Fort Boonesborough State Park in Kentucky

I had not been by Fort Boonesborough for some time (decades).  Well, like some of the other spots around my home state that I love, I have to put this on my list of places to start visiting frequently.

We stopped by for the first time since my college days.  It was $8 each to get in, and there is an intro video that shows every half hour I think.  The film was well done and even got some laughs from the crowd with us.

After the video, we casually strolled around the replica fort.

There was a good crowd the day we were there.  In fact, some of the cabins became so crowded, we left and came back later.

I am REALLY starting to appreciate the whole, "reinactor doing demonstrations" thing.  This is really cool, especially when the actor really gets into it, and enjoys what they are doing.

I think we encountered 7 or 8 on this visit...  each one talking about what they were up to, or what they did- each from a pioneer's view.

Several of the cabins around the fort have open doors, and you can step inside and talk to these pioneers.


One that really stood out to us was the candle maker.  Using an antique candle holder, the pioneer woman told us about dipping the candles in wax, then letting them dry briefly on the revolving holder.  Some candles dried as others were dipped over and over.  She also talked about the molding process to make candles.

There are a couple of very interesting museums at the Fort right now too.

I was really impressed with a particular cabin that was packed with pop culture items relating to Daniel Boone.

I really love seeing old pioneer and Daniel Boone type toys.  Especially the stuff from the 50s and 60s.  It was before my time, so it will always have a vintage feel to me.  You know... it's coolness will always be a little bit out of my grasp. 


Plus, when I was a kid, Star Wars and space toys were the thing.  Like every other kid, I loved that stuff then, but I really appreciate the Marx type toys now.  Personally, my few old Star Wars toys are in storage.  My Marx Civil War, Daniel Boone, and Johnny West dolls are proudly displayed on my bookshelf.

AND here, they have a great display of vintage Boone items.


Check out the cool Halloween costume!  If only that kind of coolness still existed! 

I was pleased to see the small figures, and the stage coach.  Various Daniel Boone related first day covers and postal items were represented too.

After making the rounds at the fort, we stopped by the gift shop to check things out.  I picked up a few postcards, AND a small bag of a corn snack prepared just like the pioneers may have enjoyed.

Outside, we found a marker where the original fort was.  It is not far from the pool area at this state park.

London Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade

London Kentucky hosted one of the coolest events around in October. I know I mentioned it before it happened.

London had a "Welcome Home" parade for Vietnam Veterans.

I found my favorite Vietnam War veteran, my dad, and we went to catch the event. My mom went too.

Actually, the festivities lasted the whole weekend. I know there was a concert, and other events, but seeing the parade was our main goal.

We drove down to London and stopped by the grocery store parking lot where the parade was to start. There was a little check in area. Dad went up to some of the other veterans there, and one actually said, "welcome home."

We drove a bit downtown, got a parking spot, and found a nice place to watch the parade.

The parade was long and exciting. There must have been hundreds of bikers, vintage cars, military vehicles and other sites in the parade.

My dad had his Vietnam Veteran cap on that my cousin (who has served in Afghanistan himself) sent to him. Another guy walked up to my dad, then looked at his young daughter or granddaughter and said, "there is a real Vietnam veteran there."

My dad said hello to her, and she gave my dad a very cute beaded leather green and yellow key chain. Actually, I am not sure it it was meant to be a key chain, but that is what he has been using it for. My dad really appreciated this. It was very sweet seeing the 9 or so year old girl going around and giving these beads to the vets.

Another nice moment happened during the parade. My dad was standing against a wall, watching the vehicles full of other veterans go by. On one of the trucks, a veteran was pointing to other vets he saw (many also proudly wearing their veteran caps). He would point them out, get their attention, and then salute.

My dad is one of the most casual guys you will ever meet, but he changed for a few seconds. Immediately, he stood straight and saluted back.

Before my cousin went to Afghanistan, I know he talked to my dad about... going to war. I asked them both what does an old soldier say to a young guy going off to fight for our country.
They both gave similar responses. "Not much."

Anyway, London Kentucky hosted a very nice event that was appreciated by me and my

parents.

Carter Caves Kentucky

If you are in Kentucky and you want to see a cave, obviously, you are going to go to Mammoth Cave, that is a given.

I really like Carter Caves too. It does have a very different feel. Plus, it is towards the eastern part of the state so it really doesn't compete with Mammoth the way some of the other caves in Kentucky (inside of the Mammoth Cave region) do.

Carter Caves seems a bit more secluded. I love the curvy mountain drive getting to the area. In my books, it is very relaxing.

We took the Cascade Cave tour on a recent Saturday morning. Our tour group was maybe around 20 people, which made it a nice, casual tour. Our tour guide was casual too, pointing out the formations and all, but not going on and on. To his credit and my relief, this may have been my first trip inside of a show cave where all of the lights were NOT turned off to show total darkness. It is fun the first time or two.

A huge bonus on our tour was bats! They were right in front of us! They were just hanging around, sleeping. We saw several close up. Check out my photo!

This tour starts out in one cave area. You go inside, and walk towards a pond room that is very attractive. There is water coming in from right outside of the cave. Above the water are some big finger like formations coming from the ceiling area.

You walk past the pond area and go outside of the cave. You walk past the outside part of the pond, so you can see where the pond water goes inside the cave. From here, you walk into another cave area. After checking out some more formations, you backtrack, and get another chance to see everything.

After leaving that cave, you are taken to yet another one, and at the end of a short trail inside of the cave, you find a small water fall. It is something, but it is in a small, tight area. You will appreciate it though.

I did read that the area has 30 miles of hiking trails. I might make it a personal goal to cover all of them. The area is just amazing. I did walk a little on one trail. It had that great, green, outdoor smell.

I mentioned bats earlier, and I should take a moment to mention that the park has closed off some of it's cave tours. They are trying to be cautious because of White-Nose Syndrome. Here is a link to some information:

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html



Reading about White-Nose Syndrome really scares me. It seems that many bats are not surviving because of this mysterious disease. In fact, the more I read about this subject, the grimmer it looks for bat populations. This is heart breaking stuff, and I hope people are aware of this crisis.

Carter Caves seems to be doing their part in keeping an eye on the little guys, while still keeping a couple of tours going.

Kentucky Christian University

I recently had a "what if" moment. We were driving through the eastern Kentucky area, and we took a quick swing through Grayson Kentucky, home of Kentucky Christian University. I applied to this school, and really liked it. At the time it was called Kentucky Christian College.

However, I liked Berea College better. I liked Berea better on every level. AND, when you think about the whole financial thing (and sadly, MANY kids aren't thinking about that these days) Berea was the obvious choice for me. Financially, I would have been in a lot of trouble if I had went anywhere but Berea.

This was a nice little school though for anyone looking for a Christian College. It is pretty secluded, with few distractions. I still have a lot of respect for the place.

I spent a few minutes driving around the campus on my way to Huntington. I took some pictures and thought I would put them up.