.  We were alerted that the big blue heron was on the lake by another dog walker leaving as we are coming in.

It is rare for Grandma and I to get our picture taken together.  Another park lover offered.

Right up the bend is a small wet land preserve.  Very small but very important to maintain.

This park is a real hidden treasure.  It was funny, we could not find it so I just searched my blog and found out about howl we got there a year ago.  I hope others find it through my blog as well.

More loving adventures in your own backyard later…Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB flying with the big rainbow herons)

 

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and stair master lovers…Daisy Lynn and I wanted to share our own personal park stair master.  We try to go everyday.  We have the best intentions!

A puppy needs to exercise not to mention her Mom!

First we walk down in the grass…

And then we rest and walk up.  Daisy Lynn could run but she is tugging her Mom.

We both feel like this when we get home…

She recuperates a lot  faster than me;)

More hitting the natural stair master tomorrow…Love, Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB pushing Mommy up the hill)

 

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption Lovers…

Daisy Lynn, Grandma and I decided to venture over to the Cathedral to see if they had a garden we could meander through.

The garden area is in the back of the Basilica.  It is very quaint (not like the Cathedral!;)

Look howl blue the sky is in the windows.  The clouds were so puffy.

This view really gave the stain glass a run for its money!

The area is a quiet sanctuary and we had the whole thing to ourselves.  There are plenty of benches to sit and stink awhile;)

This is Grandma and Daisy Lynn in the shadows.  There is a shady path that winds around the towering gargoyled topped church.  There are 26 gargoyles so if you visit the garden area, bring your binoculars.  Very cool.

This is around the next corner.  Those are 2 huge magnolia trees.  I bet a few weeks ago they were stunning.

This is a picture from the website.  I did not get a picture from the front.

Then it was time to go home to our own quiet sanctuary….

So peaceful….

Nite, nite residents….

More loving spending time visiting places that are hound friendly later…Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB floating on those clouds that were in the windows)

 

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Memory Lovers…Today Grandma and I took the puppy out to make some memories.

First off Daisy Lynn had to play with Grandma! She loves to try and sit up while giving her totally cute face.

OK, time to roll.  I had to take a selfie of Daisy Lynn and I.

We both had on our American Flag bandannas!  Like Mother, like doghter!

As soon as we pulled into Devou Park in Covington, KY I spotted a big boy basset.  I threw it in park and ran down to meet and greet Oscar.  I had to be quick so I took off on my own…Sorry no picture but what a treat for me!

It was a glorious day in the park.  One of the best in KY.  It is up high and the breezes are delicious.

We met a rather plump wiener dog!  Daisy is an in your face kind of gal!

Now this is a Memorial Day picture for the ages with Grandma!

Stars and stripes and Emma forever…

More Memories and Memorials later…Love, Cat, Daisy Lynn, (Chaps and Emma ATB loving that we were wearing their flag bandannas!)

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Pink Magnolia Lovers.  Today we took Baby Gerber Daisy to the Boone County Arboretum.

The last time we visited we were with Chaps and Emma and got lost! 

The walking paths are so confusing and today was no different.  We almost got lost again!

The day started with a delicious picnic and Daisy was so excited!

The Arboretum was showcasing the Pink Magnolias which were in full bloom.

Pink Magnolias were at their peak in Northern KY today and we were all excited to be a part of that!

Daisy Lynn was in her glory.  Can you imagine a puppy seeing all of this for the first time?

Look at her smile.  So sweet!

And the smiling continued under the blush magnolia!

The puppy was pleased…

More loving almost getting lost in the pink magnolias later, Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB) showing us the way…

 

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Spring Flower Lovers…Today Grandma, Daisy Lynn and I ventured out to greet the Spring Daffodils!  We love this Ohio State Park and could not wait to shake the cold weather off.

I decided to put Daisy in her grass green outfit!

Of course, I had to match!

Here is a short clip of Daisy Lynn walking over a mini foot bridge…

IMG_5088

Her ears dragged over 3 miles of Woodland Mound Park.

Then she made some new fans….

They both were barefoot and told me that they could not wait to feel the grass in their toes.

Daisy Lynn felt the same way!

We had fun enjoying the Daffodils…

And eating them!  hehehe

More loving grass in our paws and daffodils later…Cat, Daisy Lynn (Chaps and Emma ATB) walking over the foot bridge with the new Mayor…

 

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