Richmond, Kentucky: Fort Boonesborough State Park

May 2024, 2 nights, weekdays

Campsite 137 in Fort Boonesborough State Park

Reservations, arrival, campsite 137 and more

We made an online reservation at this campground. The cost for electric and water hookup was $33.30 a night after the 10% senior discount. There is also a $6 reservation fee.  I completed the pre-arrival email I received, and the check-in process at the camp store when we arrived, was very quick. I inquired about wifi during check-in, and the staff member told me not to buy it; she said it would only send text messages.

It had been difficult to choose a campsite online, as there are over 150 campsites in this park. In hindsight, we should have waited until we arrived, since we were staying mid-week in early May. When I viewed the campground map and photos online, I had thought site 138 would be a nice site; however, this campsite is not listed as one that can be reserved (at any time). Campsite 138 is a nice site, and the camper on it looked like it had been there for a while. There was nothing to indicate this is a host site, so I do not know why it is non-reservable.

Facing road from campsite 137 in Fort Boonesborough State Park

Campsite 137 is level and grassy. It is not too bad of a site, since there is a lot of space between sites 137 and 138, and there is a fair amount of room on the other side, next to site 136. During our stay, however, people arrived on site 136, and set up their tent with the door next to and facing our fire pit and trailer. 😳 This made it difficult to have a fire, and the view when sitting inside our trailer, was directly toward their tent door.

The section of the campground we stayed in was probably a bit quieter than the main middle area, as it is farther away from 627 with thick trees between the road and the campsites. We liked site 161, and would have chosen that site, if we had waited until we arrived to choose a site. When I looked at the campground online, it looked like that site would be close to the playground; however, it is not. It has trees along the sides, and is a good distance away from the play area. 

We were surprised that we had no TV reception in this campground, since it is pretty close to a few good-sized towns (Richmond, Lexington, and Winchester). I had Spectrum cell service, and my husband did not have any reception with Mint/ T-mobile. 

Fort Boonesborough State Park map

Recreation

We did not know the fort is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays when we made our reservation for those days. I realized this when I looked at the park again after completing our online check-in. Entrance to the fort is not included with the campground stay, and the folks in the camp store did not have much information. I was told they do not sell tickets, which they think cost $6, and that they think there is a senior discount. My husband had planned to visit the fort Wednesday morning before we departed, since I had some things to do; however, he did not end up doing that. We did view the fort from the outside, and we read the history placards posted outside the fort when we hiked the trails in the park. 

Site of Fort Boonesborough 

Mammoth Cave National Park and Campground

April and May 2024, 6 nights, campsite 85

Mammoth Cave National Park loop C campsites

Campground

There was no one at the entrance booth when we arrived, so we proceeded to our reserved site. There are no tags or reserved signs on the sites, so if you do not have a reservation, it is difficult to know which sites are available. We did see staff at the entrance off and on during our stay; just not when we arrived.

Mammoth Cave National Park campsite 85 in loop C

We had reserved campsite 85, which is a pull through site in loop C on the right side of the road. It is a spacious and mostly private site; however, it floods during rain.

View from campsite 85 in Mammoth Cave National Park loop C

If you have a pull through site on the left side of the road, be aware that your camper door will be facing the road, unless you turn around and pull through backwards. You can get pretty good views of the campsites in this park on their website and on google maps. One night of our stay, a camper pulled into site 84, a pull through site across the road from us. They opted to stay parked backwards with their camper door open; facing the road and us. Since it is basically just the roadway between our tar pad and theirs, we could easily hear them when we went to bed that evening, even though our bed is at the front of our camper (they were also a loud group of 4 people).

Other than the site flooding when it rained, we liked campsite 85. A couple of other sites we liked were 90 (loop C), and 13, and 11 in B loop. There are two full hookup sites in this campground, 91 and 93, which we were not aware of before this stay. When I looked at the reservation site again during our stay, I saw that these sites are listed as FCFS. Both of these sites looked nice, although it looked like the cost might be twice as much as the other sites. 

Sign posted by restrooms in Mammoth Cave National Park loop C 

Overall, this campground was a noisy place during our stay, and no rules were enforced. During part of our stay, the person on campsite 71 ran a very loud generator (loud generators not allowed, it says) all day long. We were quite a ways away from that site, and could easily hear it. We happened to be chatting with someone at the dump station when we left a few days later, and learned he had been on the campsite across from the loud generator. He said everyone in his area was happy when that camper departed the day before us.

Laundry facilities in Mammoth Cave National Park

Amenities

Along with a sanitation station, this campground has laundry facilities, pay showers, and a post office behind the camp store. The washers were $1.75, and the dryers cost $1.50 for 45 minutes. Flush toilets and fresh water are available in each campground loop. 

Seating area in lodge in Mammoth Cave National Park

Berea, Kentucky: Holiday Inn Express

January 2024, Sunday & Monday, two nights

Arrival and platinum perks

Check-in was easy, and my bonus points posted to my account right away. I had reserved a suite when I made the reservation, as the cost was reasonable.

Holiday Inn Express guestroom 309 in Berea, Kentucky

King bed suite #309

This suite is spacious, although I wonder if it is really any larger than a basic guestroom. Looking at the guestroom diagram and external building photos, it looks like the guestrooms are all the same size (other than one wider room shown on the diagram near the elevator).

Holiday Inn Express guestroom 309 in Berea, Kentucky

Florence, Kentucky: Staybridge Suites Cincinatti South

August 2023, weeknight, one night, king studio suite #302

King studio #302 in Staybridge Suites Cincinnati South

Arrival and platinum perks

We received no welcome or status recognition at this hotel. In fact, our room had not even been preassigned when we arrived after check-in time. The 500 platinum points automatically posted to my account after check-in.

King studio #302 in Staybridge Suites Cincinnati South

London, Kentucky: Fairfield Inn & Suites

August 2023, one night, king guestrom 226

Sharing photos and a bit of information from our stay in London, Kentucky a few weeks ago!

Guestroom 226 in Fairfield Inn & Suites, London Kentucky

Guestroom 226

The guestroom was comfortable, spacious, and clean. I do not know how old this hotel is; it appeared to be fairly new.

Guestroom 226 in Fairfield Inn & Suites, London Kentucky

I like that the guestroom was at the end of the hall where it is usually quieter. I almost always request this in my reservation comments. Staff at this hotel had read my requests before we arrived.

Breakfast at Fairfield Inn & Suites, London Kentucky

Berea, Kentucky: Fairfield Inn & Suites Lexington Berea

December 2019, Weekend, 1-night, King guestroom 219

Arrival and platinum perks

The hotel seemed quite empty when we arrived after 5:00 PM. The front desk agent did not mention my status, or say anything about a room upgrade. In fact, I did not receive my welcome amenity points for this stay until after I contacted the hotel over two weeks later.

Guestroom diagram on back of door at Fairfield Inn Berea room 219

King guestroom 219

This guestroom may have been an extended king upgrade from what I had originally booked, because the room is longer on the guestroom diagram than some of the guestrooms. It is not on the top floor, as I had requested in my reservation notes, and I did not ask about this during check-in. Since the hotel appeared to be mostly empty, I was not as concerned about overhead noise. Also, I thought maybe this would be a nicer room and upgrade, as that sometimes happens when I end up on a lower floor. In hindsight, I should have asked during check-in.

The guestroom was spacious, and the bed was comfortable. The layout was a bit odd, as the bathroom is located by the entrance door, rather than next to the sleeping area or between the sleeping and sitting area.

Bathroom in guestroom 219

Refreshment area between bathroom and living area

The spacious bathroom contained a tub/shower combination, and bathing amenities. A small fridge, microwave, and coffeemaker were located outside the bathroom. There was no closet at the entrance.

Kentucky: Middle Fork Campground at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Red River Gorge, and more

June 2019, Weekday-weekend, 3 nights

Below Princess Arch in Red River Gorge.

We loved this area when we visited in 2016. We stayed in Whittleton Campground then, and I previously provided a lot of information about that campground and some of the hiking trails. You can click this link for that blog post. I am providing new details in this post.

View from campsite B015 after most campers left on Sunday.
Click photo to enlarge it and see nearby labeled sites.

Middle Fork campsite B015

All of the RV campsites in this campground are the same as the ones in Whittleton with water and 20/30 amp power. Again, some of the hookups are quite a distance away, so extra hose and cord may be needed. 

Another view from campsite B015.
Our first evening before we purchased firewood!

Campsite B015 is in an excellent location on the stream, and would be a great site on quiet weeknights, or if you have kids who want to swim. We would never choose this site on a weekend again, because during our stay, the stream and back of our site became the local swimming hole. We enjoyed a peaceful Friday afternoon along the water when we first arrived, and again later in the day on Sunday after most people had left. It was very noisy on our site Friday evening, and when we returned from hiking Saturday afternoon. The road visible in the photo above only goes inside the park, so traffic from that road was not heavy or bothersome. 

Campsite B014

Louisville, Kentucky / Courtyard Louisville Airport

November 2018, 1-night, 2-queen guestroom 501, weekend

Gold perks and check-in

I checked in via the app with a 7:30 PM estimated arrival time, and we arrived shortly after 7:30 PM. Our room had not been assigned prior to arrival, which did not make sense to me. I mean, what is the purpose of checking in beforehand, if it does not expedite anything later? We were initially assigned a guestroom, which did not match my preferences or requests--guestroom 314, which is near the elevator, and not on the top floor. The agent had not recapped anything, so when she handed me the key packet, I asked if the room has two beds. After I looked at the room number, I inquired about a room on the top floor. I told her we had been driving all day and really wanted to get a good night's sleep. I said I would prefer a room at the end of the hall in a quiet area with no connecting door. She reassigned us guestroom 501. 

App shows complimentary upgrade, if available.
I did not choose 3:15 arrival time; that is what was shown before I changed it.

I did not receive an upgrade, and I did not ask about this. Since there were three of us, an upgrade to a larger room with two beds and a sofa certainly would have been more comfortable. Guestrooms 502 - 510 look like larger rooms that are smaller than the suites near the elevator.

Guestroom 501

Guestroom 501

This guestroom is on the top floor at the end of the hall. It has a connecting room door, and fortunately, we did not hear any noise from the room next door. 

Guestroom 501

Jeffersonville, Indiana / Sheraton Louisville Riverside Hotel

November 2018, Weekday, 1-Night, King guestroom 812

River and sunset is visible from riverview and rooms on west side.
This photo taken from parking lot across Riverside Drive from hotel.

Gold perks and check-in

This hotel provided the worst service and Gold member recognition I have ever received at a Marriott or Starwood hotel. The agent did not recognize my status, and when I inquired about an upgrade, I was told that Marriott does not allow them to give upgrades to Gold members; only Platinum members. I told the agent that could not be correct, because I receive upgrades at Starwood and Marriott hotels all the time. She went to get the manager, who then told me the same thing.

When I had checked in on the Marriott app before my arrival, the screen showed I was eligible for an upgrade. I did not take a snapshot of  that screen, although I have taken one for every stay since then. The screen shot above was taken after I checked in for my next Marriott stay, one day after I checked out of Sheraton. The screenshot below shows Gold member perks listed on Marriott's website. Although no one mentioned the 500 Gold bonus points, these posted to my account when this stay posted.

Gold upgrade perks from Marriott/SPG website 11/11/2019
Click to enlarge

King guestroom 812

This guestroom is on the 8th floor of this 10 floor hotel. It has a connecting room door, and it faces the expressway. The bridge view from the guestroom was nice; however, we could hear traffic through the window. The expressway is fully visible to the left of the building shown in the photo below.

View from guestroom 812

The king size bed in the guestroom was comfortable, and the full length windows offered good visibility. The desk and chair were strategically placed facing out the window. The guestroom also contained nightstands with lamps, a soft chair and foot stool, flatscreen TV on an armoire, ice bucket, and coffeemaker with supplies. The coffee was good quality. The guestroom was smaller than I had expected from viewing the photos on the hotel website.

Guestroom 812; view from in front of desk

Slide, Kentucky: Natural Bridge State Resort Park: camping, hiking, and more

September 2016, Weekdays-weekend, 3-nights, Whittleton campsite A029

View of Lookout Point from Natural Bridge

Advance reservations, arrival and check-in

When I looked at the campgrounds online in Natural Bridge State Resort Park, I thought we would want to stay in Middle Fork Campground along the stream. By the time we were ready to make our reservation, all of those sites were either reserved or not suitable, so we reserved a site in Whittleton Campground.

Labeled map

We arrived via Highway 11 from the south. The Whittleton campground sign is a short, small sign at the entrance with no forewarning, and we missed it. We pulled into the next drive north of Whittleton, which was the entrance to the skylift and lodge. We turned around after driving over the entrance bridge because the sign clearly said "No RVs" to the left. We could have also turned around by the skylift, if we had turned right. Even though the map shows a road through the picnic area after turning left, you cannot get through on that road with an RV. There is also a drive into Whittleton campground on the south side of the stream, which is a dead end with no turn around. If you happen to miss the main drive arriving from the north with an RV, I do not suggest pulling into that drive. You can enlarge the labeled map I have inserted here by clicking on it.

Cumberland Falls, Kentucky

September 2016, Weekday, Afternoon visit

View from road shortly before we arrived at Cumberland Falls

On this trip, we stayed at Mammoth Cave National Park, Dale Hollow State Resort Park, and Natural Bridge State Resort Park. We stopped at Cumberland Falls between Dale Hollow and Natural Bridge.

Cumberland Falls Campgrounds

When we starting planning our Kentucky vacation, we initially thought we would stay a couple of nights at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. When I began to make reservations for the trip, I discovered there are no large RV sites in the campgrounds. There is only one 30' site in the Ridgeline campground, RV site #33. The size dimensions for this site are 30 x 15, and there were no pictures of the site online. I did not think our 30' 5th wheel, which is actually a bit longer, would fit, so I called the campground to make sure the information I had found online was correct. As I am writing this blog post, I see the reservation site now has the following language under Alerts and Important Information: No camping equipment or vehicle over 30 foot will [be] allowed in the Camping Area. 

Following are some RV campgrounds nearby:

- Falls Creek Cabins and Campground is the closest RV campground I could find. I do not know why this campground did not show when I searched online before our trip. We passed it when we left the falls, and I easily found the website when I searched after returning home. It is just over five miles east of the falls.

- Corbin/Laurel Lake KOA is about ½ hour northeast of the falls, near I-75. We were going to be arriving from the southwest, so we decided this was too far away to stay a couple of nights and drive back and forth.

- I found General Burnside Island Park after we had already made reservations at Dale Hollow State Park. This park is about ½ hour west of the falls. Since this park is located on the west side, more in line with our route than the KOA, we would have stayed at this park instead of Dale Hollow, if I had found it earlier. The drive from this park to Natural Bridge would have been less stressful than the route we took! By the time I happened upon this campground, it was less than 15 days before our stay, and we would have lost more than just the cancellation fee to change parks. 

Parking at Cumberland Falls

There is plenty of parking at the Visitor Center for large RVs. I was glad I had researched the park before our trip, and we knew where to pull in when we arrived. If you are arriving from the west, I suggest pulling into the first drive, directly on your left, after crossing the river. The entrance is located on a sharp turn in the road, and the speed limit is only 15 MPH on this corner. There was no sign designating this as the RV lot, and we hoped the information I had found before our trip was correct. It was, and the next entrance would have been more difficult to pull into from the west. The turn is even sharper at the second/main entrance from the west, and you will have to drive back to the first lot next to the river, if you have a trailer or RV.

View from RV lot above the falls

Dale Hollow Lake Reservoir in Kentucky/Tennessee - Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park

September 2016, Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park, Weekday, 2-nights, Campsite L005

View of reservoir from the lodge

Reservations and arrival

We made an advance reservation at Dale Hollow State Resort Park online. The rate was reasonable, and we got a AAA discount. There are photos of most of the campsites online, although I thought it was difficult to choose a site before we actually arrived at the park and saw the entire layout. You can find more campsite and park photos in the Dale Hollow Facebook album.

We stopped at the IGA in Burkesville after arriving on KY-90 from the west. We were able to get some supplies at the IGA, although food selection was limited. Before we entered the store, I had observed a Dale Hollow State Park sign across from the store, directing us to KY-61. Our GPS was telling us to go to the next road, Hwy-49, so I asked the cashier which route was best. She said KY-61 has less curves. We took KY-61 to the park, and there are many curves on this route. Looking at the map overview afterward, there are just as many curves on this route as on Hwy-49. We should have followed our GPS, because taking KY-61 was over two miles longer. A measly two miles does make a difference when you are towing something on skinny roads through curves at slow speeds.

We arrived on a Monday, and the camp store/registration office was not open. The sign on the door said it is closed on Mondays. I assume the sign pertained to off-season hours. There was a self-registration box at the entrance booth after the camp store. There were less than 10 campers in the campground when we arrived. We observed reserved signs on some campsite posts from previous guests, although there was no sign on our site. We would not have been too happy, if we had found someone on our site when we got there! We waved when we passed park rangers during our stay, although we did not speak with any workers our entire stay (other than at the marina).

Campsite L005

The campsites in this park are on circle loops, and Loop L is near the outer edge with woods along the edge. We had a private and beautiful view from our fire pit and table. It was not windy during our stay; however, we heard a startling noise one night of our stay - a huge tree fell down in the woods! There are many large trees in Kentucky, and the tree we heard made a tremendous crash/thud. We were in bed when this happened, and did not hear if there was any cracking or other noise beforehand to indicate this was about to happen.

Campsite L5

View out window toward L4
Fog in the morning, just like Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky / National Park Campground, Cave Tours, and more

September 2016, Weekend-weekday, 3-nights, Campsite 71

Domes & Dripstones Cave Tour; info at the end of this post

Reservations, arrival, check-in

We wanted to reserve a campsite at Mammoth Cave National Park before our arrival; however, the park stops accepting campground reservations for the season on September 15th, which was a few days before our stay. You can still make reservations for the tours, although not the campground.

When we arrived, the ranger told us to turn in Loop C, find a site that we fit on, and then come back and pay. The cost was $20 per night, and we could pay by check or credit card.

Campground map; click to enlarge

Campsite 71

We had walked through this campground a year earlier when we passed through the area. At that time, we had thought sites 71, 73, and 80 were all good sites. We did not notice the traffic direction until we drove into the campground; all of the perimeter sites in Loop C are on the wrong side of the road to pull in with an RV (unless you want to face the road instead of your fire pit!). We decided to turn around through site 72, and then we chose site 71. Fortunately, there was not much traffic when we left, because we did not try to turn around again at that time. We passed one non-camping vehicle on our way out, and he pulled off the road to let us by.

View from our camper on site 71