Week Two

Sunday, August 8, 2004

We left the campground this morning around 9:30 and arrived in Bardstown, Ky about 11:30. Was actually a little more that a 50 mile drive, but part was over some very curvey and hilly roads. We are parked at a little campground out on the edge of town, overlooking a little private lake. Too many trees in the spot we are in to get Satellite reception, but there are plenty other things to do in the area.

We first looked the town over, and made a stop at the Welcome Center, which was actually open on Sunday.  We then drove by Old Bardstown, a collection of old log structures representing the original settlement.

We drove by the Old Kentucky Home State Park and the Federal Inn, the home located in the Park. Tomorrow we will take a tour of the home.   The Federal Hill was owned by the Rowan Family until the early 1920's, when is became a part of a State Park. The Rowan Family was related to Stephen Foster, and supposedly the home and area were the inspiration for his famous song My Old Kentucky Home. More on that later.

We then took a trip south of Bardston to New Haven, to visit the Kentucky Railroad Museum and model train museum. Pretty interesting, but the model trains were not as great as some I have seen.

We continued our drive, making a loop through the countryside on a scenic route back to Bardston. Saw lots of fields of hay, tobacco, corn, and what we think were soy beans.

After a snack for supper, we went to the J. Dan Talbot Amphitheatre for the presentation of "Stephen Foster - The Musical", a really great production. This production is a long-standing production in Bardstown, dating back to 1957. The cast consisted of over 40 singers and dancers, some of which have been with the show over 30 years.

The troupe is also performing Grease on alternate nights, so we may stay over for the next performance of Grease on Tuesday night.

Monday, August 9, 2004

We were out and about by about 8:30 this morning, looking for a place for a little 'restaurant breakfast'. After a little driving, all we found was a 'Java Joint' downtown, but they had some great muffins and coffee. We even got acquainted with the owner and her husband, a nice couple.

From there we went to visit Federal Hill, the home I mentioned yesterday. This home again was fairly typical of the Federal style in the early 1800's, except it was built in an L shape. From the center hall, there were two rooms on one side and only one on the other. Of course it was three stories, although the third floor was not open for viewing. As typical, the kitchen was separate from the house, and then the carriage house was a little further behind the kitchen.

We left Bardstown about 11:00, took the Blue Grass Parkway into Lexington, and arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park about 1:00. We got checked in with no problem. A very helpfull lady at the desk gave us lots of information about some scenic drives in the country.

Later we took about a 2 hour drive around the north and west part of the country-side and saw some beautiful horse farms. Many were only a couple of hundred acres, but several were 1500 acres and more. The stables were the most intrigueing part, most of which were larger and just as elaborate as the home. When it comes to taking care of the horses, these folks spare no expense.

All the pastures were manicured and obviously kept mowed all the time. The farms all had board fences. Most had a rock wall along the road, with board fences behind that separated the pastures into various paddocks. The fences were painted either black or white. We learned that the reason for both is that some folks think the white is more visible to the horses and looks better ( and I agree), but the black paint will last longer.

After our trip around the area, we came back to the campground, grilled some pork chops, and played a game of Phase 10. Oh, by the way, I am currently leading in this series by a score of 4 to 3.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

We were up again fairly early in order to get to the Kentucky Horse Park when they opened at 9 am. We weren't the first in line, but not far back. We wanted to be there early to see the Draft Horses being brought in from the pastures, fed their grain, groomed, harnessed and hitched to the wagons to give tours of the property.

After the tour, we walked around the grounds viewing the various barns and exhibits. Then it was time for the first of two parade of breeds, a presentation of 6 of the 50 or more breeds kept at the Farm. The various breeds were presented with the rider in costume for the particular horse he or she was riding. One horse that was presented, a thoroughbred, was "I Two Step Too". This horse is one of several that portrayed Seabiscuit in the movie.

After we had lunch in their cafe, we then went to see the presentation in the Hall of Champions. Here in a small round ring about 8 Champions of various type were presented, with a short video about each, and a lady discussing the accomplishments of each. Of the Top Twenty-Five thoroughbred in history only two are alive today, and both are on loan to the Park - Cigar and Da Hoss.

We then went back to the All-Breeds Barn for a different presentation of the various breeds. Again they presented a group of 8 or so horses with the riders in costume. The most impressive of this group was the high stepping Five Gait Saddlebred. As we move into the Amish country, we will see a lot of these horses pulling the wagons used by the Amish.

We then toured the International Museum of the Horse, a very fantastic presentation of the evolution of the horse, and its relationship with mankind over millions of years.

We also viewed the many statues of horses, including a memorial to Man O' War, one of the greatest racehorses to ever live. He is buried at the memorial, along with one of his sons, War Admiral.

Photos From Kentucky Horse Park

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

We were up early again today with quite a drive ahead of us. The first 2/3 was all Interstate heading north from Lexington on I-75 through Cincinnati, and then toward Columbus on I-71. I drove the first couple of hours, then Donna took over. As we went through Columbus, with Donna driving, I gave her the wrong directions, we missed a turn, did a U-Turn, and missed it again, all MY Fault.

This caused probably a 30 minute (or more) delay, but we eventually got back on track. From a few miles past Columbus we were on a U S Highway, but it was very narrow, hilly, curvey and very slow driving. We made it to the Scenic Hills RV Park in Berlin, Oh about 2 pm, got settled in the site, and then spent a hour or so exploring the town. Berlin (pronounced BURR-lin, with the emphasis on the Burr), is a small town, with a small population, but a fairly big tourist draw. We also visited The Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center, and saw a short video about the Amish and Mennonite people.

We also did a little searching for a bakery so we could buy a loaf of some Amish Homemade Bread, which turned out to be fairly easy.

Even in town we saw lots of Amish in their horse drawn buggies. Every business had a special parking area and hitching rails for their Amish customers. Even the Wal-Mart Super Center we passed by in Millersburg had special accomodations for parking the horses and buggies.

Our plans are to be here for a week before moving on to other areas. We will probably do a lot of driving in the country and visiting a lot of the Amish businesses and restaurants.

More about the Amish and Mennonites later.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

We didn't get in any big hurry this morning. First on the agenda was to change sites here at the campground. We moved closer to the office to improve our WiFi connection, and now have a much better connection. The WiFi here is free, while in its trial period.

We then went to a local restaurant downtown recommended by the girl working in the office, a place called Boyd and Wurthams. The ham I had with my breakfast was absolutely delicious. While in the cafe, the guy from the park came over and asked my opinion of the WiFi, and we had quite a long discussion about its abilities.

We then drove over to a little town called Charm and visited a cheese factory, where we bought some cheese, bacon, and a pound of homemade butter. We could also see through a viewing glass where they were making the cheese in big vats. A lot of the Amish in this area are engaged in Dairy Farming, but because of the lack of refrigeration, their milk cannot be used for consumption, but only for making cheese. That fact probably explains the existance of at least 7 or 8 cheese factories in the immediate area.

We then wandered around the countryside, and came upon a little community called Beck's Mill, where there was a fair sized General Store, that had an amazing supply of merchandise and food. The guy there gave us a photo copy of a portion of a county map, and we then did a little more exploring, finding a community called Saltillo.

From there we went back to the park, took a break, and then went downtown to visit a few shops, and have lunch at the same cafe where we had breakfast.

Later we went exploring in the country side in the area of New Hope, Winesburg. and Trail. We traveled a lot of back roads, where there are a lot of businesses in some various sorts of wood manufacturing: furniture, gazebos, crafts, pallets, and similar things. We also saw a lot of chicken houses, but, unlike East Texas, there was normally only one house, and most were somewhat smaller that those in East Texas.

The weather has been really nice here in Berlin since we got here. Temperature in the high 60's to low 70's during the day and it was 56 when we got up this morning. As the day progressed, however, a few clouds starting moving in and a ight mist started about dusk. As I am writing this it's about 11:30 EST, and has just starting raining. Maybe the rain will move on tonight.

Friday, August 13, 2004

We just had a small snack for breakfast today, and headed north toward Kidron. It had stopped raining, but was still very cloudy and cool.. only 55 degrees when we left. Lots of countryside to see. Our first stop was a little village of Mt Hope where we went into a small version of the Lehman's Hardware store. They had a quite extensive array of merchandise, but when we got to Kidron and went into the main Lehman's Hardware store, it was really amazing. I would venture to say that they had things that very few stores in the US would have. Because of the Amish lifestyle they had such things available as a Maytag hand-operated washer, a washer with a gasoline engine, and even a couple of wood burning stoves. They also have a lot of modern gas and electric stove that were modeled after the old time wood stoves.

We then went to a General Store that had groceries, boots, bulk food, a meat market, a pharmacy, and a restaurant. Donna got a prescription filled without the long wait at a Wal-Mart or Eckerd's and the cost was exactly the same as at home.

After leaving Kidron, we wandered around the countryside arriving in Wilmot right at 12 noon, and found the Amish Door Inn and Restaurant. The restaurant was absolutely huge with at least 150 or so tables, most of which would seat 6 people. Generally the restaurant was about 75% full, mostly tourist I suppose, but the food was fantastic. Donna had a 1/2 order of roast beef, and I had Roasted Chicken which was fantastic. They also had a large bakery in the same building, and Donna bought several pastries and breads.

During our drive we also stopped at several roadside stands, several Bulk Food stores, and a couple of meat markets. We bought several items including corn on the cob, cantelope, ham, and a few other 'necessities'.

We got back to the coach about 2pm, and took a nap for a couple of hours. Right now its about 6pm, about 60 degrees, and has started drizzling rain again. We may get out again later or may just stay here. If it stops the rain, we might have a little campfire.

Saturday, August 14, 2004

We decided to drive over to Dover this morning to take a look at that little town, and to visit the Wartham Museum. Mr Wartham, who died in 1973, and his heirs are in the cutlery business, making handmade household knives. However, the deceased Mr. Wartham was very famous as a master carver, his specialty being hand carver trains. His trains were carved from wood and ivory or bone. The intricate carvings were extremely accurate in detail, with many moving parts. His most famous train was the Lincoln Funeral Train.

Photos of Museum

After visiting the museum, we then drove to the downtown area, and had lunch at a little Coffee house called Uncommon Grounds. Soup and sandwich was our choice, with the soup being a Cheese Soup that was excellent. We drove around a bit, then headed back toward Sugarcreek, a little Swiss Village, most famous for its Swiss cheese factories, and a few Curio and Craft shops.

Continuing back toward Berlin by way ot the back roads, we saw a lot of Amish and Mennonite farms and businesses. Back on the main road near Walnut Creek, we stopped at a really neat commercial area, that included some shops, as well as a grocery store and meat & cheese market. This was a really nice place with very good prices. Like many other grocery stores in this area, they had a large selection of 'bulk foods'.

Donna bought several item, including some Strip Steaks for dinner tonight.

We took the groceries back to the coach and then took a few more back roads towards Millersburg, the county seat of Holmes County and the largest town in the county. We had gotten conflicting information about the Holmes County Fair, some saying it was this week, some saying was next week. So we found the fairgrounds, could see they were setting things up for having the fair next week, starting on Monday. Maybe we will get to go see it one night before we leave.

We also went to the new Wal-Mart Super Center, that had recently open. It was not as large as the one in Lufkin, but was a complete Super Center. Couple of interesting things were that they close at 8pm on Monday thru Friday and at 6pm on Saturday and are CLOSED on Sunday. Donna asked one of the clerks why they were not open on Sunday, the reply being 'We don't have an business on Sunday' As you can imagine the Amish and Mennonite do not conduct any business on Sunday, period.

Another interesting thing about the Wal-Mart was their accomodation of their customers driving buggies. Like all other businesses in this area that had a hitching rail, but Wal-Mart took it a step further and provided a Covered Area that would accomodate at least 25 or 30 horse and buggies.

More back roads on the way back to Berlin, this time finding a lot of new homes in new development, as well as a couple of really fine Inns for the tourist crowd. Of course, after dinner we played our obligatory game of Phase 10, with Donna now leading by 8 to 6. It was much worse for me, but I am catching up.

Tomorrow will probably be a day of hanging around camp, maybe doing a little cleaning and straightening up. No businesses or restaurants open today, so not much to do, except drive around and view the sights, which we will do a little bit, I am sure.