Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Kentucky and Indiana

Monday and Tuesday Sept. 29 & 30, Days 112 & 113 of trip.


We're camped in the woods of Kentucky, in General Butler State Resort Park. It's a beautiful large park situated in Carrollton, Kentucky. We're just 12 miles from Indiana (just across the Ohio River), so the last 2 days we've crisscrossed back and forth between the states quite a few times. 

Our first night here, Sunday night, we met a great couple, Bill and Sue, who live not too far from here. They love to travel and they know so many places to see and so many things to do. They've been a wealth of information and have made our time here so much richer with all their suggestions. Plus they've already given us advance information about the places we're heading next. Thanks so much, Bill and Sue, for sharing all your local knowledge with us!

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Yesterday morning, at their suggestion, we headed for the historic town of Madison, Indiana. On the way we stopped at an overlook over the Ohio River. 
Note the barges on the River...they go both directions, carrying supplies and goods both upriver and downriver. The Ohio River starts in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and empties into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois, so there's quite a distance there for goods to be transported!


And right at the bottom of this photo, all those little white things are headstones. There's a large cemetery down there. We haven't investigated it yet, but we feel it must have graves in there that date back to the Civil War or longer. This area was very important in the Underground Railroad.

On our way to Indiana we crossed several bridges. I had to show you a picture of this one. I don't believe I've ever seen a purple bridge before. And it really was purple...that wasn't just the lighting!


This must be the land of colorful bridges, because the next one that took us across the Ohio River was aqua!



The town of Madison is just beautiful. The houses and buildings look just like they must have looked in the early 1900s. We spent most of the day there yesterday, and another hour or two today. 


The Lanier Mansion is a well known historical landmark:


Here's the County Courthouse with its shining copper cupola:


And a shot of Main Street that doesn't come anywhere near doing justice to its beauty:


Madison is located right on the banks of the Ohio River. 




Here's another barge hauling some sand:


There was a really nice music store on Main Street with a great name: Crawdaddy Music. We spent lots of time in there, and I came perilously close to buying a vintage dobro mandolin with a resonator top. It had such a sweet bell-like tone. But really...we're already hauling seven instruments as it is. Common sense prevailed (barely) and the mandolin is still in the shop if any of you want to zip up to Indiana and pick it up. (I'm talking to you, Russell Hardie, but I won't mention any names!)

Last night a neighboring campground couple, Vic and Judy, invited Curt and me over to their campfire to sing and play some songs. We had a wonderful time with a small group of people, cooking dinner over the fire, talking and singing & playing. I love how music brings people together. 

Today, September 30, is our oldest granddaughter Heidi's sixteenth birthday. Happy Birthday, Heidi!
We woke to a lovely mist hanging in the trees...felt like we were really in the Kentucky backwoods!



 
After a late breakfast and some camp chores, we ventured out in the opposite direction, still driving along the Ohio River. I never cease to be fascinated by the different barns we see as we travel. I've had several friends who are artists comment that they love the barn pictures as inspiration for paintings. So here are a few more for you!





In Kentucky there are many tobacco barns...you can see the tobacco leaves drying in the shade inside this one:





At Bill and Sue's suggestion, we found a pretty little winery in Switzerland County, Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River. 



Honda and Yamaha, the two shih-tzu guard dogs, are very effective at protecting the place...and begging for crackers!


Sharon did a wonderful job of helping us choose a delicious glass of wine...


...which we enjoyed, along with a delicious cheese plate, out on the deck overlooking the beautiful Ohio River:



Another couple, Karen and Barry, came out and joined us. We had a delightful visit with them on such a beautiful afternoon!


Once back at the State Park, we stopped in to see the General Butler Lodge (where the rich folks stay!). Magnificent views from the common room upstairs...




...and a little history about General Butler himself:



We're enjoying our stay here so much that we're stretching our original two-day stay to four days...but that's not unusual. We're finding that almost everyplace we go, we want to stay longer. There are so many wonderful places in this magnificent country, that we're realizing that this one trip probably isn't going to be enough for us. After we spend a few months in Rockport, Texas this winter, we may just have to do some more exploring next summer before we settle back down.

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