Heading East for Fall Color 2020

 Our final day of touring took us to Williamstown, KY where the Ark Encounter is located. We did not know what to expect and were totally amazed by this place. The property is huge and includes a large visitor center with gift shop, auditorium for lectures and concerts, several restaurants, a virtual reality theatre, playground, zip lines, and of course, the life size replica of the Ark! The Ark itself is huge! It is impossible to show in photos the enormity of the ship, which was built to the dimensions given in the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. From a distance Next to it, you feel like an ant! The attention to detail, the scientific approach and thorough research that went into designing and constructing the ark is quite impressive. Looking up from the inside of the Ark - 3 decks in accordance with Genesis One of the things I appreciate about the Ark Encounter is the approach they take. They freely admit they used creative license to design and create the details that were n...

 Bardstown surprised us by all it had to offer. We wished we would've planned more than one day in the area as there is so much to see and do. I would say three days there would be better.  The Civil War Museum & the Women’s Museum of the Civil War These museums are the largest dedicated to the Western Theatre of the Civil War. Both are very nicely organized, arranged in a manner that is easy to follow and with a variety of displays: artifacts, replicas, clothing and other textiles, miniature dioramas, artwork, documents and personal possessions of participants.  In particular we appreciated the display of the H. L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine. Most people don't know the story of the Hunley, or that there was a submarine in that time. It had a hand crank propellor and no defenses. Eight crewman crowded into impossibly small quarters to operate the ship. In what ended up as a successful mission, the submarine loaded with explosives rammed up against a Uni...

 Missouri is wine country. Due to the right climate and soil, and the huge population of German settlers in the 1800's old country varietals flourish here as well as some rather unique to this area. Big city people might turn up their nose at Missouri wines, but that is fine. We'll enjoy them and keep the secret to ourselves! And of course we had to sample a few beers along the way, and you can't go to Kentucky without trying Bourbon!  Mark Twain Brewery Located in Hannibal, we stopped in for a bite to eat and sampled their brews. They had some beer and a really great BBQ Nacho plate! Cave Hollow West Winery This was handily located right on the same property as the Mark Twain Campground where we stayed outside Hannibal, MO. They have a lovely patio, plenty of indoor seating as well, spread out for social distancing, and they encourage people to bring their own nibbles and sit and visit and enjoy a glass of wine. They have live music occasionally as well.  My favorites he...

 Churchill Downs is a huge facility housing the famous race track, the Kentucky Derby Museum, and what most people don't realize, facilities to house and train 1500 horses, their trainers, jockeys and their families and all that those people require for full time living. This includes housing and schools. Since most jockeys are immigrants, they receive English as a second language education also. In front of the Kentucky Derby Museum Not only is this the premier race for three year old Thoroughbred horses in the US, but it is also the social event of the season as well. The Run for the Roses, as the Derby is called, attracts as many as 120,000 people to two weeks of festival events culminating in the race. Literally millions of dollars are won and lost by the gamblers, and winners of the race. If you come to the Kentucky Derby, you need to be dressed to the nines! Having the right hat is essential! The more glitter the better! But I think I found just the right outfit for Johnnie ...

 The tombstones of Samuel T. Gilbert (my 2 GGrandfather) and Susan W. Gilbert (his 3rd wife, not my ancestor) are covered with moss and lichen and show signs of significant deterioration since I was there in 2015. So I determined to go back before we left KY and see if I could clean them a bit as well as find the stone of Nancy Jane Gilbert. We visited the Taylorsville hardware store and bought a bucket, some brushes and some plastic scrapers. We bought bottled water from the Dollar store. Three gallons of water later, and a lot of scraping and brushing the stones look better. The black spots are very hard and we couldn't remove with water Happy to see them looking better although more work is required. Next time I will go prepared with better tools and additional knowledge about how to clean these stones. I believe the headstones are marble but the bases are something else, perhaps granite? This is the inscription on the back of Samuel T.'s stone and is probably the monument c...

 Historic Downtown There are some really nice changes to the downtown of Taylorsville since I visited 5 years ago. The Main Street Association is doing a great job of bringing back life to the community.  A view of Main Street Main street business Window boxes in bloom One happy geranium in store front The Gilbert House Samuel T. Gilbert and his wife Susan built this house on Garrard St. in the 1850. It was restored in the 1997 by Joe Bowen when the historical marker was added and it became one of historical homes tour. Samuel T. was actually the grandson of Revolutionary  War officer, Capt. John Wesley Gilbert The house today is looking a little frayed; it is used as a rental in a marginal area of town