Land Between the Lakes

When I was in the 5th grade, my class took a trip to Land Between the Lakes. All 5th grade classes at my elementary school took this trip over a couple of days. It was such a great experience. We had to make a Land Between the Lakes book. This was a huge event for all students before they advanced to middle school.

I was grateful to my school for giving us the experience. I know for many of us, this was our first real "away from home" trip. I went to a very calm school, and I really liked all of my classmates. My memory of this trip is still vivid and happy.

My dad and I have made a couple trips to the Land Between the Lakes area recently. Growing up in Western Kentucky, this was not an uncommon trip. I remember some family and friends near Owensboro probably going down monthly.

There is a lot going on there. I just found out that they have a blog too! Check it out:

http://www.landbetweenthelakes.blogspot.com/

LBL is one of those places that you really have to go to to appreciate. It is nice, and you hear it is nice, but you just have to go there to see exactly how nice it is. Also, it helps if you have someone going with you familiar with the area, like my dad. Ask him, he will go with you! Seriously, he has nothing else going on.

I love the Animal Center near the Center Furnace. Its 4-5 bucks to go through. I remember seeing a presentation on snakes here while on that 5th grade trip. They let me hold a snake. I was scared to death, but they calmly explained that it wouldn't bite. There was no mischievous person around to try to scare me. It was a pleasant and positive experience. They still have snakes, and many other animals. My dad and I got there right when they opened, and they were bringing out there owls. The unreal friendly rangers there gave us a presentation on each owl that came out! I assume they do this every day when they open up. The presentation alone was worth 3 times the price of admission.

There are a ton of trails and camping areas throughout. I would love to take a week and just go walk around.

There is the Elk and Bison Prairie. I think it is five bucks to enter it. You pay your entry fee at an automated area, and then you drive in. I do wish they would put a real person at the entrance, but it does seem that friendly rangers are around once inside the range.

My last time there, I saw one buffalo at a distance. A ranger told us that they were all over in another area, off the trail. The loner we saw was an older buffalo that had been there since the start of the trail. The new, younger buffalo do not socialize with him according to the ranger.

On another trip trough the Elk and Bison Prairie, we had to wait for many of the buffalo to get out of our way! They were everywhere! They obviously are comfortable around visitors, and they would walk right next to our truck.

There is another area to see Buffalo next to the Great Western Furnace. I am not sure about their status, but they are across the road in a field. They are always very visible.

Speaking of furnaces. I really don't know a lot about old iron furnaces, or even how the furnaces operated, but the area has 2 standing furnaces that have been around for some time. The Great Western Furnaces dates back to the 1850s. It still looks good. The Center Furnace looks a little rougher each time I see it.

There is the Golden Pond Planetarium too. I love planetariums, and this area is lucky to have this one, connected to the visitor center. I saw a great presentation here about a year ago on the International Space Station. There was a great Q&A session after the show, and the audience was told about a web site where you could type in your location and find out times that you could see the ISS over head! The next night, my dad and I actually looked up at the right time and saw the ISS! It is quick, you have to look up and catch it. It could easily be mistaken for a fast moving plain.

The gift shop in the visitor center has a great selection of local interest books.

Oh, and you can't really bring up LBL without mentioning Patti's. I have a friend from the Paducah area that kept telling me that I must stop there. The word is the portions are huge. My friend was not kidding. I had a salad, and 3 people could have helped me finish it off. It was big. Oh, and they give you bread baked in a flower pot. It is just as cool as it sounds. Think Cracker Barrel but bigger and more authentic. You couldn't franchise this kind of Kentucky atmosphere. They have a nice gift shop too. Check out their web site.

http://www.pattis-settlement.com/iron_kettle_restaurant.htm

I guess this is a great area just to go and drive around (keep a map around though!). I have seen turkey and deer just walking around on the roads. It is very relaxing just driving around the area.