Category: 2024 Kentucky Trip
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2024 Kentucky Trip Recap
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05/16/2024 – 06/16/2024 We added a new state — Kentucky! — to our Usain trip map after our most recent adventure. Neither of us had been to Kentucky before so we wanted to spend a few weeks there to get to know it after making stops in Missouri and the Egyptian Hills area. It was…
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Sam A Baker State Park, MO
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The St. Francois River runs through the St. Francois Mountains in SE Missouri, and makes a delightful place for water fun. It has a rocky bottom making the water pretty clear. Families of all ages were swimming, using float toys and kayaks to enjoy a break from the heat. We found a shady spot near…
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The Land Between Two Lakes
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The Land Between Two Lakes is in Western Kentucky and partly shared with Tennessee. On the west side the Tennessee River is dammed up to form a long skinny Kentucky Lake. On the north and east side the Cumberland River is dammed up to form a long and skinnier Lake Barkley. The land between is…
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Anniversary Choice—Cave or Corvettes?
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What do you think I chose—a boat ride through a cave or a museum full of hot cars? A boat ride and a cave tour sounded like double prizes to me, so we stopped at The Lost River Cave in Bowling Green, KY, which was about the halfway point to Barkley Lake State Park. The…
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Eagle Falls Hike and a Ginormous Tree Gall
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The Eagle Falls Trail is across the Edward Moss Gatling Memorial Bridge. There is a small parking area, but we found a bigger one just a short distance up the road that was an open paved area with billboard advertising along the edge. The trail follows the Cumberland River across from the park and gives…
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Horseback Ride and the Sheltowee Trace
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While Tony set up for a meeting, I enjoyed a horseback ride at the Cumberland Falls Stables here in the park. My mount was General, a twelve-year-old Kentucky Walker. I never had to guide him as he followed the lead horse pretty closely. It was a short train with two guides and three guest riders.…
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Cumberland Falls and a Weird Plant
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Paul and Roxann suggested the Natural Bridge that we visited last week and this visit to Cumberland Falls. Great suggestions! This waterfall is 68 feet tall and 125 feet wide with 3600 cubic-feet of water spilling over the edge. It roars and creates mist and does not dry up in the summer. On our way…
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Kentucky Horse Park
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We are seeing lovely countryside and geological features. We have learned about frontier days and Revolutionary War, Daniel Boone, and Civil War battles. We visited a distillery and learned proper techniques for tasting bourbon and whiskey. What’s left? Oh, yeah, horses! Kentucky is famous for horse racing with the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and…
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On the Sunny Side of 90
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My title is how our tour guide described her age. Jenemarie is the granddaughter of John Walter; he and his son were the last Lock Masters at Lock #10 on the Kentucky River with John Jr. retiring in 1975. Jenemarie delights in telling family stories. It’s her therapy, she says. She recited a lengthy family…
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Ft. Boonsborough State Park
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Ft. Boonsborough is near Lexington, so we are back near that city and will see the horse park that was closed earlier in the week. The current fort was built in 1974 to represent a typical fort, and has people in costume showing what frontier life would be like . We saw a blacksmith, weaver,…