Chicago Weblog

A beautiful late summer day, and a perfect day to go see the Honey Festival in Clarkson.  The major industry in Clarkson is the manufacture of beekeeping supplies, so the honeybee is very important to the folks there.  Hence their annual Honey Festival.

It’s about what you would expect for a small town festival, except that it looked like every family for a hundred miles around had at least one family member in the parade.  Somewhat surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of honey for sale at the festival.  Maybe they get their fill of it the rest of the year.

Labor Day, and time again for the Mayor’s semi-annual Healthy Hike and Bike. CVH doesn’t bike, so we went down to the riverside to join in the walk.

The weather was beautiful; sunny and warm, and there was definitely a herd of people there. Mostly bikers; there were a few bicyclists who brought their dogs with them, and had them in various types of carriers.  One dog was wearing a small helmet.

The Mayor gave his send off, and then took off on his bike with the rest of the riders.

We saw a bicyclist riding an old-fashioned high wheeler, and somebody dressed up like a Subway sandwich. The Subway guy did not ride a bicycle.

Eventually all the riders were off and we hikers followed them. We went over the George Rogers Clark Memorial bridge into Indiana.

On the Indiana side of the river, there is an old Colgate factory with a large clock on top of it, just like the one you see from Manhattan. The factory has been sold, and the fate of the clock is uncertain, but it is clear that you’re not going to be able to see it from the bridge for much longer.

On the way back to Kentucky, I caught this picture of CVH in front of the skyline of Our Fair City.

And finally, as we were walking back to our car, we saw this. It is not everyday that you see a big ol’ Buick Park Avenue with a bike rack on the back.

A beautiful sunny day, and a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park was clearly called for.  We all enjoyed the Parade of Breeds show, which included some carriage enthusiasts who were in town.  We got to see the retired champions, including Cigar and Funny Cide.

GC at the Man O'War memorial

But the highlight of the trip, for me at least, was the special exhibit on the history of the Arabian horse.  This is a fascinating collection of art and artifiacts from the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.  There were horse items from Ur, as well as beautiful statues, stelae, metalwork, and other items from as far back as Old Testament times.  Art work ranged from prehistoric petroglyphs through nineteeth century portraits, and all the way to the present.  There was a three thousand four hundred year-old manual on horse training.   There were even a pair of sandals that were worn by Lawrence of Arabia.  Alas, no photography was allowed, but the exhibition catalog is only $25.

If you have any interest – at all – in art history, you should see this exhibit.  If you have any interest – at all – in Arabian horses, you should see this exhibit.  If you have any reason – at all – to be in the Lexington area between now and mid-October, this exhibition is an absolute must-see.

Warning: Call ahead to see if they have any food available at the park; you may want to bring your own cooler.