Abraham Lincoln

Sunday, October 23, 2011

There was a sliver of moon that didn’t light up the pathway to the facilities building, so we had to resort to a flaming torch to see our way as we went to take early showers this morning. There were a few stars visible then, but by the time we hit the road it was mostly overcast. 

Leaving the really nice Canal Campground, we made our way north just a few miles to Interstate 24 and headed east. We soon turned off onto the Western Kentucky Parkway and traveled 76 miles through what appeared to be sparsely populated area before stopping at a rest area/service area on the parkway. Of course there were towns along the way, but they were not built up along the intersections as much as we usually see.

Breakfast was fixed and served at the rest area, and it was only 11 am. We must be a little off our non-schedule to be eating that early!

We ate at the Roadside Inn again today.

Continuing on for about an hour, we turned off onto route 84 for a “short cut” over to the Abraham Lincoln Historical Park. It is a grey road on the Kentucky state map. You shouldn’t take the grey roads!  It was very narrow and winding. The first portion was only 11 miles, but felt much longer. We crossed over Interstate 65 and continued on a little way before the signs headed us out to the Lincoln Boyhood Home unit. Not knowing for sure if we took the correct off out of the roundabout, we meandered on down the road thinking we had gone the wrong way. Wilma looked it up on line and found we were okay, and we finally came to the Knob Creek Farm. It was a pretty setting and the ranger there gave her speech, and told us quite a bit about the farm area. She brought the stamps and ink pad out of her tiny little log cabin so we could stamp our passport book pages. There were other visitors coming and going, and she would repeat her speech to each group. She must get tired of hearing herself! Maybe being a ranger isn’t so glamorous.



Betty is looking at the actual garden planted by Abraham Lincoln Himself :)

We then went back to the birthplace site where the main VC is. There we got our books stamped, watched the movie, saw the small museum area, and toured the grounds. We made our knees a little tired by climbing the 56 steps (representing the 56 years of his life) to the memorial building where his birthplace cabin is reconstructed. The memorial building has 16 pillars, windows, and rosettes on the ceiling, all representing that he was the 16^th president.

Betty and Barney on the steps.

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Building

The actual spring where the Lincolns got their water.

We also went down to the spring where they got their water, and over to the Nancy Lincoln Inn. You probably couldn’t have purchased anything in the gift shop if you had wanted to because the clerk was glued to his headphones and computer, and didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in selling anything!

Going back to I-65, we headed south to Mammoth Cave National Park. We got our stamps at the VC and some smashed pennies at the hotel, then went to find a campsite. The campground is very pretty. The trees are all different colors, and many leaves have fallen, making quite a thick carpet on the ground. The restrooms are nice and clean, but the concession building is where the showers are, and they leave quite a bit to be desired. But we are tucked in for the night, and looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

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