Places to stay?

[kykamper]

Any suggestions on nice get-a-way w/in 8hrs (or so) of Lexington, KY?

[Johnowolf]

One of our favorites is Land Between The Lakes in KY (near Paducah).

Our favorite campground is a COE (Army Corps of Engineers) campground just before you cross the canal into The Trace. The name of the campground is "Canal - Barkley Lock And Dam Lake Barkley". Here's a link to their reservation system on ReserveUSA.com :
http://www.reserveusa.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/nrrs/ky/cana/newindex.html
 
We've stayed in two different loops there ... Fisherman's Row and Hill Loop. Fisherman's Row was nice because we could get to the lake easily in a relatively quiet bay area. No problem to bring a canoe and drop it in the lake right there.
 
Hill Loop was really cool. We had one of the upper level sites ... small site, right at the point where the canal starts. We could walk down one way to get to the lake, and the other to fish in the canal.
 
The campground there is very clean and well maintained. Everyone was friendly and helpful.
 
Hope you find a great camping experience!