Heading East for Fall Color 2020

 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

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Fifty eight steps lead up to the memorial, commemorating each year of his life. We climbed all 58 steps! Memorial houses a replica of his birthplace cabin The Sinking Spring for which the property was named Fresh spring water on property Part of the Nancy Lincoln Inn cabins Interior of cabin replica Story of the Nancy Lincoln Inn Taylorsville RV Park and Boat Storage Originally we planned to stay at Taylorsville Lake State Park which I remembered from my visit to the area 5 years earlier. The park doesn't have full hookups on many spaces and those were full. Since we planned to stay a week here, we wanted full hookups (including sewer). So we lucked onto this one! New owners bought this 6 mos. ago and are steadily making improvements. They are really nice people and take good care of their customers. Mabel and Gary are charming! We will come visit and stay here again! Why is Johnnie always on the phone when I take his picture? Starting to get its brillian...

 Mostly these all speak for themselves For those who travel light If you want to discretely tuck away your travel stickers Johnnie's dream RV-- an old school bus! A Teardrop: tow with an SUV, move by hand Kitchen in the rear Airstream Basecamp It may be possible to park these anywhere but I think I might have chosen a little more scenic spot Jayco Hummingbird, 1/2 ton towable with lots of features Another option in the small, light market On the other end of the spectrum we camped with Class A motorhomes so long and large, they dwarfed our 29' 5th wheel. Many of the upscale models have 5 slide outs, and one we parked near had a slide out balcony/deck. The trailers and/or 5th wheels in that size range are all pulled by 1 ton duelies, or we saw several using commercial tractors for this. These large rigs will not fit into most state or federal campgrounds, so they are limited to RV parks. For some travelers this works. For us, we thought our rig was pretty long, and very comforta...