We chose to pop on over to Atlanta so we could visit Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library. We stayed at the Stone Mountain Park again for a quick 2 day stay. Since our last stop there, they have done quite a few improvements such as adding yurts and park model trailers for rent, erected a large, very nice playground area for the kids, and across the lake a huge Marriott’s hotel sprung up.
Our home at Stone Mountain Park Campground.Lakeside yurts for rent, a new addition.Up close on a yurt, with Stone Mountain in the background… Still a little “not hot enough” for pool time.Part view of the kids’ playground.
The Carter Presidential Library (it is actually called a “Center”, not a library) was OK. I was disappointed not more attention was devoted to the Iran Hostage Crisis. Even the Bush libraries had extensive displays regarding their wars, whether you consider them justified or not. I think the hostage crisis overshadowed the Panama Canal Treaty and even the Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt. It should play a more prominent part in Carter’s Library. Just my two cents…
The entrance to the Carter Presidential “Center”. There was quite a display from Carter’s submarine days.Same old crap. Time does not seem to change behaviors.Carter’s replication of his oval office. Looks like he was sadly lacking “personal touches”, like family photos. Maybe he had some inkling of his future in politics… I just could not stop laughing…that is truly sad.Jimmy and Roz were able to write their memoirs on this state of the art word processor.
We had a little bit of spare time so we wanted to do the walk up Stone Mountain. The mountain does not look very daunting, but it is actually a good leg workout, continuous incline with numerous rocks/steps thrown in for good measure. But the view at the top was very nice.
That’s funny, it doesn’t LOOK too strenuous…We found lots of graffiti all the way up, some dating back to the 1800’s.We also found a “gum” pole on the path up. Similar concept to the world famous “gum wall” in San Luis Obispo, CA.A herd of these ladies (OK, 4 or 5 of them) were also doing the hike up Stone Mountain.A pause for a rest and a view… Now we know it was not that strenuous if Jeanne can do yoga routines at the top!
So with another Presidential Library notch in our belts, onward and upward. Weather looked to be getting a bit more mellow, so we decided to start our northward trek. Chattanooga, Tennessee was our next chosen stop. We found a Camping World campground on the south side of town which was actually an OK stop; full hookups, level site, $17 per night, and close to town. We used this opportunity to do a Costco run and load up.
A short trip into downtown found us at the Walnut Street Bridge which is a foot bridge across the Tennessee River. We walked around the area a bit and found a sidewalk that was anything but straight. Not much had changed in the area since we were here last. We have been in the area before and already checked out Rock City and Point Park on Lookout Mountain (Civil War site). This time we were going to visit Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall, but seeing it was a short excursion, we opted instead for a 9.6 mile hike on the Mullen’s Cove Loop Trail in the Prentice Cooper State Forest. That was one killer hike! My hams and quads are still singing…
Walking around downtown at the Walnut Street Bridge which crosses the Tennessee River, we found this sidewalk section. It should give Lombard St. in San Francisco a run for its money… The Walnut Street Bridge. Baseball art near the bridge.At the beginning of the 9.6 mile hike. Think skinny and breathe deep!An unoccupied view of the same stairway.There I was. Braving the wild. Had to cross the raging river with only a rotten log to tread on. Risking life and limb. But rest easy, my friends, I ultimately survived! Gee, another rest. Looking down on the Tennessee River from Snooper’s Rock.Little Miss “9.6 miles is not long enough” just needed a little more physical work, so “yoga on the rocks” it is.
From Tennessee it was up into Kentucky for our next adventure, at the Mammoth Cave National Park. We stayed 4 days at the park campground, right next to the visitor’s center. The park offers several different cave tours and we started out with the Historic Entrance self tour. This was a short walk/tour and pretty uneventful as far as caves go, especially if you’ve ever been anywhere like the Oregon Caves or Carlsbad Caverns. We also took the short hike down the River Styx Spring Trail to see the spring.
Our home at Mammoth Cave Nat’l Park campground. The Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave.Imagine if you turned all lights out inside the cave. This is what it looks like! (Sorry, no flash allowed…)River Styx Spring.
While at the campground, we found the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail. The bikes got a little work in (NO! My hams and quads got all the work! Ouch!) on the 16 mile ride which included a couple of healthy (read: steep) inclines.
Some of the 16 mile trail was gravel/dirt… Some of the 16 mile trail was plank wood…And at least one of us just had to stop and rest. Numerous times.Can’t escape without taking a selfie on the bike path.Got to see some critters on the trek. Say hello to Mr. Turtle.I didn’t think the snakes were out this early in the season. But this is some type of water snake because he shot right into the water and swam away at warp factor 8.Mr. Frog said, “Don’t bother me son, I’m busy!”They also had several graveyard/cemeteries scattered along the trail. Family plots going back into the 1800’s.
After all that physical exertion, I was ready for some sedentary living and beginning the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was just the ticket. From our base at Mammoth Cave, we were able to start both trails. There is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that consists of 10 distilleries (the ones I call “corporate”, large conglomerates like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark), and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour that consists of 13 small distilleries (the mom-and-pop family outfits). All 23 are scattered pretty much around the Bowling Green-Louisville-Lexington triangle. Our start got us visiting 5 of the 23 from our home at Mammoth Cave.
The store front for Corsair Distillery. One of the craft distillers.One of the big boys.Woodford has a Double Barrel bourbon that when finished in it’s original barrel, it goes directly into a brand new barrel for a double dose of aging. The visitor’s center for Four Roses.Then there’s good ol’ Jim Beam…So far, my personal favorite is from MB Roland, another of the craft distillers. They actually have 2 products I like. Their Dark Fired Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has a heavy smoke flavor to it. They achieve that by using smoked corn in their mash process. Their other product is a moonshine they call St. Elmo’s Fire. It is a cinnamon style whiskey with cayenne pepper. Now that will light y’ur cigar for ye!
We concluded our stay with one more cave tour, the Domes and Dripstones Tour. The name of the tour is more spectacular than the sights along this tour. There are a few cave features at the end of the 2 hour tour, but, if you have seen anything like Carlsbad Caverns, you will be disappointed here.
One of the rare times there was enough light to allow a photo, here of a ceiling of the cave.This is a mini-waterfall near the Frozen Niagara formation, at the end of the Domes and Dripstones tour.Oh, and once again, if you turn out all the lights inside the cave, this is what you see!
Time to move along, we relocated to Bardstown with a 4 day stay at the White Acre Campground. We started here with a little walkabout town, steeped in Civil War lore and architecture.
The Bardstown Baptist Church, constituted in 1815.A shot down one of the main drags. The building at the end is now used as the visitor’s center and there is a traffic roundy-round (AKA: traffic circle) that circles that building. Now used as the visitor’s center.Lots of history here.This was an early post office printers and cabinet shop, circa 1814. It is called the McLean House. Just a sample of the many historic buildings…
From this stop we were able to snag another round of Kentucky Bourbon Trail stops. Trying to hit up all 23 distilleries is certainly giving us some exposure to back roads and some beautiful scenery. Some of the horse farms we passed were spectacular, especially when your looking at a huge mansion, then realize it is just the horse barn! We should live as well as some of these horses…
It’s terrible that they actually make these poor horsies live in shacks like these…Makers Mark. Gotta get my pitcher[sic] with their sign…Limestone Branch DistilleryWilderness Trail Distillery.Kentucky Peerless Distillery. Some of the craft distillers, like this one, are new to bourbon and don’t have any properly aged product yet, so my tasting was limited to their moonshine products.Willett Distillery. Heaven Hill is one of the big boys. They also own/produce Evan Williams. Angel’s Envy Distillery, across the street from the Louisville Slugger Field.
After 4 days and a couple of very large thunder/lightening spectacles, we motored a bit north to the Louisville area. We found the Add-More Campground actually in Clarksville, Indiana for a short 2 day stop to finish up this area’s Bourbon Trail participants. Besides the distilleries here, Jeanne found an area of downtown called 4th Street Live! which we took a stroll through. It was daytime as we did, but it looked more to be a happening place for the nightlife. The area is similar to Fremont St. in Vegas, sans the freakazoids, with stage area for bands and all the food and liquor you could imagine.
Kentucky Artisan Distillery another of the craft folks.Some of the grounds to Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience.Inside the visitor’s center at Evan Williams Bourbon Experience.Fourth Street Live! Only, more of a nighttime thing…Where there is a Hard Rock Cafe, there is good times being had by all!Had to take this shot. Guy Fieri was a fellow Sonoma County/Santa Rosa (CA) boy who made it kinda big. Found his restaurant here in Louisville. When the Colonel offers chicken, you just cannot refuse! Home of the Louisville Slugger. It’s almost opening day! Jeanne and Woody stepping up to the bat…
There was also a foot bridge called the “Big Four Bridge” that crossed the Ohio River and gave good views of downtown. That bridge was a railroad bridge built in the 1880’s-1890’s and in 1929 they built a new bridge inside the old frame. 42 workers died while building the bridge, so now it is considered a monument to those who died.
As we begin our journey across the Big Four Bridge. A look along the Ohio River from the bridge.New bridge on old bridge…Looking across the highway to downtown. Ahhhh, the green grass of Kentucky.The bridge from below.There was a nice tribute to Abe on the Kentucky side of the bridge. Jeanne getting cozy with ol’ Abe.
Well, it’s moving time again. Headed east now, gotta finish the Bourbon Trails with the Lexington area stops. Lookout, Lexington, here we come!
