Georgetown Drive-In

All photos courtesy of the Georgetown Drive-In Facebook page.

Last weekend, the fam and I headed north to Georgetown Drive-in. Drive-in theaters were the BEST when I was a kid. Who doesn't remember sneaking friends in the theater in the trunk or in the backseat all covered up with blankets? Our children, being part of the millennial generation, have never experienced the thrill of sneaking passed the box office, or watching a movie on the big screen will shooing mosquitoes away from your popcorn. It was a blast, and everyone loved the experience!

At first we were a bit concerned about the price. Georgetown drive-in is about 45 - 60 minutes away from Fort Knox.  It is in the next STATE! To put things into perspective we did a little simple addition.

• 3 adults and 3 children at our local movie theater - Tickets run us approximately $50.00. Snacks and popcorn run us approximately another $50. Total for one movie in which one of the adults will have to take the 2 year old out to the lobby because he can't keep still and annoys all the other movie goers - ~$100.00



• 3 adults and 3 children at Georgetown Drive-in  - Tickets cost $40 to get in. It was $10 per person over the age of 13, $5 per person under the age of 13, and 5 and under are free. Woop! Jack is freeeeeee! For snacks, we went to our local convenience store and got drinks and junk food, and we brought our own popcorn from home. We spent approx. $20. GAS! Gas is not cheap. We figured our gas cost at $16 for driving there and home.  Total cost for 2 movies at the drive-in - $76.00

We have a clear winner in the price contest!

The grounds were really nice, and I loved that the drive-in was fairly small. It felt like the type of place that would remember you if you came to watch movies frequently. The lay out was a little funny, and it felt like the 2 screens were close together, but it did not interfere with the movie watching experience. There was a swingset up by the movie screen for kids to play on before the movie started. Bring a ball or frisbee and keep the kids entertained before hand! The snack bar was very nice and everything you expect from a movie snack bar. Make sure you arrive about 30 minutes early. There were already a bunch of people there when we got there 20 minutes ahead of time.

The only thing that bothered me (slightly) was the bathroom. It was a good enough outdoor theater bathroom, BUT the stall doors were really short. The top came up to my chest and I am only 5'5". When seated (okay, hovering) i could not see out, but the door only went to the top of my head so anyone could have decided to watch me pee.

Jack was in 2 year old heaven. He ran and played with the swing set, played catch with some "neighbors" and was generally allowed to be as crazy as he wanted until the show started. After the show started he could get up and walk around, switch laps, and eventually fell asleep in the back of the car. It was the best movie experience I have had in over 2 years!

Overall, we LOVED the theater, and will definitely be back! Make sure you check out this great theater option. And "like" them on Facebook too!

Churchill Downs Family Fun Day!

Today the family decided to take a trip to Churchill Downs Family Fun Day. It was definitely an interesting experience!

Y'all know that we are a military family, and a LARGE one, at that. We aren't from around here. So when we have the opportunity for some family adventuring, we try and pick things we have never done, and things that are not going to completely incapacitate our budget. Churchill Downs fit the bill! We have never been to a horse race. In fact, only the 9 year old even watched the Derby on T.V. And the best part was that the admission is only $3 for adults. With the Veterans Day discount, our total cost of entry was $3 for parking and $3 for my admission. SCORE!

We were determined to get the full effects of the race track, so we made 2 bets. We nearly broke the bank with our $9 in bets! Having no idea how to pick a winning race horse, or what the numbers next to the horses names on the jumbotron mean, we picked by cute jockey outfits (costumes? uniforms?). One of them was wearing American flag type of colors, so he was our chosen jockey. We bet $5 and then another $4 for something to the effect that if he and #3 came in first and second we would also win. Apparently we also do not know how to bet on race horses. I need a horse race betting for dummies class.

After stumbling through our bet, we then had to figure out where to find the track. After some wandering, we managed to find it. We picked a little space near the curve and the finish line and watched. It was pretty cool to see the horses thundering by, but it was very anticlimactic, and we all felt a little let down when it was over. We did not win, by the way. Our pretty horse came in 4th, though!

After the race, we found the Jr. Jockey Club. They had some face painting, pumpkin painting, pumpkin bowling and funny horse hats. AND we got to talk to Charlie the horse. Jack was completely fascinated with the Horse, and would not leave until he had bro-fisted about 22 times. Lucy got her face painted and she and I walked around the rest of the afternoon with horse hats on our heads. She tried out the pumpkin bowling too. Alex and jack and Lucy painted mini pumpkins and then we spent about 20 minutes following Jack who was following the Horse and waving and bro-fisting.

We caught another race, which was a bit more exciting. The stands had started to fill up and the crowds excitement was really contagious. We all picked out a horse and cheered for ours to win.

We headed over to the Derby Museum thinking that would be a good way to fill out the rest of the afternoon, but it would cost $49 for us to enter the museum, so we decided to leave that for another day. While I can't say we will ever go back to Churchill Downs as a family outing, it was interesting. I think the big boys and I may do a small unit study on horse racing and how to bet.

On our way home we hit up ColdStone Creamery and Half Price Books. I walked away with a slow cooker book, a Raw Gourmet book and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. A pretty good haul!

Hope your Sunday was as fun as mine!

Check out the rest of the pictures from today on our FaceBook Page, Let's Go, Fort Knox!

Bats Baseball! Picture intense.

This post is not recommended for anyone using dial up internet. Although, I don't know anyone who still uses dial-up.

Friday we went to the Bats baseball game. 'Twas tons of fun, and Jack's first baseball game!

We always go for the cheap seats. At $6 a seat it's a pretty good outing. Once we sat in the grass area. It is a hilly area so it is a bit hard to sit on, but I definitely think we will go for the grassy area from now on. The grass gives the kids a bit more space to move around and you don't have to say "excuse me, excuse me" every 5 minutes. The only exception will be for Thunder. I want a seat on that day, baby.

We also brought food in a cooler in the car. Hot dogs are $4 each and drinks are about $3.50 each, so expect to spend a fortune on food if you don't eat first.

Before the game, the kids and I walked down to the waterfront and visited our favorite funky fowl, and checked out the turtles in the Ohio. This hatchling was super small, as small as... as small as... as small as something bigger than a quarter but still really small. Baby turtles make me smile!

THEN, we had to wait for grammy and grampa who took their sweet time and did not answer the cell phone. We almost melted in the heat while waiting by the football dude in front of the baseball stadium. (Love ya, 'rents!)





So anyway, Bats game.

Alex is now interested in baseball and knows enough to follow along. About halfway through the game, he lost interest.



AJ knew he did not care much, and brought a book.



Lucy threw a few fits and ate junk food.



Jack slept and coo'd.



Grammy and Grampa did grandparenty things, and it was nice family time! AND the bats won.







The fireworks were very nice, and at least as good as the 4th of July fireworks on post.

Watching the fireworks

Historic Downtown Walking Tour

Last Thursday the fam and I and a group of our friends decided to do the walking tour in Etown! I was in a really pissy mood because our van had broken down ON THE WAT to the tour, but we decided a diversion was the way to go!

The tour started near the yarn shop on the Etown traffic circle. It took about an hour and was only about a block of real walking. The kids loved getting out and it was seriously good fun.

Our tour was lead by Samuel Haycraft, who was from one of the founding families of Etown. He told us all about his dad, and how he worked in the court house for 60 years. We next visited Aunt Beck's boarding house (now the Brown-Pusey House). We were able to see the house, with it's toile wallpaper and fantastic garden featuring some native plants. Adan and I have been ripping them out of the flower bed as weeds. oops! I still consider them weeds, though! In the gardens, we were able to meet General Custer, who sometimes stayed at the boarding house, and P.T. Barnum. We were treated to a sweet rendition of Old Kentucky home by the Swedish singer traveling with Barnum. We met the postmistress of Etown, who was also President Lincoln's sister-in-law. We met the govenor who established Etown as the heart of the Blue Grass region when he ensured that the turnpike and railroad went through Etown. General Morgan talked to us about spanking Yankee butts, and president Buchanan told us about his connection to president Lincoln. The BEST part, according to the kiddos was the old lady with a hatchet that got into a bar fight. Yep, old lady meets bar stool. Old lady looses.

It was a super fun way to learn some local history. I recommend this tour to everyone! and you can't beat the price either. FREE!!