Fairfield Glade, TN to Lexington, KY Capitol and Cheesecake Factory – 3/3/2017

March 3, 2017 (Friday)

We checked out at around 9:15 AM and headed out, after eating cereal and having our wonderful Michael made coffee. It was a little chilly but blue skies and quite lovely (in the low 40’s). The drive today was about 200 miles and should have been about four hours.

We went back roads for most of the drive.

We were not sure about some of the roads, but we got there.

Right before we got into Kentucky, we saw a sign for the “Alvin C. York Park” and went to explore it. Was beautiful with a little waterfall and the grist mill where Alvin used to work and own. Glad we took a quick look.

His deeds, and Gary Cooper, made him a legend here.

Once we got into Kentucky, we were both quite surprised at how lovely it is, gentle rolling hills and lots of beautifully manicured pastures with miles and miles of gorgeous fencing.

No signs on the road, just google letting us know we crossed the state line.

We also loved the way they build their horse barns here in Kentucky.

Many of the barns are painted a flat black with a red roof. Very nice.

We were getting a little hungry so we stopped at a Taco Bell somewhere in Kentucky for just a quick bite because we knew it would be awhile before we got to the Cheesecake Factory in Lexington for dinner.

We got into Frankfort at around 3:00 PM (one hour time change). The town is surrounded by higher hills and is very attractive. Not what we expected at all. We found the C’apitol and nearby parking.

We really like the yellow trim on the traffic signals, it helps to see them.

Not sure what the carved out area is straight ahead.

Kentucky State University is in Frankfort.

Throw a few soldiers in there and it could be straight from the Acropolis.

We went through some construction outside the building and then through security. The lady at the tour desk said we could join a group of school children on a tour, or we could take a self-guided tour. We opted to take the self-guided tour, especially since we saw the school bus and deliberately hurried up to beat them into the Capitol. We discovered as we were walking inside that it would have been fine as they were actually quite well-behaved and sweet kids. The Capitol was so much prettier than we were expecting. Stunning.

Jefferson Davis, only president of the Confederacy.

All the first ladies had dolls with copies of their inaugural dresses. Edie observed that they all had the same face though.

The lady at the tour desk said the dome in this Capitol was the only one that she knew of that changed color. We were surprised at the massive amount of marble everywhere. Also, the murals around the top near the dome added a nice touch.

We walked and observed as much as we could – the library, the Supreme Court (with special mahogany from Honduras), the House, the Senate, and the reception room.

Dovetail joint. Excellent wood for the drawer side.

High quality chests at the supreme court lobby.

Original door knob, saw several newer plain ones, they have ran out of their original supply.

It was a beautiful building that was clean and gorgeous. The lady at the tour desk explained that when the Capitol was being built, they had a person that was hired to do the murals in the reception room but he was killed on the Titanic. All the approved sketches were lost as well. It took several years but another painter was hired and murals were painted. Michael and I were a little surprised at the French influence on things in the reception room (Two facing infinity mirrors like at the Palace of Versailles) and in the area (Versailles, and Paris Kentucky for example).

Grand Reception. Twin aligned infinity mirrors modeled after a pair at the palace of Versailles.

The murals finally got painted in the grand reception room.

Senate, gone home for the weekend. Beautiful.

It is probably no big deal, but in the Capitol, this glass looked beautiful.

We left and drove around the town a little while before heading out to the Cheesecake Factory in Lexington, Kentucky (about 30 minutes away).

Lots of interesting trees on the Capitol grounds.

There were so many signs like this throughout the area.

It was a pleasant drive on back roads. Beautiful horse farms all around.

Lots of horse fences around green pastures.

We got to the Mall where The Cheesecake Factory was located. As usual, it was in a nice mall area but it was quite a bit smaller than most. Also as usual, the food was excellent. Michael ordered chicken and biscuits and I ordered a garlic noodle dish. Yummy. We got a slice of peanut butter cheesecake to go (for later).

Edie is now trying a new dish at each one, bold. This is a garlic pasta which she really enjoyed.

We drove about ten more miles to our room for the night, Days Inn and Suites. Large room but a little noisy and smelly. Also, we ran out of points so the $70.00+ per night we have to pay is making us very unhappy.

We entered through the hall and exited out the back of the room where the Prius was parked.

Comfortable bed, horrible internet, odd room.

We’re hoping to get more points soon so we can use them in our travels up the east coast.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!