Home Care In Westport, KY

This is the second installment of our Day Trips Series, where we travel to different places near Louisville, exploring our local treasures. Today we are profiling Westport, Kentucky.

I have learned that in Kentucky, when you see a squiggly sign like the one pictured below, something beautiful is coming on the horizon soon, like Westport, KY. Heading due east on Highway 42, past Prospect, past Goshen, the wide highway eventually narrows to an old, two lane road. Old general stores, restaurants and churches are sprinkled throughout the drive, with some heavy hitter horse farms mixed in, as well.

Westport, which is 12 miles past the Oldham County/Jefferson County Line, is a river town, so you turn north on Hwy 524 and head to the river. Or as the locals say, go down Brownsboro Road until you see the big WAVE-TV Tower and then turn left right before it; It’s a little over three miles from that turn into Westport.

You pass by old beauties such as this house below:

And when you arrive, you are welcomed by a sign telling you that Westport was established in 1792. Little did I know that I would be meeting someone here this day whose family established themselves here in 1796.

I love a town where the post office has some character, and this one does indeed. It has a “quilt” painting of a flag on the front of the building. You don’t see that too often in the Louisville postal hubs.

Highway 524, otherwise known as Main Street, brings you into town and dead ends here at Westport Park with an incredible view of the Ohio River. You feel as though you could jump right in and swim to Indiana, it looks so close. This would be a great place to picnic.

The day we visited, we stopped at Knock on Wood Mercantile and Cafe to eat lunch and shop.

Knock on Wood is located in the 2,000 square foot old general store. Owner Lea Nachtman and her husband purchased it in 2000 as a place to sell their wares from their craft show business. They opened the cafe portion two years ago. If you are wondering what they sell here on Knock on Wood, this photo below pretty much sums it up:

On one side is the cafe, with seating in quaint tables and booths, each one different, and all the furniture you are sitting on is for sale.

The other side is the gifts, furniture and decor wing of the establishment.

Lea Nachtman and her husband paint and restore all the furniture pieces themselves.

They also sell gifts and decor.

The cafe was bustling when we were there. Lea and her associate prepare all the food themselves and man the shop.

The menu is on a chalkboard and we had a hard time deciding what to order with all the choices of good homemade food.

We ordered a little bit of everything. Among our favorites was the homemade Benedictine with bacon, shown below, with big cucumber chunks and no nasty green food coloring.

My daughter had the Savoy Cabbage Soup with potatoes and carrots and an piece of Spinach, Bacon and Tomato Quiche. They loved the soup so much, we went back and ordered another cup.

One of my summer interns struggled to get the first bite and wanted to keep the toothpick in his sandwich the entire time.

They sell Blue Bell ice cream here by the scoop, so you know that was on the itinerary immediately following lunch.

Bellies full and requisite ice cream scoops later, we head on to our big adventure which is the Little Big Horse Trails, which is a few miles from Main Street.

Little Big Horse Trails offers one hour guided horseback riding on trails. Let me say that we are not horse people, so we needed all the sherpas we could get. (I had a hard enough time just getting my interns to wear jeans and closed-toe shoes, when they initially tried to wear capri yoga pants, flip flops or athletic shorts for this adventure). Wear jeans and closed toe shoes, period. You’ll figure out why immediately.

The proprietor of the horse trail is Garnet Morgan. Garnet’s family emigrated here from Wales and established themselves on over 500 acres in Westport in 1796. He lives in the same house he was raised in. Hearing this made me feel just so … transient.

The Morgan property has been a milk house, and they have raised cows, sheep and now just horses and hay. Garnet is a talented wood sculptor, so the grounds are like a museum, with all this creations and touches. Here is the front porch, with several of his chainsaw sculptures.

Before I ventured to Westport, a number of people said to make sure we visited the facilities on this property, or the “Outhouse” as it is called. It is amazing. Truly the best outhouse I have ever visited.

From our Outhouse pit stop, we meandered to the barn to get on our horses, each with a great name and colorful gear.

We peruse the rules, reading them to my youngest intern, who, I fear, might break rules 7, 9, and 10 immediately.

The trail is three miles long, up down hills and through some beautiful country. There are four of us and we have three guides. I think we fell into the “rookie city folk” category and I’m glad for it, as I am the worst, most nervous rider in the bunch (after a scarring birthday party horse experience when I was 13, this is my first time back in the saddle).

It is a relaxing, quiet hour and for some reason the horses have rendered my interns almost completely silent, which is nothing short of a miracle. They are absolutely focused and entranced.

We had a follower throughout the hour, the farm dog, a European Chow who trotted along with us on our trail ride, intermittently hiding and popping out at the horses.

We avoided the rain all day, but this was our ride back up to the barn. The skies opened up ten minutes after we got here. I love this picture, it looks like something out of a movie.

Little Big Horse Trails can take a guided group of up to twelve people. You have to make a reservation in advance and you have to be six years old to ride. Every rider gets their own horse. The entire tour takes about an hour. What we appreciated the most was their attention to safety and educating new riders on how to sit and where to keep your weight (Heels DOWN, Toes UP).

Westport is close enough that you can do this in afternoon and still feel like you have left town. The land is idyllic and experiencing it on horseback made it feel like vacation. My intern’s direct quote was, ‘I wish we could move here, eat every day at Knock on Wood and then ride horses all afternoon.”

For more information about Little Big Horse Trails or to make a reservation, call them at (502) 222-1842 or visit their website at https://littlebighorsetrails.com/. You must make a reservation to ride, as they have to make sure they can staff your group and that the trail is in good condition. (You do not want a wet, muddy trail as the horses will be slipping up and down the hills). It costs $30 per rider and the trail lasts an hour.

Happy Trails, StyleBlueprint readers!

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville company is proposing a nearly 300-unit apartment complex in St. Matthews near Westport Road and Ridgeway Avenue on a rare swath of the suburban city’s undeveloped land.

LDG Development filed plans Monday for the project, which would displace an existing apartment building, offices and The Plant Kingdom garden center and raze those structures. It calls for three buildings on the 8.7-acre site, including a five-story structure, a clubhouse, parking garage and dog park.

The land is now approved for residential, office and commercial uses, but LDG is seeking to have it all rezoned for multifamily living. Part of the property already is zoned for apartments.

If the plans are approved, LDG hopes to buy the land later this year, said Christi Lanier-Robinson, the company’s executive vice president.

Unlike some of the company’s other work that focuses on lower-income housing, the St. Matthews complex would be leased at market rates.

“People think of us as an affordable housing developer, but this is really kind of reflective of the growing trend of multilevel multifamily housing in general,” Lanier-Robinson said. “I mean, a significant portion of our portfolio now is market rate in Kentucky.”

The site is near the intersection of Westport and Ridgeway just north of the main railroad line through St. Matthews, an unusual area where cars moving north on Westport over the railroad tracks don’t have to stop. But there is a two-way stop for vehicles on the north side of the tracks.

The LDG plans call for a new traffic roundabout at Ridgeway and Westport, “which we believe will improve the traffic pattern for everybody,” Lanier-Robinson said.

The Plant Kingdom has been notified of the development plans, Stewart Howe of HGH Development said in an email Tuesday morning. HGH Development is a partner on the project with LDG.

"All leases on the property remain private and active as we continue to work through the terms of our purchase agreement," he said.

Asked to comment on the development plans, The Plant Kingdom's co-owners, Shelly and Tony Nold, said in an emailed statement: "We are looking forward to another exciting season as many beautiful, spring plants will be arriving very soon. It is business as usual for us here at TPK."

The apartment project would be named Gilman's Point Apartments after Daniel Gilman, a prominent 19th century citizen of the city that became St. Matthews.

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.

WESTPORT, KY (WAVE) - A recent fire caused about half a million dollars in damage to a local business serving hundreds of customers in Jefferson and Oldham Counties.

The owners of Westport Custom Cabinets said some of the items destroyed were irreplaceable.

"It's very difficult to see because it is a building that I helped build with my brother growing up," Matt Cooper said.

Cooper and his father own Westport Custom Cabinets. The business has been operating off West Highway 524 for 43 years.

"Because of the big box stores and imported product we are a dying breed," Cooper said. "Since we offer a local handmade product we had a lot of lumber that was sourced locally."

The Westport Fire Department said the damage was so bad they are still investigating the cause. Originally they thought lightning caused the fire, but that was ruled out.

Officials do not believe arson is a possibility.

"Doing this from 1975 we had wood from projects and auctions; and machinery that is irreplaceable because it's hard to find these days," Cooper said.

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Around half a million dollars worth of inventory and tools are now piles of burnt debris.

The property used to have two tall wooden barns. The fire in July burned one to the ground and spread to the other. Even surrounding vehicles were scorched in the flames.

The Coopers insurance isn't covering all of the damage.

They set up a GoFundMe to help recover some of the cost. Click here to contribute.

So far through community support they have raised $10,000 and started to rebuild one of the barns.

"Hopefully this makes up some of the difference to get us back into running business," Cooper said.

Copyright 2018 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.

Eight people lived in Anna Westmoreland's home in Westport, but thankfully everyone made it out safely Sunday afternoon.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A fire destroyed a family home and all their belongings in the Oldham County town of Westport Sunday afternoon.

Anna Westmoreland said she and seven other family members and friends, including children, lived in the home.

Westmoreland was at home when the fire broke out around 3 p.m. Sunday. She said she saw thick, black smoke starting to come by the door from the outside of the home.

"I grabbed my purse and went over to the sliding glass door, didn't grab any shoes, clothes, nothing," she said.

Westmoreland's husband uses an oxygen machine, so they and the other adults in the home got out as quickly as they could.

“It broke all the windows out of the house. We heard a big boom because there were two big oxygen tanks and an oxygen machine," she said.

The La Grange Fire Department said they responded to the call, alongside units from Ballardsville, North Oldham and Westport.

By the time they got the fire out, Westmoreland said it was a total loss.

Normally, there would have been even more people to rescue. Westmoreland said her three young grandchildren left for Louisville to watch the Pegasus Parade.

“They were upset, and I was glad they were gone because they didn’t see any flames when they came back," she said. “It’s like a nightmare, but something had told me let them go to the parade.”

The Red Cross helped them find a hotel to stay in, which Westmoreland said was a challenge because of bookings for the Kentucky Derby. Monday, one of her other top priorities was replacing prescriptions she and the family desperately need.

Some family members also returned to the home to find toys and other items that were outside and could be salvaged.

"If you didn't have family you wouldn't know what to do," Westmoreland said. "I do a lot, but I couldn't have done it all myself."

Now, the family will start looking for another place to live, ideally a house for their kids.

"I hate to take an apartment after they've had a house, because the kids like the yard, any kind of yard and any kind of house," Westmoreland said.

The La Grange Fire Department said the county arson team would be investigating the cause of the fire.

Westmoreland's granddaughter set up a gofundme to help support the family in replacing their belongings.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Parents and students say the new bus routes for Jefferson County Public Schools are a disaster. The district closed its schools Thursday and Friday to fix the errors in the transportation system.

What You Need To Know

An 11-year-old Westport Middle School student was even dropped off miles from his home.

Bradyen Tapp had the day off from school, so JCPS can fix the transportation issue. He spent his day off helping his dad landscaping with his dad.

“Yes, I was very scared. On the way home, I was confused. I was just flabbergasted,” Tapp, a 6th grader at Westport Middle School, said.

Brayden was supposed to be home at 4:25 p.m. from his first day but didn’t get home until after 5:10 p.m. because he says he was told to get on the wrong bus.

“Halfway through the day maybe fourth or fifth period I got my wristband that gave me the wrong bus number and it had my name on it, it was blue, so I trusted the school that they gave me the right wristband because I didn’t think they would have messed it up,” he said.

Brayden said he got on the bus and told the driver his stop and his driver said he knew where to go

“Where he dropped me off was between three and five miles from my house,” he said.

His dad, David, said Brayden texted him where he was and he picked him up.

“I was terrified. I was terrified. He was crying, I was crying. He had a migraine when he came home,” David said.

The 11-year-old’s father said he tried to call the school to figure out what happened and nobody took his call.

“Nobody answered the phone. I called twice and I end up leaving a message. It wasn’t a nice message by any means. Nobody would leave a message that’s nice after your son was dropped off three miles from your home. it’s ridiculous,” said David.

David is unsure if he is going to be putting his son back on the bus on Monday.

“I hope they get it together though you know kids got to go to school, so hopefully everything works out,” he said.

Brayden is not as excited to get back into the classroom.

Superintendent Marty Pollio released a video on Thursday morning apologizing for the transportation disaster. He says he hopes they can solve the issues over the next four days.