recommendations on food on to do

My family of five will be spending 5 days in Lexington in mid-July for hubby%26#39;s convention. We will be staying at the Hyatt downtown. We plan on doing the Explorium. Kids are 12, 10, 2. Will the older ones be bored? We will be attending an after-hours dinner and party at the horse park, so we wont do that twice. I figured they would be bored with the shaker village. Too far to drive to any zoos? I have Ghattitown listed, too. Is it a Chuck E Cheese kind of place?

These are the restaurants I have on my list:

Cheapside

Ramseys

Joe Bologna

Magees

Sawyers/or Jimmy Ds

Feel free to add suggestions or to boo any choices

Thanks for the help =)

recommendations on food on to do

You and your kids will enjoy Lexington and the Bluegrass Region! Actually, many children take field trips to Shaker Village (I did in 6th grade and had a great time). You can also take a ride down the Kentucky River on the Dixie Belle Riverboat while you%26#39;re there. The Louisville and Cincinnati zoos are a little over an hour away, Lexington has lots of horses though! You may want to think about touring a horse farm (go to www.visitlex.com/idea/horse-farms.php for more info). Gattitown is very similar to Chuck E Cheese. It%26#39;s an all you can eat pizza buffet (but also has a salad bar, pasta, etc.). There are games you play for tickets that you trade in for prizes.

All the restaurants you listed are great! Sawyers is very close to the Hyatt (about a block) and has ';Lexington%26#39;s best burger'; according to Southern Living magazine. When you go to Joe Bologna%26#39;s, make sure you try the breadsticks (try putting parmasean cheese in the butter :). Cheapside and Ramseys both serve great food and reasonably priced. Originally from Maysville, Magees is more of a bakery but has sandwiches. Maysville-native George Clooney loves the ';transparent pies';.

Other things to do that the kids would enjoy in Lexington would be: Aviation Museum of Kentucky (at Blue Grass airport), tour Keeneland Race Course and eat breakfast in the track kitchen, tour Old Kentucky Chocolates Monday through Thursday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., hike Raven Run Nature Sanctuary and/or McConnell Springs, and tour The Thoroughbred Center. If you want to shop, Fayette Mall has over a hundred stores and many places to eat.

Other things just outside of Lexington in the Bluegrass Region: tour Toyota Motor Manufacturing (about 20-25 minutes from downtown Lexington in Georgetown), tour Camp Nelson Heritage Park (union supply depot, enlistment camp and African-American refugee camp), Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site (site of the bloddiest Kentucky Civil War battle), Nostalgia Station Toy %26amp; Train Museum (minutes from downtown in Versailles) and Fort Boonesboro (replica of 1775 Fort where Daniel Boone lived).

For more information, go to www.visitlex.com. We%26#39;ll see you in Lexington!

recommendations on food on to do

Food Choices...

Cheapside is really more of a bar-type atmosphere, not sure it is a place I%26#39;d take my kids if I was visiting Lexington. Ramsey%26#39;s is a good bet for a home-cooked meal. Joe B%26#39;s is always full of kids and VERY loud. My 10-year-old loves Gattitown still, it is really a C-E-C for older kids. Another palce, close to downtown, that the kids love is Logan%26#39;s Steakhouse. It is a casual dining restaurant and the kids love to eat the peanuts and through the on the floor...part of the fun!

WOW!! THanks so much for all of the info. It is very much appreciated.

Isnt there a really good aquarium near the KY/OH line? Is it worth the drive?

We will def be checking out a lot of those places. Thanks again!

The aquarium is The Newport Aquarium in Newport, KY. Just across the river from Cincinnati. It would be about an hour and twenty minute drive from Lexington (north on I-75).

I haven%26#39;t been there, but have heard good things. If you make a day trip to the aquarium, then you%26#39;ve opened up a whole other potential list of things to do in and around the Cincy area.

The aquarium is great. I recommend getting up early and being there at opening time. I%26#39;m sorry I can%26#39;t remember the time but it%26#39;s name is The Newport Aquarium so you can look at their website. There is a zoo in Cincy as well. Also in Cincy is a great Art Museum. While you wouldn%26#39;t think of that for kids they have little cards for different ages that are treasure hunts. Gives the kids something to look for while you enjoy the art! Another Cincy thing to do is the Children%26#39;s Museum. I would probably recommend it over the aquarium, zoo and museum. It is in the Union Terminal. There is also an Imax and a natural history museum in the same building. If you go there plan on spending at least 4 hours.

The Explorium may well bore your older children. My son is 11 and we went a few weeks ago. He was finished within a half an hour. Of course he%26#39;s also been there many times so he may just have been bored from having already seen everything.

Pazzo%26#39;s has great pizza. It%26#39;s somewhat of a bar atmosphere but being in the summer UK students will be gone so it should be fine for a family (we go with our son a lot).

Shaker Village? pretty but not what I would do with our son.

Raven Run is great. It%26#39;s only about 10-15 minutes from downtown and is great for easy, but pretty hiking.

Joseph Beth Booksellers is something I would highly recommend taking in. Check out their website as they have storytelling at various times.

Another thing our son loves is the Movie Tavern. Basically a movie theater where you order food and drinks while you watch the movie. The food is okay but for some reason kids seem to love it.

On Reynolds Rd is a complex called Champs. They have laser tag and roller skating.