Attention, Road Trips Gardeners! Celebrate Kiku Matsuri, the annual Chrysanthemum Festival, on October 9, 2010, in Yuko-En on the Elkhorn, the official Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden at 800 Cincinnati Pike, Georgetown, Kentucky.

Sip chrysanthemum tea, eat special holiday sweets, see an exhibit of art inspired by the chrysanthemum and watch an actual raku ceramic firing. Maybe you’ll leave with a specimen chrysanthemum or an artist-created raku vase. The festival is 10 a.m. ’til noon. Registration is required, so if you’re headed to Kentucky that weekend, call 502:863-0026.

This nearly six-acre garden is a Bluegrass Landscape in a Japanese-style stroll garden. Even if you don’t make it for the Chrysanthemum Festival, it’s worth a stop. From dawn until dusk, enjoy paths, waterfalls, koi ponds, arched bridges, Elkhorn Creek, a Japanese style raked Stone Garden and more. The Kiln House, a rustic structure, houses two raku kilns. The Tea House offers tea ceremonies at times throughout the year. Self-guided tour information is available at the gates of the garden.

And — surprise — it’s a dog-friendly garden, as long as you keep your dog leashed and clean up after your pet.