Known as “The Bluegrass State”, Kentucky is home to the world’s longest cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park! The state is also known for horse racing, bourbon, automobile manufacturing, bluegrass music, Louisville Slugger baseball bats and Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame!
Off we go on another adventure to explore this state that we missed in our previous 14-month U.S.A. road trip!
Our first stop was Glasgow, KY so that we could visit Mammoth Cave. Because of COVID, the tour was self-guided, and we were only able to see a part of the cave. I would share a photo that we took, but it was too dark to get a good shot!
While staying in Glasgow, we took a day trip to Bowling Green. This city is the location of numerous manufacturers, including General Motor and Fruit of the Loom. The Bowling Green Assembly Plant has been the source of all Chevrolet Corvettes built since 1981. So, we had to check out the National Corvette Museum, which is also where many new Corvette owners pick up their new car!
Check out this 1967 Corvette Stingray that was originally owned by the singer Roy Orbison!
Because we love music and because Kentucky is known for bluegrass music, we had to stop in Owensboro, KY to go to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum. We learned a lot about bluegrass music – the history, people and instruments. It was our lucky day because the Museum offered a live performance of bluegrass music!
We motored into Louisville for a longer stay since it’s Kentucky’s largest city. We arrived a week after the Kentucky Derby ran; however, there was still much excitement in the air! Having never been to a horse race, we saddled up to the Kentucky Derby Museum to learn more about horse racing, how to bet and to take a Historic Walking tour of Churchill Downs.
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| Derby Hats for sale, in case you don’t have one! |
We returned on a race day and had a chance to try our luck. We didn’t bet much, but we did win a few! And we had terrific seats in a track-side courtyard!
Another icon of Louisville is the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. The Museum had lots of amazing memorabilia and although I’m not a baseball enthusiast, I really enjoyed the bat factory tour! We even got a souvenir mini bat to bring home!
Although in Indiana (just across the river), the Schimpff’s Confectionery was a fun afternoon treat. Opened in its present location in 1891 by Gustav Schimpff, this historic candy store features a 50’s soda fountain, old-fashioned candy jars and turn-of-the-century equipment. Known for making cinnamon Red Hots, we took advantage of a live-candy-making demonstration and got free samples of the Red Hots!
Yes, we’re now at another cemetery! If you’ve been reading my past blog posts, you probably know that we go to a lot of cemeteries! Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville has many historical graves. We especially visited to see the grave of Colonel Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken Fame).
This grave site memorial to his daughter Margaret is one of my favorites:
Louisville has a lovely art museum as well. The Speed Art Museum is the oldest and largest museum of art in Kentucky.
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| “Modified Social Bench C” by Jeppe Hein |
The Frazier History Museum is a great way to learn more about the state of Kentucky, its history as well as its present and future connections.
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| Red Louisville Penguin and Blue Lexington Penguin |
We learned a lot about the history of bourbon and the evolution of the whisky still.
And the Bottle Hall featured one bottle of every type of bourbon currently in production in Kentucky. This was one of my favorite bottles:
We really enjoyed our stay in
Louisville, but there was more to see in Kentucky! On our way to Lexington, we stopped briefly
in Frankfort to see these sites:
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| “Tied to the Land” by Jonathan Forrence |
Switzer Covered Bridge: This historic bridge is of Howe truss design with a saw tooth edge at each end.
Daniel Boone’s Grave: Daniel Boone led one of the earliest waves of settlers into Kentucky County (was then part of Virginia). He and his wife Rebecca are supposedly buried in the Frankfort Cemetery.
The grave site provides lovely views overlooking Frankfort, the Capital of Kentucky!
Next month we continue our Bluegrass State exploration in Lexington.
