Frankfort, Kentucky
In the cold chill of January, there’s no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than in a cozy nook at a library.
I took a long drive through the spitting snow to meet up with gal pal Rhonda in Frankfort. The Kentucky Historical Society was offering a beginners book binding class that looked like an interesting way to spend a winter day.
Paducah, Kentucky
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Paducah is one crazy-quilt town! As in, the National Quilt Museum is here. We motored around for a couple of days, just enough to get the flavor of the town. It was a quick trip but we did find some gems.
“The Sherwood”
Art Through The Lens
Yeiser Art Center
Paducah, KY
It’s said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess that goes for photography, too. It’s all about what you see in the picture, what emotions it evokes. Does it make you want to look deeper?
The photograph above won First Place in the Art Through The Lens – Regional Showcase. No one was more surprised than me! But the judge said he kept going back to it, trying to try figure it out. So he looked deeper. And that netted me First Place and a check that almost covered the cost of the frame.
I’ve visited a cluster of river towns up and down the Ohio River this summer, and Owensboro was the largest and by far the best. But the real reason for coming to Owensboro was the River Valley Cluster Show which is a big fancy-pants dog show.
Our dog, Coco, is a Shiba Inu, which is a Japanese breed related to the Akita. Shibas are notorious for being hard to train because they are stubborn and willful, and I figured, well, how hard could it be? We got her from a reputable breeder and she was expensive, purebred, and a complete mess. Ever seen an unhappy puppy? Me neither, but Coco was disagreeable from Day One. Cranky, snarling and mean, she bit us every day for a year and a half. Not just little puppy nips – I’m talking puncture wounds and BandAids. It was like living with a shark. It got so bad that I thought about finding a burlap bag with vague fantasies of tossing her off a bridge. But instead we went to obedience school.
Taylorsville is the seat of Spencer County and as I’ve mentioned before, Kentucky has a record number of county seats. Six score of them in fact. And in case you don’t remember – a score is 20.
It was a pleasant drive to Taylorsville. Spencer County has rolling hills and pretty farmland that is best viewed from the back roads instead of the highway. I passed by cattle farms, tobacco fields, and acres of corn and soybeans, all on winding country roads that didn’t take too much effort to enjoy, especially on a warm summer day.
Kentucky Horse Park
Lexington, KY
I know nothing about horses. It’s all spavins and heaves to me. But I got an education this week at the Pony Finals held at Kentucky Horse Park.
I’m winding up my solo trip after a spending a couple of days with my folks – Happy Birthday, Dad! – and I’ve landed in Lexington as an almost-home respite.
This summer we welcomed part of our expat family for an extended visit. They live in Europe and haven’t been back to the US-of-A in a while. So home seemed a little foreign. “The cars are so big!” they said as soon as they stepped off the plane. Other American habits struck them as odd, like our super air-conditioned buildings and the constant drone of background noise from TVs.
A two week stay at Summer Camp was on the girl’s agenda. They came halfway around the world to get dirty and sweaty at a good old-fashioned American camp in the woods.
Springfield, Kentucky
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We went to Washington County to visit the Springfield Opera House. Where’s Washington County? Oh, the next town over. Just a horse trot away.
Kentucky has a record number of counties – 120 to be exact. That ranks us third in the nation. Just about every little town is its own county. Why all this local government? Blame it on the Revolutionary War.
Back in the 1770’s bounty warrants were a form of payment for military service. Essentially a land grant, the warrants gave soldiers parcels of land on the far western frontier of the Virginia colonies. You would be entitled to a big chunk of Kentucky land if you were a veteran of the French-Indian War, Revolutionary War, or Lord Dunmore’s War.
This year the Kentucky Derby wasn’t so much a Run for the Roses as a Swim for the Roses. It poured, drizzled and dripped all weekend. Broke the 100 year old record for the wettest Derby. Talk about your sloppy track!
One of the perks of living along the Bourbon Trail are all the festivals and events the distilleries sponsor.
What’s the Bourbon Trail? Well, it’s kind of a self-guided sightseeing tour. There’s two dozen distilleries scattered around central Kentucky and the idea is to visit all of them and sample their spirits. Not all in one day, mind you. Even true bourbon aficionados would be hard pressed to make it through that many tours in a single day!
