This is Susan again...a bit behind, but hopefully will catch-up with this
installment.
Part of our trip through Kentucky included stopping at what remains of a
Shaker Village. At one time there were over 1000 residents living in a type
of commune. They not only were self-sufficient, but they increased the
local economy with their trade as well as taught the local residents what
they were learning in the way of farming and industry. I don't know if all
Shaker Settlements had the same industries, but this one had a broom factory
creamery, sausage production, cabinetry, fabric production among more that
I forget. Of course the sect was doomed since their belief was based on the
belief that God did not want them to marry. Several times ambassadors
traveled south and collected orphans in Georgia to bring them to live at the
village and learn their beliefs. The very remarkable thing about this
effort, is they allowed the orphans to choose for themselves if they would
join the community or not. Most didn't and left when they were old enough.
We can thank the Shakers for the flat broom, circular saw and advances in
many other fields. They were certainly an industrious group and have my
admiration. It was interesting how they established their celibate
life-style. The main building was built with two identical sides. It is
four stories high. The east side was men-only and the women would be on the
west. Each sex had their own staircases and doorways and would not cross
the center line. This is not unlike what parents do with children when
traveling in a car. Both groups are serious that men and women shouldn't mix
Parents are sometimes more serious about the whole separation thing not
even willing that one child should breathe another child's air. Oh, yeah..
I was explaining about Shakers--their meetings included dancing and partying
..but you can't convince me that it was all that much fun. Their dances
were circles within circles. Each ring was an opposite sex ring. Could
work...but I don't think you would get any teen-agers to agree to a life
like that now.
We stayed in the northern part of Kentucky for a week or so...in Berea.
Berea doesn't have as much history as other areas, but what it does have is
impressive. The college in town is the central point of the community. It
was started just after the civil war as a place for the poor (or
economically challenged if you are politically correct) mountain folk to
finish an education. The president would take periodic trips to market the
college and to solicit support from other areas of the country. On one of
the trips he took some of the local crafts (quilts I believe) to display and
found there was great interest in them as well as a profitable market. He
returned and offered the students free tuition to the college if they would
be willing to work in the craft department 20 hours a week. It was the
first integrated college and as far as I could figure the only college that
still has a no tuition policy. It now draws students from all over the
world and they do have wonderful crafts to see in the area.
There is a beautiful hotel/inn/restaurant in the downtown core called Boones
Tavern. We immediately assumed that Daniel Boone had something to do with
the place and decided we must eat there. Rose and Chris were staying with
our friends, so it seemed like the perfect place to dine--NOT! We knew it
was out of our league when there were linen tablecloths on the table for
lunch. It seemed way fancy for ol' Dan to sit in...but we decided to read
the menu just for fun...then we went next door for a sandwich. Later we
checked on the Internet to see what history Daniel had in the area. Well
now, we were making the wrong assumption all together. This place is called
Boones Tavern because that is a catchy name. Daniel may have walked through
this area, but he never stopped long enough to put up a tent...let alone a
whole big building. The tavern was built in 1911 because the wife of the
college president was tired of housing all the guests that were showing up
to visit the school. It is reported that she had 300 house guests at one
time. I would think something would need to be done, but we still felt
tricked somehow with that name...but felt much better at not spending so
much for lunch as well.
The main reason that Berea had captured our attention was due to Rose and
Chris having a half-brother living in that area. Rose has been asking to
visit Jonah for months and adding a stop in Kentucky was a natural thing to
do. Prior to this week we had never really known much of this part of their
life, but we are willing to learn. We are so very thankful that we did!!
We had a rare opportunity to get to know a living mountain man that had the
kindest heart of anyone we have ever known. A picture is attached of one of
the many meals they hosted for us...Wayne is the tall one with the white
hair and beard, you should recognize the short critters. Wayne has so much
knowledge about the hills and nature. When he is explaining things you don
t realize how much you are learning until you think about it later. Then
there is Peggy...somehow we got away without me getting a picture of her.
She has a way of making you feel like you have known her most of your life
after you have only been there a few minutes. If there is any kindness that
can be done you can count on her being there to do it. They have a most
interesting farm in the hills and share it with Jeremy and Jonah. Jonah is
the half-brother that accepts his role very seriously. Jeremy is Jonah's
dad. There is more people coming and going there than there would be in a
train station (I exagerate...but you get the point). They are a wonderful
family and we fell in love with them. We are hoping they will come to
Oregon and you all can see what I say is true.
Rose and Chris were also blessed with a week-long visit with their mother
Jennifer. She has been spending some time in Kentucky with Jonah and waited
for our visit before returning to her home.
Jonah stayed a day with us in the cat and we took all of them to the aquatic
center to swim. Jonah and Chris were inseparable on the slide. Rose was
reluctant to go through the slide-tube until the last hour or so...then it
was a huge competition who was going to go down the most. Another day they
went swimming at the newest Kentucky lake. I expect in a few years this
lake will have a lot of houses built around it, so it was a treat to see a
lake without any development.
One event that Peggy and Wayne took us to was the Amish produce auction.
While the children played hide-n-seek we watched (and sometimes
participated) the bidding of the most beautiful produce I have seen in a
long time. Of particular note was the green beans that sold for more than
$25 a box. Amazing. They looked good, but not that good. We did buy some
vegies and cantelope. It will all be gone in a week so I can only tell you
it was good.
Parting gifts were given to Rose and Chris from our new friends. Their
names are: Buttercup and Spotty...unless Chris changes his name again. They
are a pair of turtles. Not as cuddly as a puppy, but smaller and never
whine.
The Country Music Hall of Fame Museum was within 20 miles of where we camped
We wouldn't know anyone listed in it if they sat next to us on the bus,
but we decided to go look anyway. What we found was more than the museum..
which was good because it was closed that day. There is an old dance barn
there that was famous in the past for being a hotspot for radio programs.
That wasn't nearly as interesting to us as a small area behind it that is a
museum of mountain living. There are a dozen or so buildings that have been
moved there from all over the area. All of the buildings are what they call
log buildings. The logs have all been squared before they stack them for
walls and then chinking is added. The chinking sometimes is thicker than
the logs. Uh...Jerry made me take a picture of him in the library building.
.there is also one of him in the stocks. You figure out where he looks more
at home.
The building that gave us pause was a two-story, four room structure. It
was brought there sometime in the last ten years when the last resident
moved. She was 70+ when she moved into an assisted-living center. The
house had never had electricity and there was no indication of plumbing. We
were able to look behind the scenes a bit (no one was around) and we could
surmise where the wood stove might have been. Mountain people are very
hardy...it must come from all the work they do.
Our leaving Kentucky was bitter-sweet. Happy to continue our adventure
across America, sad to leave some very good friends.
If someone were to ask us the highlight of our stay in Kentucky it would be
the people--hands down. We found the natives to be warm-hearted and most
welcoming. They are perhaps the most colorful and interesting people we
have met so far.
We were camping next to one of those nice people. She has been a full-timer
for ten years...started when her husband was alive, but now travels "with
God leading her and Henry by her side." Henry is her dog. If I were to
guess I would say she is in her 70's...at least she looks a bit older than
Jerry.
Amazing people. Our lives are truly rich because of all the people we know--and you are one of them. Thanks for enriching us.
installment.
Part of our trip through Kentucky included stopping at what remains of a
Shaker Village. At one time there were over 1000 residents living in a type
of commune. They not only were self-sufficient, but they increased the
local economy with their trade as well as taught the local residents what
they were learning in the way of farming and industry. I don't know if all
Shaker Settlements had the same industries, but this one had a broom factory
creamery, sausage production, cabinetry, fabric production among more that
I forget. Of course the sect was doomed since their belief was based on the
belief that God did not want them to marry. Several times ambassadors
traveled south and collected orphans in Georgia to bring them to live at the
village and learn their beliefs. The very remarkable thing about this
effort, is they allowed the orphans to choose for themselves if they would
join the community or not. Most didn't and left when they were old enough.
We can thank the Shakers for the flat broom, circular saw and advances in
many other fields. They were certainly an industrious group and have my
admiration. It was interesting how they established their celibate
life-style. The main building was built with two identical sides. It is
four stories high. The east side was men-only and the women would be on the
west. Each sex had their own staircases and doorways and would not cross
the center line. This is not unlike what parents do with children when
traveling in a car. Both groups are serious that men and women shouldn't mix
Parents are sometimes more serious about the whole separation thing not
even willing that one child should breathe another child's air. Oh, yeah..
I was explaining about Shakers--their meetings included dancing and partying
..but you can't convince me that it was all that much fun. Their dances
were circles within circles. Each ring was an opposite sex ring. Could
work...but I don't think you would get any teen-agers to agree to a life
like that now.
We stayed in the northern part of Kentucky for a week or so...in Berea.
Berea doesn't have as much history as other areas, but what it does have is
impressive. The college in town is the central point of the community. It
was started just after the civil war as a place for the poor (or
economically challenged if you are politically correct) mountain folk to
finish an education. The president would take periodic trips to market the
college and to solicit support from other areas of the country. On one of
the trips he took some of the local crafts (quilts I believe) to display and
found there was great interest in them as well as a profitable market. He
returned and offered the students free tuition to the college if they would
be willing to work in the craft department 20 hours a week. It was the
first integrated college and as far as I could figure the only college that
still has a no tuition policy. It now draws students from all over the
world and they do have wonderful crafts to see in the area.
There is a beautiful hotel/inn/restaurant in the downtown core called Boones
Tavern. We immediately assumed that Daniel Boone had something to do with
the place and decided we must eat there. Rose and Chris were staying with
our friends, so it seemed like the perfect place to dine--NOT! We knew it
was out of our league when there were linen tablecloths on the table for
lunch. It seemed way fancy for ol' Dan to sit in...but we decided to read
the menu just for fun...then we went next door for a sandwich. Later we
checked on the Internet to see what history Daniel had in the area. Well
now, we were making the wrong assumption all together. This place is called
Boones Tavern because that is a catchy name. Daniel may have walked through
this area, but he never stopped long enough to put up a tent...let alone a
whole big building. The tavern was built in 1911 because the wife of the
college president was tired of housing all the guests that were showing up
to visit the school. It is reported that she had 300 house guests at one
time. I would think something would need to be done, but we still felt
tricked somehow with that name...but felt much better at not spending so
much for lunch as well.
The main reason that Berea had captured our attention was due to Rose and
Chris having a half-brother living in that area. Rose has been asking to
visit Jonah for months and adding a stop in Kentucky was a natural thing to
do. Prior to this week we had never really known much of this part of their
life, but we are willing to learn. We are so very thankful that we did!!
We had a rare opportunity to get to know a living mountain man that had the
kindest heart of anyone we have ever known. A picture is attached of one of
the many meals they hosted for us...Wayne is the tall one with the white
hair and beard, you should recognize the short critters. Wayne has so much
knowledge about the hills and nature. When he is explaining things you don
t realize how much you are learning until you think about it later. Then
there is Peggy...somehow we got away without me getting a picture of her.
She has a way of making you feel like you have known her most of your life
after you have only been there a few minutes. If there is any kindness that
can be done you can count on her being there to do it. They have a most
interesting farm in the hills and share it with Jeremy and Jonah. Jonah is
the half-brother that accepts his role very seriously. Jeremy is Jonah's
dad. There is more people coming and going there than there would be in a
train station (I exagerate...but you get the point). They are a wonderful
family and we fell in love with them. We are hoping they will come to
Oregon and you all can see what I say is true.
Rose and Chris were also blessed with a week-long visit with their mother
Jennifer. She has been spending some time in Kentucky with Jonah and waited
for our visit before returning to her home.
Jonah stayed a day with us in the cat and we took all of them to the aquatic
center to swim. Jonah and Chris were inseparable on the slide. Rose was
reluctant to go through the slide-tube until the last hour or so...then it
was a huge competition who was going to go down the most. Another day they
went swimming at the newest Kentucky lake. I expect in a few years this
lake will have a lot of houses built around it, so it was a treat to see a
lake without any development.
One event that Peggy and Wayne took us to was the Amish produce auction.
While the children played hide-n-seek we watched (and sometimes
participated) the bidding of the most beautiful produce I have seen in a
long time. Of particular note was the green beans that sold for more than
$25 a box. Amazing. They looked good, but not that good. We did buy some
vegies and cantelope. It will all be gone in a week so I can only tell you
it was good.
Parting gifts were given to Rose and Chris from our new friends. Their
names are: Buttercup and Spotty...unless Chris changes his name again. They
are a pair of turtles. Not as cuddly as a puppy, but smaller and never
whine.
The Country Music Hall of Fame Museum was within 20 miles of where we camped
We wouldn't know anyone listed in it if they sat next to us on the bus,
but we decided to go look anyway. What we found was more than the museum..
which was good because it was closed that day. There is an old dance barn
there that was famous in the past for being a hotspot for radio programs.
That wasn't nearly as interesting to us as a small area behind it that is a
museum of mountain living. There are a dozen or so buildings that have been
moved there from all over the area. All of the buildings are what they call
log buildings. The logs have all been squared before they stack them for
walls and then chinking is added. The chinking sometimes is thicker than
the logs. Uh...Jerry made me take a picture of him in the library building.
.there is also one of him in the stocks. You figure out where he looks more
at home.
The building that gave us pause was a two-story, four room structure. It
was brought there sometime in the last ten years when the last resident
moved. She was 70+ when she moved into an assisted-living center. The
house had never had electricity and there was no indication of plumbing. We
were able to look behind the scenes a bit (no one was around) and we could
surmise where the wood stove might have been. Mountain people are very
hardy...it must come from all the work they do.
Our leaving Kentucky was bitter-sweet. Happy to continue our adventure
across America, sad to leave some very good friends.
If someone were to ask us the highlight of our stay in Kentucky it would be
the people--hands down. We found the natives to be warm-hearted and most
welcoming. They are perhaps the most colorful and interesting people we
have met so far.
We were camping next to one of those nice people. She has been a full-timer
for ten years...started when her husband was alive, but now travels "with
God leading her and Henry by her side." Henry is her dog. If I were to
guess I would say she is in her 70's...at least she looks a bit older than
Jerry.
Amazing people. Our lives are truly rich because of all the people we know--and you are one of them. Thanks for enriching us.
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