The Parkette! {Hometown Hidden Gems}

**This post was done in collaboration with RelayRides! Go check out more of their Hometown Hidden Gems from other contributors, here! They are an awesome company who provide a peer-to-peer car rental service. So genius!! What a way to see the world.. and not break the bank while doing so!**
 

Here's a confession: I love exploring new places. In fact, it's one of my favorite things to do...ever. There's a line from the movie "Dan in Real Life" (A definite favorite in our house) when they ask their guest, Marie, to share her idea of perfect day. She says something like,

"My idea of the perfect day would be waking up in a place I've never been before, where there's a language I don't speak, and everything is different and new and I can just take it all in."

(Okay, so that was a really rough translation of what I remember... because I can't find the actual quote anywhere online and  I'm too lazy to put the movie in to double-check it. So just go with it, yo!) But I love it. I love it because, well, it sounds like a perfect day to me, too. Traveling is like a drug. Once you start, you just can't stop thinking about new places and where your next trip will be and what you want to explore when you get there. It's SO addicting. 

But if you're like me, you have responsibilities that make it kind of impossible to fly halfway across the world every month. And hello, money. (Money is the worst! Can't we just all eat ice cream and hold hands and  fly for free?) So instead, I've learned to find the pockets of culture and excitement in the place I am NOW... and guess what? It's just as fun! To just open my door, get outside, and DO SOMETHING. To get up off the couch, to get out into the city... to try new things and to make awesome new memories... I mean, guys. Isn't life the greatest!?

So I'm going to start a new series on my blog (it might be huge, it might be mini...I'm not quite sure yet! Ha!), to hopefully capture some of the 'hidden gems' that can be found right here in my little (or not-so-little) city of Lexington, Kentucky. Because why dream every day away, when there are so many awesome things to be done/ found/ eaten right here in my own back yard?? (or as Bost would call it, the backie-ARRD. Think pirate lingo.)

Our first stop? THE PARKETTE. Guys. This place is awesome. It's an old-school drive-in with cheap, greasy, awesome food... and the atmosphere is basically the bomb. It's decked out with old-school memorabilia, and has a definite 50's diner feel to it... which I'm in love with. Every time we drive past, Boston begs us to take him back. It's a definite favorite!

^^image source^^

^^ONION RIIIIINGS. I love you.^^

^^I'm in love with the old-school bar stools. SO CUTE.^^

My boys are obsessed with the hats at The Parkette. And hi, do they look freaking cute in them or what? Boston gets so excited when he realizes that he gets to keep the hat "for ebber."

"Momma? I take dis coo hat HOME wiff me?? Dat so awesome!"

^^icecream mouth.^^

^^That cheeser. Melts my heart every time.^^

^^He's quite the peek-a-boo ninja these days. It's the cutest.^^

And now, for one thousand pictures of my children on the steps of The Parkette. Because really, what's a parent to do?

Also, please note that Camden is smiling perfectly in every photo (a Christmas miracle...In July?), and Boston is not even remotely looking at the camera. Of course. Hash tag: toddlerzthesedayz.

^^Please tell me you don't want to just chew on Camden right now. I can't even handle the cuteness!!^^

^^All right, Bost. I love you, but you're getting cropped.^^

^^CAMDEN!^^

Okay. I now realize that there were far more photos of my children than of the actual Parkette. Whoops! But just take my word for it: If you're in Lexington, GO HERE. It's awesome. And please get the funnel cake fried sunday. Because FUNNEL CAKE!

^^image source^^