Charlestown State Park and Churchill Downs (5/21-5/25)

This stop was shortened a bit so that we could add a few days near Frankfort, so it was a shorter stay than originally planned.  It was a rather short drive from Frankfort, KY to Charlestown.  We did drive through Louisville on the way and cross the Ohio river at New Albany, IN in order to avoid the toll bridge but the traffic was pretty light. 

We planned this stop to meet up with my aunt and uncle who live near Indianapolis, IN.  My aunt Barbara is my mom's youngest sister and only a few years older than me.  We have always been very close and always have a lot of fun together.  Either we were going to drive up to see them at their home or they were going to drive down and see us.  They really wanted to see the RV so they drove the two hours down to Charlestown State Park to meet up with us and stayed in a nearby hotel. 

The park itself was huge and mostly empty when we arrived on that Friday afternoon.  The park is 5,100 acres bordered by the Ohio river.  It was once part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant and was donated to the state to become the park.  The campsites are wooded and had a fair amount of space in between. We were in site 156 which was barely long enough for Ruth plus the Jeep to park out front, but we made it work. 

We settled into our campsite and took our bikes for a ride around the park.  The camping loops alone were a nice ride, but their were several other roads to picnic areas and boat ramps too.  The weather was warm and sunny for our ride.  I made dinner at home and we sat by the fire and enjoyed natural setting. The park was mostly empty when we checked in, but the weekend crowd came rolling in and made it a bustling place for two days.  Then, as quick as they came, they all rolled out again on Sunday afternoon and the place was quiet again. 

Saturday morning the park offered a guided tour of a place called Rose Island Amusement Park.   It required a hike down a very significant switchback road (Trail 3) to meet the park ranger for the tour.  What goes down must come up...There were several individuals and families at the meet up point for the tour.  The park did a great job of marking the historical buildings and artifacts of the site.  The history was quite fascinating and indicated a man with great vision, ingenuity and marketing skills.  Unfortunately the great flood of 1937 took it all away.  It was cool and creepy all at the same time.  The hike back from Rose Island was either back up that long hill we took down or a longer route back through the woods.  We opted for the longer, less steep route and enjoyed our trip back without needing oxygen. 

Original Walk of Roses entry to park

Iron bridge added recently to provide access to Rose Island

Original park bench

We also hiked trails 5 and 6 inside the park the next day.  I don't know why their trails are just numbered, not very imaginative, but they were lovely wooded paths through the woods with some gradual elevation and views of the Ohio river valley.  There were roots, rocks, bridges, riverbeds and a canopy of shady trees, everything to make a hike enjoyable. 

We had a lovely visit at the campsite with my aunt and uncle. It was great to see them doing well post Covid and to laugh and catch up on everyone's busy lives.  We enjoyed a very yummy dinner at a local gastropub in Jeffersonville, IN called Harbor and Hops.  The fried pickles were addictive and the homemade root beer BBQ sauce was a hit.  We retired for the evening as we had reservations to tour Churchill Downs the next morning. 

Churchill Downs is very nearly in downtown Louisville.  I have to say that I was surprised by that.  We had about a 30 minute tour of the facility and track.  The guide gave us a history of the track, its winners and losers.  We saw one horse working out on the track while we were there.  You can actually feel the history as you stand there.  You can picture the ladies and gents in their finest awaiting the call to post on Derby Day.  After thoroughly exploring the extensive museum it was time to depart.  

We said our goodbyes to my aunt and uncle and they headed back to Indy, it was a short but awesome visit.  On our way back to the RV, we found a delicious BBQ restaurant called The Feast for lunch and it was. 

This felt like a very short stop even though we packed in a lot in the 4 days here.  We liked the park, but did not get to see much of Louisville during our visit, maybe we will roam this area again at some point.