Day 7: Louisville to Dale, Ind.

Standing in front of a Churchill Downs mural depicting the trainers who've saddled past Kentucky Derby winners.

Today we cheered on race horses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, hiked around the woods where U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grew up and chased fireflies in a small Indiana farm town.

Budget

Winning at the horses races helped us come in below budget.

• Breakfast: Free at hotel
• Horse races: $20 (We bet on horse No. 3)
• Earnings: plus $46 (Horse No. 3 won!)
• Drinks: $12.50 (mint julep and beer at Churchill Downs)
• Ice cream: $5 (Churchill Downs)
• Lunch: $34.18 (Ramsi’s)
• Admission: free (We visited Lincoln National Memorial site after 5 p.m.)
• Dinner: $19.90 (Jenk’s Pizza)
• Hotel: $89.99 (Best Western Plus Lincoln Land Inn)

Total: $135

Highlights

1) Churchill Downs

Our plan was to take a photo standing outside Churchill Downs and then visit the neighboring Kentucky Derby Museum—and then one thing led to another and we found ourselves watching a horse race—and my daughter kept saying, "I can't believe we're really watching a horse race!" And I couldn't believe it either. This certainly wasn't on the itinerary.

 While looking for parking at the museum, an attendant told us races were starting at the neighboring Churchill Downs in an hour. General admission was only $3—we could afford that! Watching horses speed around a track sounded more exciting than learning about the history of horse racing in a museum, so we decided to go. We parked the car, but not in the $10 lot. We found free street parking.

The people walking into Churhill Downs were dressed up. Women wore fancy hats and pretty dresses. Men donned khaki pants and sports coats, even seersucker suits. We were sporting sloppy shorts and stained T-shirts so we quickly changed into our nicest clothing.

First we snapped a photo in front of Barbaro, an American thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby in 2006 and then tragically shattered his legs in a race two weeks later. His battle with laminitis captured the hearts of many.

Then we walked over to the Churchill Downs entrance where a man named Mick stopped us. “Want some free tickets?" he asked. "Box seats and they’re really nice.” My son immediately blurted out, "Thank you!" Our lucky day!

Turned out the box tickets were worth $26. We were feeling lucky so we put $20 down on a horse.

We bet on Number 3. Why? It's my lucky number. We didn’t have time to study up on the horses and jockeys—though everyone around us was closely reading the programs and talking about horses with names such as My Irish Girl, American Kitty and Song Ahead.

The races were thrilling. The horses, with colorfully dressed jockeys on their backs, sped around the track. We yelled and screamed and jumped out of our seats. We yelled even louder when our horse, Cousteau, came in third. We got our $20 back and won $26. Beginner's luck!

We celebrated with vanilla soft serve in waffle cones.

We were tempted to bet again but decided to stop while we were ahead. My husband and I explained to our kids how gambling can become an addictive activity that leads some people to lose a lot of money. We did a little math and showed them that the odds of winning are low. If we were to play again, we'd probably say goodbye to our winnings.


2) Ramsi's Cafe

My friend Myrdin who lives in Louisville recommended this restaurant on Bardstown, a road that's lined with restaurants and bars that spill out onto the sidewalks with cafe tables and chairs.

Ramsi's is owned by a man named Ramsi who's from Jerusalem and he created a menu that draws from cuisines all over the world. I ordered a refreshing Fattoush salad tossed with feta, mint and a lemony vinaigrette and served with crunchy pita chips.

My son devoured a bowl of pasta.


3) Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
We found two main attractions outside Dale, Indiana: Holiday World amusement park and the boyhood home of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Which one to visit? Admission to Holiday World costs $45 for adults and $35 for kids, while admission to the National Memorial is only $5 per family. No-brainer! We opted for a history lesson and hiking over roller-coaster fun.

Abraham Lincoln spent fourteen years of his life and grew from youth into manhood (1816-1830) in the southern Indiana woods, just outside Dale.

The visitor center was closed because we arrived after 5 p.m. This meant admission was free!

My kids explored a replica of the log cabin where U.S. President Abraham Lincoln lived with his parents. They were surprised by his small and humble home. "Where did he go to the bathroom?" my son asked.

We hiked around the woods. I wish we could share a photo of the bright red cardinal we spotted but when we pulled out the camera it took off through the trees.

The kids giggled themselves silly rolling down this hill again and again, but later we found that they were covered in ticks! We examined their bodies closely, but we didn't find any bugs burrowed into their skin. Phew!


4) Dale, Indiana

We stayed the night in the tiny farm town of Dale, Indiana. Population 1,500. Most notable residents: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and Brady Bunch actress Florence Hendersen.

We found only two restaurants in Dale. A Subway, where we couldn’t eat because we vowed to skip all national chains on this trip, and Jenk’s Pizza. We picked up a large pizza and brought it to the town park.

At the park locals were preparing for a town wide garage sale that weekend.

The kids and I had fun looking at vintage jewelry. A friendly antiques dealer named Carl encouraged my kids to touch the sparkly brooches, necklaces and earrings dating back to the 50s, 40s and 30s. "If you don't let them touch then they're never going to learn how to handle nice things," he said. My kids took Carl up on his offer and closely examined each and every piece of jewelry.

Turned out that Carl was an interesting guy who liked talking politics, public education and travel. We chatted with him and his friend late into the night. Even though we voted differently we agreed on a lot and shared similar values.

What were the kids doing? Chasing fireflies. Yes, fireflies! Truly exciting for California kids who'd never seen a bug turn on like a flashlight.

What's up next? Paducah, Kentucky.