Natural Bridge

School and life are crazy as usual, but I wanted to make another blog post because it's been a week or two since my last one!

So, about a month ago, I was sitting at home and decided it was about time for another adventure. I texted my friend Ashley and told her we needed to go exploring, asked if she would like to go to Natural Bridge in Slade, Kentucky, and told her to be ready by 10:00 am sharp the next day.

Luckily, the day we chose just happened to be one of those randomly gorgeous sunny and warm enough to wear a sweatshirt as long as you keep moving and don't sit for too long type of days...

And after what felt like weeks of the sun hiding behind clouds, this day felt like a little slice of spring in the middle of winter.

BUT! Anyway, Natural Bridge State Resort Park offers lots of different hiking trails ranging in length from a quarter of a mile to 7.5 miles, and in difficulty from easy to strenuous. According to their website, this state park contains at least 12 different hiking trails.

Because we wanted to get back before dark and Natural Bridge is about an hour east of Lexington (in Slade, KY), we chose to do The Original Trail (.75 miles) on the way up to the bridge, and The Balanced Rock Trail (.75 miles) on the way down. It probably took us about half an hour to climb up to the top, and another half an hour to get back to where we'd parked the car.

Depending on your level of experience/fitness these trails could take more or less time, just as a warning. However, I also have a knack for stopping every 20 feet to take a picture with my fancy camera when I hike, so that adds a bit of time as well...

Although sometimes you get some lovely pictures like this if you're lucky, so the extra time is totally worth it! (I was loving the light and my little camera remote on this trip!)



The top of the bridge offers one of the best views you can get while hiking in Kentucky... We went in the middle of winter, so obviously the trees were fairly bare, but the lookout was still very pretty!

One of these days I want to come back here again because I've heard of a place called the Froggy Bottom Diner that I'd like to try, so hopefully that'll happen soon! (And another blog post will ensue, of course.)


Also, Natural Bridge is surrounded by Red River Gorge, which I've also heard is great hiking and even rock climbing... Unfortunately I haven't managed to actually hike or climb in the gorge yet, but I hope to over the summer!

So, if you're looking for a great place to enjoy the outdoors in Kentucky, the city of Slade offers some great trails that lead to great views!

Thanks for reading! More to come soon...

North Lime Coffee and Donuts

I just now made a very sad discovery... Apparently although I love this local coffee shop and visited here at least 4 times over winter break, I never wrote a blog post about it, and that's just sad.

So! Here goes... North Lime Coffee and Donuts. Yum. In case you haven't noticed yet, I am very fond of coffee, and I love getting it from random local places especially. I also have the worst sweet tooth in the world, and donuts are one of my favorite breakfast foods.

Obviously, just from the name you can tell this is my kind of place.

Located near downtown in Lexington, KY,  North Lime Coffee and Donuts offers delicious, freshly roasted coffee from a local Lexington roaster (Nate's Coffee, to be exact!) as well as a variety of donuts made from scratch. They also offer free wifi, which is always a plus.

My favorite drink that I've tried so far was a "wet" cappuccino with a shot of caramel. When I'm in need of caffeine, I go for as much espresso as possible, and a wet cappuccino is very similar to a latte, just with a little extra espresso.

Anyway, in my humble opinion they also have the best plain glazed donuts around, and the fact that their donuts are square instead of round makes me happy... They also offer many other flavors daily: chocolate iced, cinnamon sugar, funnel cake, and cinnamonkeys, plus a monthly special that changes depending on when you stop by.

So far, I've never had anything from here that wasn't wonderfully sugar-coma inducing, and I highly recommend adding this to your list of places to grab coffee or breakfast in the morning because there's nothing better than caffeine and sugar from a local Kentucky coffee shop to make you feel alive!

If only I wasn't in Morehead right now, I'd probably be making this blog post from one of the tables at North Lime... Seriously stop by!

Also, they now have two locations: the original at 575 N Limestone St. and another at 3101 Clays Mill Rd. 

Hours and more available on their website: http://www.northlimelex.com/index.php

Meadowthorpe Café

{ Pepper Burger }

So! As I admitted in my last post, I'm currently playing a bit of catch up on here. This post is actually from earlier during the same day as the last one, and this burger from the Meadowthorpe Café was delicious. 

I'm not sure of exactly how long, but this restaurant has been around in Lexington for awhile now. When I mentioned to my parents where we were headed to lunch that day, they both mentioned that they'd been here before. 

Meadowthorpe Café is open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch from 8:00 am- 2:00 pm Monday-Saturday, and they open an hour later on Sunday. 

As you can see from this picture, it's got a bit of a diner/burger joint feel, which was appropriate for what Kam and I were looking for that day. 

Since going I've heard that they have a pretty kick-butt breakfast too though, and I'll have to go back and try it sometime. 

Anyway, by the time he and I got here, we were starving... Luckily, our food came out fairly quickly, and we weren't a bit disappointed by it either.

Here's one more wonderful burger picture before I finish up this post and call it a day... I can't remember what it was called, but Kameron's was barbecue-y and didn't sit on the plate for another second after I forced him to let me take this picture. 

For more information on this lovely local Kentucky restaurant, click on this link visit their facebook page. 

Hope you'll stop by and try it!

Triangle Park Ice Skating Rink

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!!

Okay, so I definitely thought I'd do a lot better at keeping up with this blog over break, but obviously that didn't happen. On the bright side, I did do lots of fun things, and all of them were in Kentucky, so I guess I'll just have to play catch up with some of the best places I've been since being home. 

Numero uno: Triangle Park Ice Skating Rink. 

The weekend after classes ended, Kameron came up to Lexington to stay for a few days. Friday, we went to Blue Door Smokehouse, a newer local barbecue joint that I MUST write about one of these days... unfortunately I was so distracted by my ribs that I didn't take any pictures to write a proper post, so that will come later after I revisit and eat my weight in pork. 

Anyway! I have decided that I have an extremely patient boyfriend because that Saturday, after taking Kam to a Hanukkah party with all my high school friends (we're Catholic by the way), I dragged him downtown and forced him to go ice skating with me. 

He'd never been, and he told me he hated me at least 20 or 30 times, but we still had a lot of fun! I love the fact that Lexington puts up an ice skating rink downtown in the winter now because it's very festive... and the Christmas music playing as we skated made me that much happier.

The rink will be up until January 11, so grab your favorite person/people and head down there while you still can! 

{more blog posts to come in the near future!}

25 Winter Date Ideas for Couples in Lexington, KY

The countdown to Christmas has begun and there's nothing I love more than the holidays. With just one week left in the semester, I'm ready to really get into the swing of things and have fun this winter break. This year I've been trying to plan out some fun things to do while I'm in town to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year... So, I came up with this list of 25 winter themed things to do in Lexington during the break. No boyfriend/girlfriend? No problem. Just grab your best friend and have some holiday fun. Enjoy!

1. Ice Skating in Triangle Park From early November until mid January, Triangle Park in downtown Lexington offers an outdoor ice skating rink perfect for a wintry date. Admission and skate rental costs only $10  per person for 90 minutes of gliding fun. Hours of operation listed here: http://www.lexingtoncenter.com/events/detail/unified-trust-company-ice-rink.

2. Southern Lights Listen to some holiday tunes while driving through over four miles of light displays at the Kentucky Horse Park. Cost is $15 per car Sun-Thurs and $20 per car Fri-Sat. More info here: http://khpfoundation.org/programs/featured-events/southern-lights-holiday-festival

3. Volunteer Together Each year, the Catholic Action Center/God’s Net hosts a Christmas Store where those who would not otherwise be able to purchase gifts for their children can come “shop” for free. Volunteers are always needed for this event and for the other services offered by this organization, so why not pay it forward together and tap into the true spirit of Christmas? CAC Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CAClexky or website: godsnet.info

4. Build a Snowman After a particularly good snow, create your own Frosty complete with a hat and a carrot nose. Totally free and very fun.

5. Go Skiing Technically, this one’s not in Lexington, but I decided to include it anyhow. If you’re up for the hour and a half drive, Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, IN is a great place for a fun winter date.  Plus, in January and February they offer College Nights, where skiing, tubing, and snowboarding is discounted with a student ID. More info here: http://perfectnorth.com/calendar.

6. Paint Mugs Visit The Mad Potter and design your own holiday-themed mugs together for future hot cocoa sipping. Website for more information: http://www.themadpotter.biz.

7. Make a Gingerbread House Grab a kit from just about any major grocery store and build a home together using nothing but sweets.

8. Run a 5k For an active couple, The Reindeer Ramble hosted by the YMCA of Lexington or one of two John’s Run/Walk Shop Holiday Fun Runs are perfect opportunities to run (or at least slowly jog) off a few of those holiday calories together.

9. Winter Hike at Raven Run Bundle up and take a snowy walk together through this nature sanctuary in the heart of Lexington.

10. Buy a Christmas Tree Or at least walk around one of the local Christmas tree farms to get into the holiday spirit. Support Lexington farmers by visiting Barker, Nieman, Christmas Memories, or other tree farms listed here: http://www.kychristmastreefarms.com

11. Decorate a Tree Whether it’s real or fake, big or small, decorate a tree together with lights, garland, and all of the usual holiday jazz.

12. Make Homemade Ornaments Even if you’re not the craftiest, something like these: http://www.katyelliott.com/blog/2011/12/cinnamon-applesauce-heart-ornaments.html simple ornaments are a fun way to spend time together while making gifts for others or for your very own tree.

13. See a movie at the Kentucky Theater With weather turning nasty and cold, winter is prime movie time. The historic Kentucky Theater is the perfect place to enjoy an evening and catch a movie. Plus, the theater’s within walking distance of many great downtown restaurants. Movie times available on their website: http://www.kentuckytheater.com/special-events/

14. Carriage Ride Although it’s a little pricey ($100 for 1 hr), I can’t imagine a more picturesque winter date idea than packing a thermos full of hot chocolate and riding around downtown in a horse drawn carriage. For information on carriage rides in Lexington visit http://www.lexingtonlivery.com.

 

15. See a Holiday Play Get a little dressed up and watch one of the many Christmas-themed plays and musicals that the Lexington Opera House offers each year. Full listing here: http://www.lexingtonoperahouse.com/events. Or, visit the theater at the UK Fine Arts Center for "The Smack-Off: A Christmas Reality Show," a funny holiday performance that's a sequel to the awesome "Smackdown for the Christmas Crown" that I saw a few years ago (which is where I took this lovely picture). Tickets available here: www.scfatickets.com.

16. Have a Snowball Fight I don’t just mean pack one little snowball and toss it at your significant other. I’m talking about a full out wintry war. Build snow forts and prep snowballs ahead of time, or surprise your significant other by pelting him/her unexpectedly.

17. Go Sledding Like many of the other date ideas, this one requires a good amount of snow. Still, getting all bundled up and going sledding together can be a lot of fun. There’s nothing wrong with embracing your inner child, especially not around the holidays.

18. Christmas Parade Every December, Lexington offers a Christmas Parade downtown on Main Street. Why not wear your favorite holiday sweater and join in the festivities by watching it with your favorite person?

19. Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Search Goodwill, rob your grandma’s closet, or create your own tacky Christmas sweaters, then get together with others to enjoy the ridiculousness.

20. Christmas Cookies Whether it’s grandma’s secret recipe or straight from a box, bake up some sugar cookies or gingerbread men and spend a little time decorating them to holiday perfection with red and green icing and sprinkles.

21. Christmas Shopping Love it or hate it, during the holidays at least one shopping trip is practically inescapable. So, rather than trudge through the mall alone, bring your significant other along and get more accomplished while hopefully having a little more fun with it!

22. Reindeer Games Also known as Game Night. Pull out the good ol’ board and card games and take part in some friendly competition. My personal favorites are Apples to Apples and UNO.

23. Attend a Hockey Game The UK hockey team has many games during the holiday season. Games start around midnight at the Lexington Ice Center, and I’ve heard they’re a blast.

24. Christmas Movie Marathon Elf, A Christmas Story, The Grinch, Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Holiday Inn, White Christmas (my personal favorite!) … the possibilities are endless. Just pop some popcorn, start a fire, and grab some fuzzy socks and you’re all set!

25. Christmas Dinner Depending on the nature of your relationship, you may or may not have an actual Christmas dinner with your significant other, but this idea is of the faux-Christmas dinner variety. If you happen to love cooking like I do, pull out all the stops and fix a delicious holiday meal regardless of the day. 

I hope you found this list helpful/interesting! If you like it please share it! (Buttons below)

Apple Pie

It's finally officially fall now, and I'm super excited about it. The weather is perfect, the leaves will be turning soon, and there are so many great fall desserts to make (and eat!).

My first fall-inspired project was this old fashioned lattice apple pie. After picking up a few pounds of locally grown apples at Boyd's last weekend, I was ready to make my very first made-from-scratch pie.

First things first, I whipped up some dough for the pie crust using my food processor and this recipe. After a slight mishap (6 cups of water is definitely not the same thing as 6 tablespoons!), the dough turned out perfect, and I put it in the fridge to chill for a little while.

Before making this pie, I'd always heard that the hardest part was making the crust, but making it in a food processor using the recipe above makes it super simple. The hardest part for me was peeling and slicing all of the apples up. 

The recipe called for 3 lbs of sliced apples, which amounts to about 8 cups. This is the most labor-intensive and time consuming part of making a pie.

After probably an hour and a half of peeling and cutting, and a couple of slightly sliced fingers, I finally had all of the apples I needed (and a few embarrassing bandages).

After putting all of the apple slices in a large bowl, I mixed up the ingredients for the filling and coated the apples with it. Again I used the recipe above, but I wasn't as happy with the results of the filling as I was the crust for this recipe.

I think next time I make a pie I'm going to try a different recipe for the filling and I'm going to use some kind of green apple instead of gala because although this pie was delicious, it was missing the tartness that I love in an apple pie.

But back to the baking! The last few steps were to roll out the crust, fill the pie, and make the lattice pattern on top. Once again, a slight edit I would like to make for the next time I bake a pie is to bake the bottom pie crust for a few minutes before filling it.

Overall I'd say this pie turned out pretty well for a first try, but the apples I used were so juicy that the bottom crust wasn't quite as crispy as I wanted it to be, plus as I mentioned before I think I should've used green apples rather than red. 

Anyway, that's my Kentucky Proud Pie! So if you're in the mood to try something new, pick up some fresh and locally grown fruit of your own and try your hand at making a pie from scratch... even if things don't go quite perfectly, I can almost guarantee it'll be delicious!

Boyd Orchards

This past weekend, I went home for a day. We had games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, but besides going to my boyfriend's football game at EKU, my Saturday was totally free after morning practice.

So, as soon as practice was over, I jumped in my car and headed to Lexington to pick up my best friend since birth so we could go to Boyd Orchards together. I try to make it out to Boyd's at least once every fall because they have the best apple cider and apple cider donuts ever, and my sweet tooth just can't resist. 

Boyd's is about 30 minutes outside of Lexington just past the castle in Versailles, (If you don't know what I mean by the castle, click here. It's another odd Kentucky thing) and it's locally owned and run by the Boyd family. They have fruits and veggies on sale for nearly every season, a casual café with normal lunch food as well as very tasty apple desserts (my favorite), a fully stocked gift shop, and tons of family fun activities. 

As soon as my friend and I walked in on Saturday though, my eyes went straight to the apples. It's become a bit of a fall tradition the past few years for me to pick out some locally grown fruit from either The Farmer's Market (in Lexington) or Boyd's and bake something with it, and this weekend the apples were looking perfect.

In the past I've made apple crisp, iced apple cookies, and apple spice cake with glaze, but never a pie, although I've been wanting to make one from scratch for probably two years now. So, I picked out a few pounds of gala apples and decided it was time to try it.

After getting my apples and paying for those and a dozen apple cider donuts (YUM), it was finally time to eat some lunch from the Apple Café.

Hannah (my friend) got a pulled pork BBQ sandwich with chips, I got a burger, and we both got hot apple cider. The weather turned so early this year, it was actually a little chilly when we went and the cider was even better than usual.

Also, if you've got an apple cider donut and hot apple cider at the same time, I totally recommend dipping the donut into the cider because it's delicious.

Anyway, enough about my eating habits and a little more about Boyd Orchards... Right now they're open Tuesday-Friday 9:30 am-5 pm, Saturday from 9:30 am-7 pm, and Sunday from 12-7 pm.


Since it's fall, they have all sorts of pumpkins, squash, and other gourds on sale as well as apples. I'm actually considering making a pumpkin pie from scratch as well since the apple pie turned out tasty (pie post totally coming later!), but even if you're not a baker there's plenty of other great reasons to visit Boyd Orchards this fall.

Here's just a few:
-Pick your own apples off the tree (because they're so much tastier that way)
-Take a hayride through the orchard
-Explore the corn maze
-Slide down the 90 foot slide
-Buy apple cider
-Drink an apple cider slushie from the Apple Café
-Pick up a dozen apple cider donuts
-Make a Jack-O-Lantern from a pumpkin picked straight off the vine

Basically, just GO! (And I hope you love it as much as I do).

Just a little extra information: To get in Boyd Orchards is totally free, and they have their own website for even more info. Link: boydorchards.com