West Virginia...Mountain Mama, Take Me Home

Location: Babcock State Park

I tried, really tried to embrace the city today. Didn't happen. We were all set to spend the day playing tourist in Huntington or Charleston, WV. The truth was I couldn't wait to get out of there and head for the mountains. Who could pass this up?

 

We spent the morning in Ohio driving next to the Ohio River going through towns that have seen hard times, like Portsmouth. (I mean really hard times!). When we crossed over into West Virginia, I wasn't sure what to expect. Initially we thought about poking around Huntington, but nothing really caught our eye. Next up was Charleston. It has a nice Capitol building and surrounding grounds, a couple of quaint streets, but mostly it seemed like abandoned industrial.

We did find an old building that has been transformed into a farmer's market, with wine, cheese, chocolate, produce, and flowers. We had fun poking around in it (mainly cuz it was air conditioned), thought about having lunch there, but then decided on sandwiches sitting inside Winnie - next to a homeless shelter. Actually, we were going to go for a bike ride around the city, but then decided that it wasn't our vibe, so we decided to push on to the hills of West Virginia.

We're driving The Midland Trail, Highway 60 across West Virginia. It takes you along the Kanawha River, through coal towns next to railroad tracks. Really interesting to see the same set up in most towns. The railroad is next to the river, and then the town and houses are built up the hill. Here's the town of Gauley Falls. Beautiful cascade of falls!

 

 

Little General Store at Chimney Corner on the hairpin turn!

 

Loved the drive thru the mountains and really enjoying Babcock State Park. We spent the afternoon walking around the grounds, seeing the Grist Mill (that still makes cornmeal), the falls and the blooming rhododendrons. So peaceful and beautiful.

 

 

Love this little pathway thru the hardwood forest.

 

 

It took us to some old log cabins and a swinging bridge over the river.

 

 

We were going to go swimming in the mountain lake, but apparently it is spring fed and is a cool 55 degrees. Ha, not me.

 

This was more my speed.

(Lisa, take note. This is what a hammock looks like when it is hung up correctly. I still crack up thinking about that time we hung up the hammock only to have our butts hit the ground! I think there was wine involved.)

 

Ned, the master chef grilling up some burgers. Mountain Mama West Virginia suits me just fine.

 

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Heading into Appalachia

Location: Shawnee State Park

We left early this morning and took several back roads up and down mountains thru the northern part of Kentucky. Our mid-morning destination was Old Washington, Kentucky near the Ohio River. This town was established in 1789 and was first discovered by Daniel Boone and some other frontiersmen. This town really was the new frontier.

This was also the place of the first postal station in Kentucky and was the distributing point for the Northwest Territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin & Minnesota.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a picture of the first building in the town. It was built with the boards from the flat boat that brought a settler, his wife and 13 kids down the Ohio River. All I kept thinking was...yikes living in that with 13 kids!

 

Close to Old Washington and on the banks of the Ohio River is Maysville. This quaint little town has quite the history. I was most interested in visiting the Underground Railroad Museum. Apparently', being on the border of Ohio, it played a huge role in the Underground Railroad. Unfortunately, it was closed due to Memorial Weekend. So instead, we hopped on our bikes and decided to explore the town. There are really cool murals painted on all the flood walls. Where's Ned? I think I lost him...

Apparently Harriet Beecher Stowe watched a slave auction in this town. The scene of the actual auction she used in her book "Uncle Tom's Cabin.". The town was also known for some famous spies in May 4 to Dec 9, 1792. They were protecting early settlements. Hard to imagine these scenes when you look at this town now with tree lined streets, cobblestones and quaint gas lights.

 

On a cheerier note, this is also the hometown of Rosemary Clooney! She was born here, performed here and had her first major movie premier here in 1951, at the Russell Theatre no less.

Miss America was also from this town, circa 2000ish. (Not sure of the exact year).

 

We had a great time riding our bikes along the banks of the Ohio River. We're still on the Kentucky Side, looking across to Ohio.

 

Here's some more of the many murals, this one honoring Rosemary Clooney and the Russell Theatre.

 

 

We crossed over into Ohio and began our week of exploring the Appalachia Region. Gosh, this is just beautiful country. We took a scenic drive along the Ohio River for an hour or so, before turning north into the mountains. We're camped at a beautiful pristine State Park, right next to Turkey Creek in a gorgeous hardwood forest.

 

 

After the craziness of Memorial Weekend, we're back to having the campground to ourselves and enjoying the solitude of the forest.

Looking forward to sleeping this evening with the sound of Turkey Creek gurgling in the background.

 

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Kentucky - Sunday/Funday

Location: General Butler State Park

Day 3 of hanging out at General Butler State Park. We didn't get too ambitious today. Our big claim to fame was hiking to the top of the hill. Great view!

 

 

Making the climb up the hill.

 

 

 

 

Big pay-off was the swimming pool at the lodge.

 

 

Yes, looking goofy getting in a couple of laps.

 

 

 

We went for a late afternoon bike ride. I can't believe Ned passed up the Hawaiian Shave Ice!

P.S. Ned now informs me the Hawaiian Shave Ice place was closed. Enough said.

 

The Kentucky Flyer was giving rides. We immediately thought that the Duni Boys would love riding on this...and then we saw Lucy's video of them at the Strawberry Festival driving their own jeeps! Never mind, the jeeps were much cooler.

In case you haven't figured it out, this is definitely "glamping" or as Kentucky calls it, Resort Camping. Boat rides, swimming pool, train rides, bike paths, lodge and golf course - all pretty swanky. Fun day, but to tell the truth my gypsy spirit is getting antsy. Looking forward to being on the road again tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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R&R in Kentucky - bike rides & local history

Location: General Butler State Park, KY

All morning we just hung out at the campsite chillin'. Ned's reading a Trilogy on the Civil War. He's hoping to get to the second book, about the battle of Gettysburg, by the time we visit the Gettysburg Museum.

I'm enjoying the stories he's sharing with me. For those interested the Trilogy is: Gods & Generals, Killer Angels, & The Last Full Measure by Michael Shaara & Jeff Shaara.

 

 

 

Yesterday we biked a killer hill to the top of the State Park. It was a doozy. I wanted to bike into the nearby town of Carroltown, but didn't want to ride over that enormous hill again. We asked around and heard about a "shortcut" bike trail up the mountain. Well, turns out it wasn't so much a biking trail as it was a muddy gully - straight up. I pretty much walked my bike up (with Ned's help when we hit the slipping and sliding spots).

 

 

 

 

 

We finally made it to the top! Here's Ned at the overlook. Unfortunately, you can't see the valley behind him. Trust me, it was up!

 

The ride down was awesome. We rode a bit and finally made it to the little town of Carroltown. The town is situated between two rivers, the Kentucky and the Ohio. Barges pushing coal, from Western Kentucky, travel up the river constantly. We had fun riding along the river and watching the barges.

The other side of the river is Indiana.

 

 

The town itself has seen better days. It has a sweet little town square with a majestic courthouse in the middle, but almost all stores around the town square are vacant. The place seemed almost deserted. I'm hoping it was because it was Memorial Weekend, but we couldn't even find an ice cream shop!

 

The town has quite a history tho. This house was built in 1816 and is the oldest standing house in Carrolton. It's rumored to have been part of the Underground Railroad.

 

 

Not wanting to ride over that killer hill again, we decided to try and ride around it. There was a road posted staying it was closed, but open to local traffic. We decided to take it...Turns out it dead ends at one of the locks on the Kentucky River. Doh!

 

There was a local man working the lock. We watched a small speed boat go thru. When he was finished I asked him if we could go past this chained off area and hook back up to the State Park. (Okay, I begged him to not make me ride over that hill again! Pathetic,I know). This guy was such a sweetheart. He took pity on us, let us thru the chained off area and told us about a trail we could take.

You can see the lock behind him. The falls are behind the lock.

He also told us about some other interesting local things pertaining to the locks on the river and other stories about the area. Next to the locks are two identical abandoned houses that were built in 1835 for the original Lock Masters. He told us about the different floods and where the water marks were on the houses. The flood of 1937 was a doozy. These houses sit on a hill above the locks. The water mark was about 8 ft. up the chimney!

 

We set off on the trail he told us about. It was in the thick of the woods. The pros were it was much cooler in the woods and the smell of the honeysuckle all around was glorious. The cons - we really didn't know where we were going...

Great trail! Took us directly into the State Park without having to do the hill! Oh ye of little faith.

The bluegrass concert was moved...to the top of the hill. Guess who's not going. Looks like a quiet evening at home.

 

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Day 2 - Kentucky Bourbon Trail...Roll out the barrel

Location: General Butler State Park, Kentucky

Nothing like waking to blue skies to put a spring in your step...that and knowing we had a date with Four Roses to pick up a newly emptied barrel of bourbon!

Here's our barrel, that just a few hours earlier held finely aged bourbon, being rolled out to Winnie.

Ned's already got a plan for when we get home. He wants to put the barrel sideways, resting on rollers and turned slowly by a motor. He's hoping this will transfer the bourbon flavor to the nibs. We'll make several batches of dark chocolate, with different aging times to try it out. Linda, Marisa, Faye, Dad, Vida...thanks for volunteering to be our tasters. I'm thinking we try this with some good bourbon too!

 

We thought we were being clever buying a 55 gallon bag to fit over the 53 gallon barrel. Mmm...not so much. It was kinda like getting a size small t-shirt over an extra large belly.

 

 

 

We moved around 3 duffel bags, 2 pillows, 4 towels and 2 backpacks...voila! The barrel fits perfectly in the back of Winnie.

Mission accomplished...now on to more bourbon tasting! (It's noon somewhere right?)

 

Down the road is the Jim Beam Distillery. Gorgeous grounds and ready for another plant tour.

 

Ned checking the different grains to make the mash. (Bourbon has to be at least 51% corn to be called bourbon).

 

 

At this stage it's just moonshine. Aging it in the oak barrel that has been charred is what gives it the caramel color. It's also what gives it that oaky bourbon flavor. (Fingers crossed it transfers to cocoa nibs too).

 

We tasted some of this...pure alcohol. A little too potent for my taste!

 

 

 

Seeing "the still" in action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part of the tour...tasting the different types of Jim Beam bourbon.

They use these fancy self-serve machines.

 

Ned enjoying Booker Bourbon (too strong for my taste) and another one that was 121 proof.

 

 

 

I went for the Small Batch and the Knob Creek. Pretty good...still enjoyed the Four Roses more.

 

We were going to visit Bulleit Distillery next, but actually we were kinda "bourboned" out. We decided to just head for General Butler State Park and get settled in for a long Memorial Weekend.

The campground is sold out, and the kids, bikes, bbq's, dogs and chaos is pretty much what we expected on Memorial Weekend.

 

We have a campsite at the end of a loop next to a very green lake. This campground is situated between the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers. Since the lake isn't swimable, we took a bike ride to the lodge. Up a really, really steep hill! Fortunately, they let the riff-raff campers use the swimming pool from 4 to 7 pm. We dove in and damn - felt like Lake Tahoe. Freezing cold!!! Kinda makes me miss the warm swimming pool in Death Valley. We hear there's going to be a hoe-down in the campsite next to ours tomorrow night. Should be interesting....

 

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