It’s the week before Christmas and all through the house, the family was packing for a vacation down south!
I call my husband & say “we are going to take a vacation to Paintsville, Kentucky the weekend before Christmas! I’ve got it all planned and taken care of.”
-This is typical Shelbie behavior…I tend to do and not ask.
My husband and I have been together for 10 years now. He has adapted and learned to say “okay”, go with the flow, & hold on tight! I don’t think I’ve ever steered him towards an adventure he didn’t enjoy!
Saturday morning we got up and hit the road.
We packed up the kids with some road trip essentials:
- snacks
- water
- baby wipes
- books
- country music (fun fact: Paintsville is home to Loretta Lynn, Chris Stapleton & many more amazing music artists!)
We only had to make one bathroom stop the entire 3 hour drive…and it was actually just for the husband and I!
We stayed at The Ramada in Paintsville. We pulled in to see the entire outside decorated with Christmas inflatables! Santa, snoopy, snowmen…so fun for the kids to see! We walked in and the inside was even more decorated than the outside! I can’t even explain how beautiful! Trees everywhere…all with different themes. Some trees even rotated! I’ve never seen a hotel more beautiful and unique. We rode the glass elevator up to our 3rd floor room. Looking out the glass you seen what looked like a beautiful town…inside! Cobblestone floors, a beautiful fountain in the middle, balcony with outside looking windows, spiral fire escape style staircases. The restaurant inside the hotel blended into the street look with a beautiful awning and welcoming front door. I felt like I was back home walking down Clifton Ave…I was blown away! Can I please have this inside my home? A bloggers dream! The room was just what we needed, a quiet place to regroup before we headed out to Mountain Homplace!
The reason we came to Paintsville was the Mountain Homeplace Christmas. It is a beautiful 1850’s working farm in which they decorate for Christmas. It was absolutely stunning. It was a beautiful night reaching 70 degrees! We couldn’t have asked for better weather. We arrived at the farm a little after 5pm. It already dark out. The Christmas lights strung lit the way. We visited the welcome center with tons of gifts and homemade jarred goodies. The boys rocked in the rocking chairs on the front porch while looking at all the lights. We then got a ride from a horse-drawn carriage covered in Christmas lights! It was not only the boys, but also my first time riding a horse-drawn carriage! We loved it!
We then walked down the lighted trail. The first stop was on the right to see a live nativity seen! The kids loved seeing baby Jesus in the manger! They hugged Mary & Joseph. We have read the story of Jesus’ birth plenty of times, but this was a great way for me to remind them of the story while they see it person.
We headed to a cabin on the left for hot coco and cookies (the absolute best hot coco I’ve EVER had!) We met with Jeremiah from Painstville Tourism, he gave us some amazing history on the cabin. He told us It had a pull away kitchen. In case of a kitchen fire, they would have hooked the horses up to actually pull the kitchen away, preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of the home. How cool is that? He also showed us the gutters on the cabin roof proving it would have been a luxury home at the time. The family who built it were considered wealthy. We headed down the trail to the church. This was absolutely breathtaking. We walked in to hear Christmas carols being sung from the choir. We sat down and sang along. After the caroling, a sweet woman asked if the boys would like to hear a story. She brought them to the front and let them pick from a healthy selection of Christmas favorites. Trevor would have stayed all night picking out books to read. Her story telling was interactive and engaging. The boys were in awe! I could have walked the trail all night. It was perfect. It really encompassed everything Christmas is about…family, faith, fun. This was a beautiful reminder, Jesus is the reason for the season. Spending time with family and loved ones holds more value than any item wrapped under the tree.
We went to the local Ponderosa for dinner & headed back to the hotel. We got into our swim suites and hit the heated, indoor pool! We had so much fun. All the giggles and smiles made my heart burst. We even ventured over to the outdoor pool attached! It was 70 degrees after all! It was really weird to think we were swimming outside, in Kentucky, in December! After all the swimming, bubble baths, and fresh PJs…the kids were fast to sleep. They were snuggled together in their bed while my husband and I broke out the travel Yahtzee and watched National Treasure.
We woke up to the boys crawling in our bed asking for breakfast. We got on our shoes and walked down to the restaurant for the free continental breakfast. It was really amazing. I’ve had the free continental breakfast at plenty of hotels, this was by far the best! A great selection & friendly staff. As soon as I finished the coffee in the carafe, the waitress was right behind me filling it up. I gave her a mental fist bump!
We were planning on seeing the Highway 23 Country Music Museum before heading home, but we’ve decided to save that for a mommy & daddy trip…or maybe next year when the boys are a little older. I really want to come visit in the spring to see the Mountain Homeplace Farm in bloom. There is also a beautiful Dawkins Line Rail Trail I would love to see!
Spring, summer, winter, or fall…Paintsville has so much to offer! I am already planning our spring trip!
To see more information visit https://visitpaintsvilleky.com/ 🙂
Wanna see the vlog of this trip?