Trip Motivation
It was a rainy day in Nashville, TN, and Ben needed to do a 4-hour training bike ride. I started searching for some spots nearby to be out of the rain for a few hours. Ben ended up deciding he didn’t want to risk taking time to drive and still being rained on, so he stayed home to do a long indoor ride. But we didn’t want to be trapped inside all day either! And once I had the idea in my head, I thought it would be a fun way to spend the day. When I pulled up a radar, I saw that it looked like some areas to the west and north would be pretty clear for the day. On a previous trip to Holiday World theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana, we stopped for a very brief overnight stay in the town of Owensboro, KY, and I remembered they had a great riverfront playground. So we piled in the car at 9am and spent the day on a spontaneous adventure.
Nashville, TN to Owensboro, KY: 2-Hour Road Trip
The total drive time to Owensboro, KY is two hours, which worked out great for our day trip, but would also be perfect for a quick overnight or, like I mentioned before, a short trip to mix with nearby Bowling Green, KY (an hour closer), Evansville, IN (40 minutes farther) or Holiday World (40 minutes farther). You can find more tips for road trips with kids here.
The drive was short enough that the kids could bring some books and snacks but didn’t need a full activity bag. On the way there, we drove without stopping. Make sure you don’t miss the turn from I65 to I165. On the way back, we made a quick gas stop at Pilots Travel Stop near the border. We also bought some Jr. Frostys from Wendys, a splurge that was not really a splurge at all and a reminder to the kids that I’m the fun parent 😛
Hotel Options
This was a day trip, so we didn’t stay at a hotel this time. The downtown area by the river is very walkable and there are a few hotels nearby to the main attractions in the area including a Holiday Inn and a Hampton Inn. These hotels would be good options to use credit card points. Nearby in Evansville, IN there is a Hyatt Place, our favorite brand of hotel. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card, and Chase points which can be transferred to Hyatt. You can learn more about points here.
Favorite Activities
Smothers Park
This park is on the riverfront and was so large and fun, it made an impression on us the last time we drove through town. It underwent a huge remodeling in 2012 and has won awards for being a top playground. Besides the playground, there is also a splash park that operates during the summer and numerous porch swings along the river. There are often events at the park and clean bathrooms and concession stands nearby.
Owensboro Museum of Science and Industry
The Science Museum was a block from the riverfront. Regular admission is $5 a person and it’s important that you recognize that going in. I don’t mean that as an insult, but it would be unfair to compare this museum to large elaborate ones in other cities. Although much of the museum felt dated, there were several really cool areas. There is a small racing gallery, a hands-on art area, a hallway of mammals and birds, and a temporary WWI exhibit. The kids loved the large Mastodon statue, and their favorite area was an indoor playground. All staff wore masks, and we were the only patrons there on a Sunday afternoon.
Another thing I wanted to highlight is that this museum is on the reciprocal list for the Association of Science and Technology Centers. So if you have a membership to a partner site like the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, your admission to this museum is free. Alternatively, you could use that reciprocity to your benefit in reverse. We purchased a family membership to this museum for $40 even though we have no plans to return. However, this membership will get us free access to numerous museums across the country and save us hundreds of dollars at other museums. Cities such as Louisville, St. Louis, Birmingham, and Asheville all have museums that will now be free for our family. And we have an upcoming Chicago trip, so now that we have the reciprocal membership, all the excellent museums (Field, Adler, MUSI, etc) will be free
Lunch at Fetta Specialty Pizza
This small pizza restaurant had a great outdoor patio, yummy wood-fired pizza and great service. It looked they do a lot of take-out orders and were not very busy when we were there.
