Tour one of the many historic homes located in Lexington. There are several estates that offer year-round tours to the public, including Ashland (henryclay.org/), the home of statesman and famous orator Henry Clay. There is also the Mary Todd Lincoln House (mtlhouse.org/), where the former first lady was born, and the Hunt-Morgan House (bluegrasstrust.org/hunt-morgan.html), which was built for the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. Lexington is also home to Pope Villa (popevilla.org/), an early nineteenth century estate built by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
Celebrate Lexington's cultural heritage with an activity or event that includes horses. Lexington is home to the Kentucky Horse Park (kyhorsepark.com/), where visitors can see different horses and stables and learn about equestrian traditions. There is also the Keeneland Race Course (keeneland.com/) where there are horse races and grounds tours year round. You can also take a horse farm tour from Suburban Woman's Club Monthly Horse Farm Tours (swclex.org/html/horse_farm_tours.htm) or Horse Farm Tours, Inc. (horsefarmtours.com/). These tours typically include a narrated van ride through downtown Lexington and around one or two local horse farms and stables.
If you want a family-friendly activity for a rainy day, visit one of the city's museums. There is a children's museum, known as Explorium (explorium.com/), which offers nine discovery zones of interactive learning exhibits bound to excite any child's imagination. The Lexington History Museum (lexingtonhistorymuseum.org/) is a non-profit organization that features the city's rich cultural traditions and bluegrass heritage. The Headley-Whitney Museum (headley-whitney.org/) showcases a collection of decorative arts, while the University of Kentucky Art Museum (uky.edu/ArtMuseum/) is a more traditional art gallery with exhibits from local, state and national artists.
Lexington hosts a number of Bluegrass festivals, many of which attract crowds of Bluegrass fans from across the country. The most famous festival in the city is the Festival of the Bluegrass (festivalofthebluegrass.com/), which takes place in the summer. This festival is family-friendly, admitting children under 12 years of age for free. There is also the J.D. Crowe Bluegrass Music Festival (jdcrowefestival.com/) in Wilmore, just outside of Lexington, which occurs at the end of the summer, and the Best of Bluegrass Festival (bestofthebluegrass.org/), which takes place in the Spring in downtown Lexington with a chili cook-off and special events hosted by downtown shopping vendors.
