"A Week Experienced in the Bluegrass State" - Time Out #81

It has been well-established for most of my life, I am a #1 fan of America's now 101-year-old National Park Service (NPS). When mapping out our next American adventure, I always give special consideration to a location I have yet to experience, and that spot gets even more positive points if it contains one or more members of our special NPS.

Several years ago a long-time potential area became available for us to see, and I took full advantage of the opportunity. This particular area had been high on my USA short list for a long time.

My bride and I took the week long road trip many miles to the northeast, specifically to northern Kentucky. Our home base for 7 days was just outside historic Mammoth Cave National Park. We stayed in a nice, 2-bedroom place in the beautiful woods of "The Bluegrass State", only a few miles east of the historic entrance to this natural network of underground caverns.

They certainly are a natural wonder of Mother Nature. When not going on several of the NPS ranger-led tours at Mammoth Cave, we made several day trips to relatively close sites of interest we also had on our "to see" list. The main attraction of the trip, however, was the spectacular cave system, and the great history of the area. This part of our history lesson that week was taught by the park's knowledgeable rangers, both above and below ground. As in most NPS facilities, this park also maintains an outstanding visitor center. This place provides an overview and orientation to the park and the offerings available to its thousands of yearly visitors. Ms. Debbie and I had a big advantage during our stay since we went in the spring before the real large groups of folks found their way to this somewhat isolated rural place in our great country.

Because of the park's immense size above and below ground, the NPS provides a plethora of activities. In fact, probably the most difficult tourist decisions to make are which NPS tours to choose. Most have a small fee attached to them, and some are more physically strenuous than others, but since there are so many available, good individual matches are easy to find.

By the end of our stay, we felt like we were true spelunkers having chosen several cave hiking experiences there.

Our first side trip took us north to the large Ohio River border town of Louisville, only about an hour's drive north on I-65 from Mammoth Cave. Of course, the appeal of this place is magical Churchill Downs Racetrack, home of "the most exciting 2 minutes in sports", the historic Kentucky Derby. When we first spotted the twin spires with their classic appearance, my historical heart experienced some increased activity, i.e., I got major excited! I had wanted to see this site of America's oldest (since 1875) continuously held sporting event since I was a small boy, growing up in the 1950's on sleepy West 4th Avenue in Our Town. For many of my youthful years, I watched this special race play out each May on our family's black and white television set in our front room.

Now, we were actually there! I almost had to pinch myself to have an instant reality check.

We had lunch in their nice on-site restaurant, high above the track, and placed a few wagers ourselves on that particular day's race card. Since the Derby had been run 2 weeks earlier, the 2nd leg of the famed Triple Crown, the Preakness in Baltimore, MD, was simulcast on their big screens at the track. We enjoyed watching the Preakness live, too, even though it was many states away. Just in case you are interested, we didn't leave the track that day with positive winnings. To have had the opportunity to be in incredible Churchill Downs on live race day was absolutely priceless!

Another day trip that week took us northeast again from Mammoth Cave, but this time only about a half hour drive. We visited Hodgenville and the rural areas around it. There, we first toured Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood Home, followed by a visit to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Site. Remember how I always have had this burning desire to see NPS locations??

Of course, both these places are very special in the history of one of our greatest presidents in our relatively young nation. The sites are very rural, sort of hidden in Kentucky's woods.

The last day trip I will mention was a half hour drive southwest on I-65 from Mammoth Cave to the lovely town of Bowling Green, KY. Bowling Green (58,000) is just slightly larger than Our Town, and has a university, too, Western Kentucky University. It also has America's only General Motor's Corvette Assembly Plant, located immediately off I-65. Just south from the plant is the National Corvette Museum. It was in this famous museum a few years (after our visit), the floor collapsed, probably secondary to all the caves beneath the ground in that area, and severely damaged several of the classic cars on display.Since then, the museum has been fully restored, and continues to be a popular tourist destination.

Once each work day, the G.M. Assembly Plant offers $5/person guided tour at floor level of this incredible facility. Needless to say, we took the hour-long adventure. Our guide was excellent, and our group only had about 8 people in it. We were able to see most aspects of the total assembly line operation, and were almost close enough to touch the new cars as they moved along the line. I was so inspired with this experience and with my wife's urging, I purchased a new Corvette just a few weeks later. To be totally honest, however, I have had several of them, dating all the way back to my early undergraduate years attending Oklahoma State University. To me, Corvettes truly represent their long-held slogan of "America's Only True Sports Car".

What a trip. We experienced things that have been recalled many times already in our mind's eye, and are destined to be there forever. Thank you for helping me relive it again today. It was really fun.