Knowing we were passing through Louisville Kentucky on our way to/from picking up the Airstream, we put the Kentucky Derby Museum & Churchill Downs race track on our “to-do” list. It didn’t disappoint.
When we visited: August 2013
Ages of kids: 8, 6, 3
Where we stayed: Louisville Metro KOA. Moving the Airstream for the first time we knew we wanted “safe”. Full hookups, close to what we wanted to see. It was parking lot, however, so don’t go for the view.
To prep the kids for this adventure, we spent the previous Sunday evening watching the movie Secretariat. While I don’t think the kids fully understood the depth of the story, they did comprehend that Secretariat is an awesome race horse, and that he & his jockey wore blue silks (Cara’s favorite color). Plus, it just made all of us ridiculously excited.
We showed up right as it opened, and there was only a few other people there and most of them were not children. I love visiting places during the middle of the week in the off season.
We spent the first hour or so playing in the exhibits. The museum is kid friendly with many interactive exhibits. My favorite was watching them pretend to be jockeys and race each other. So adorable.
We also participated in the Churchill Downs tour. It was hot and muggy, and the kids don’t normally like tours but they did okay. Each Triple Crown Winner has their name in gold with a crown and we had fun hunting down Secretariat’s. There have only been 11 Triple Crown Winners, so it is definitely an achievement for any thoroughbred horse. To win, the horse has to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes.
It was fun to see the track. Part of me wants to put a race at Churchill Downs on my bucket list, and the other part of me thinks it involves too much beer and drinking. Two things I don’t enjoy.
Overall our visit was a total win! We loved learning more about horse racing in general, and about Secretariat specifically. Definitely recommend to those traveling through the area!
There’s a couple of great things about visiting beaches in the “off” season. The best thing is less people. Delaware Sea Shore was virtually empty, Rehoboth had more but its a boardwalk beach with other shops and things to do anyway, and we found a more secluded spot at Lewes Beach that only hand a handful of other people. Miles of sand all to ourselves. Beach gear is also on sale. We drove by a shop that was closing down for the winter and scored sand toys, a beach bag, a beach umbrella, and two boogie boards for 50% off. We knew we were headed to Florida & then Southern California (eventually) and figured we definitely needed to be prepared.
While returning to Virginia with our newly purchased Airstream, we needed to make a stop in Radford, Virginia for a business visit by Sam. Searching on Google Maps, I located a State Park nearby that put us 1/2 hour away from Sam’s site visit. There really wasn’t much else in the area so I guessed it would have to do.
We would have stayed longer, but the park is in fairly close proximity to Virginia Tech and fills up quickly on football weekends. We couldn’t get a spot past Thursday night. Oh well, next time. Because we definitely will be going back. 
We spent a relaxing 4 days at this state park, but I think I could have stayed for 2 weeks. Located about 25 minutes south Savannah, Georgia, the park is easy to get to, has plenty of activities for kids, and is in close proximity (20 minutes) to a grocery store. There are 2 playgrounds, a nature center, and miles of trails to explore either on bike or on foot. We took the kids on a 3 mile bike ride (we walked, they rode) and explored an old moonshine still (from bootlegging days), and a civil war battery site. They also have patches the kids can earn similar to the Jr. Ranger Badges at National Parks.
My kids also made friends with some other full time kids and they spent hours making “forts” among the palm trees, creating spears out of dead palm fronds, and generally running around having a good time. I definitely recommend staying here and we can’t wait to go back someday!