Water, Water Everywhere for Summer Play in Kentucky
Whether you want to be on it, in it or taking it in as breathtakingly beautiful scenery, you don’t need to go far to find water fun and adventure in Kentucky. With 170 public lakes and reservoirs, 34,000 miles of streams, and 114 miles of waterways designated as wild rivers, the choices are plentiful. As temperatures in summer months go up, this is the time to plan a trip or activity that involves water.
Whitewater rafting, canoeing and boating, cruisin’ the river on a paddle wheeler, fishing, wakeboarding, swimming and playing at a waterpark, are all available for summer fun in Kentucky. You can even tour the Lost River Cave underground by boat and see one of the largest cave entrances east of the Mississippi River. Here are several places to consider:
Check out Sheltowee or the Kentucky Professional Paddlesports Association for rafting and canoeing ideas.
Kentucky State Parks have 15 marinas where pontoon and fishing boats can be rented by the hour or for the day. Many parks have canoes and paddle boats as well. For these and other state park events that involve water, visit www.parks.ky.gov. For other marinas across the state check out the Kentucky Marina Association.
For the Lost River Cave Underground Boat Tour, visit www.lostivercave.com.
To cruise along the Ohio River in Covington to sightsee, dine of charter, visit www.bbriverboats.com for more information.
Kentucky waterparks include Kentucky Splash Water Park at Williamsburg, SomerSplash in Somerset, Spashwater Kingdom at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Splash Lagoon at Beech Bend in Bowling Green and Venture River at Eddyville.
To watch top notch water boarding, head to the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour at Freeman Lake in Elizabethtown July 18-19. Fifty top professionals will compete as part of a five-stop series for cash, points and bragging rights.
Hit the trail for Distinctly Summer Fun and Adventure
Summer’s here and now is a perfect time to hit the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail, get a passport map and join the campaign fun! Experience the sites along this scenic driving trail that shaped Lincoln’s legacy. Celebrate the bicentennial year of our 16th President’s birth during a 16-week event at 16 locations across central Kentucky.
Trail travelers can collect customized passport stamps for maps at the sites and when 10 stamps from any 10 sites are on the passport, go online at the trail Web site, www.kylincolntrail.com, to register to track their visits and win prizes.
Through September 6, one site along the trail will be in the spotlight. Each Saturday, the first 16 visitors to visit that particular site will receive a special Lincoln prize that commemorates the anniversary.
Then over Labor Day holiday, there will be a grand-prize drawing for a gift basket worth $200 in celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday. Click here for a calendar of featured sites!
Visitors to any Lincoln site on the trail can get a free Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail window cling to stick on car window or home. Photos taken of site visits can be posted to the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail Flickr Web site.
And while you’re trailing Lincoln, consider dropping by one of Kentucky’s outdoor, summer theater productions along the Kentucky Outdoor Theater Trail for fun under summer skies. From mid-June to August, drama, comedy and more are produced on outdoor stages throughout the Bluegrass State. From real life Kentucky legends captured in story to Broadway hits beneath a blanket of stars, you’ll be pulled in to magical performances. Check out the Kentucky Theatre Trail, the Institute of Outdoor Drama or the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival site to select one or many finely tuned productions for your viewing pleasure. Bring your unbridled imagination and enjoy.
Get Up Close and Personal with Those Great and Mysterious Dinosaurs
You might not think of Kentucky as a place where you and the kids can mingle with dinosaurs but at Dinosaur World near Cave City, you can roam among a herd of wooly mammoths, triceratops, stygimoloch and many other species that populated prehistoric earth. At the “Boneyard” visitors can make like Indiana Jones and excavate a life-sized dinosaur skeleton in a unique setting. Each member of the dinosaur family at Dinosaur World are displayed with explanatory signs so anyone who plays among them, can learn more about them—all while having a great deal of fun!
EarthJoy
At first it sounds kind of ordinary. Tree climbing – not a big deal, right? Well, these are big trees and need to be climbed in rock-climbing fashion. And once you arrive at the top, there’s a place to hangout and catch your breath and admire the view. And relax in a hammock!
Whether you want to impress your colleagues at work or are looking for an activity for kids seeking a cool adrenaline rush, EarthJoy definitely earns you bragging rights around the water cooler. Check it out!
Visit EarthJoy by July 31, 2009, and take $15.00 off. Use code number EarthJoy 0715.00T .