BARDSTOWN, KENTUCKY. MAY 14, 2015.
GETTING HERE. Our next stop is a state park in Kentucky called “My Old Kentucky Home.” It was an easy three hour drive from Nashville up Interstate 65 and then on the Bluegrass Parkway to the town of Bardstown. The entire trip was on a well paved divided road and I had to restrain myself not to exceed the posted 70 miles per hour speed limit. Smooth ride. Beautiful countryside. Lots of old established trees and gently rolling hills, dressed with Kentucky bluegrass and white tailed deer, who seemed indifferent to those of us driving down the road.
DETOURS TEMPTED US. I had a feeling as we began this leg of our journey across America that we would find many interesting places we just wouldn’t have time to see. I was right. Listen to this: Just today we drove past the National Corvette Museum and General Motors Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green. Next was Fort Knox and the heavily guarded United States Bullion Depository, used to store a large portion of United States official gold reserves. We were also close enough to have visited the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Factory and Museum. And finally, we passed up an opportunity to see the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. But we can’t see everything…ours is a very large country and to “see it all” would take a lifetime. That’s a little longer than we intend to spend on our great American Adventure. And, we’ve arrived at a very beautiful park near a quaint little town with lots of photo ops and historical sites to enjoy.
Federal Hill at “My Old Kentucky Home” State Park. When’s the last time you saw a building like this at a state park?
WE ARRIVED: MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME STATE PARK. The state park is huge, but the camping area is small…just about 30 sites nestled into a heavily wooded area adjacent to a manicured 18 hole golf course on the outskirts of historic Bardstown, Kentucky. “Wow, this is really nice,” I said to Florence as we pulled up to the kiosk at the entrance. We were already so impressed that as we checked in we added three more nights to the three we’d already booked in advance. An example of the flexibility we so enjoy about traveling in our motorhome. So we’ll be here for six days. That will be plenty of time for us to poke around town, see the sights and post some photos for you guys.
FEDERAL HILL. The Park’s centerpiece is Federal Hill, a former plantation built by United States Senator John Rowan in 1795. During Rowan’s life, the mansion became a meeting place for local politicians as well as many visiting dignitaries. Tradition holds that songwriter Stephen Foster, who was a cousin of Senator Rowan, was inspired to write “My Old Kentucky Home” after a visit to Federal Hill in 1852. Wow! When’s the last time you saw a building like this on the grounds of a state park?
Entrance to “My Old Kentucky Home” State Park.
Driveway to the Campground.
View from the park entrance area.
Arrival checklist: Bleed air from exhaust brakes, level the coach with hydraulic system, extend slide-outs, plug into electric post…we’re done!
View from Florence’s “desk window.” Not bad…not bad at all!
Wherever we go, there we are.
TOMORROW WE’LL EXPLORE BARDSTOWN, AND POST A LOT OF PHOTOS. COME BACK AND SEE US AGAIN, SOON.
