Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [161]
In the quiet countryside off Old Frankfort Pike, is the quirky Headley-Whitney Museum, the private collection of the late George Headley, a successful jewelry designer during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Wander roomfuls of carved bibelots, handmade dollhouses and ostrich-egg candlesticks. The wacky garage-turned-“shell grotto” is a testament to Headley’s eccentric energies - he spent a year gluing seashells to every surface, including the chandeliers.
Back in town, take an afternoon to tour a few of Lexington’s historic homes. Splendid 19th-century Ashland was the estate of Henry Clay, the golden-tongued Kentucky senator known as “the Great Compromiser” for his diplomatic skills. Waveland, an imposing brick plantation house, is now run by the National Park Service as a museum of antebellum life. Guided tours walk you through both masters’ and slaves’ quarters of the Greek Revival mansion, built by Daniel Boone’s grand-nephew on land said to be originally surveyed by Boone himself. Visit the 1806 Mary Todd Lincoln House, where the first lady was born fourth of 16 children to a prominent Lexington family. Raised in privilege, feisty Mary Todd took solace from her later life’s tragedies in the growing Spiritualist movement, attending séances and consulting fraudulent mediums. The house museum contains furniture, housewares and dolls from her childhood, as well as items from her marriage to Lincoln.
* * *
“The Battle of Perryville, in October, is a very good Civil War re-enactment. The camps are open - you can literally walk through them and ask questions. Munfordville has its re-enactment around mid-September. You’ll have cannons, you’ll have horses. There might be a medical tent, with fake blood and fake arms being cut off. There are also very interesting driving tours of fortifications around Bowling Green, the Confederate capital of Kentucky.”
Michael Trapasso, Civil War re-enactor, Bowling Green
* * *
Spend the night in the deep wilderness of the 707,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest. The Red River Gorge area, near the hamlet of Slade, is a world-class rock climbing destination. At bohemian Miguel’s Pizza, climbers relive the day’s ascents over veggie slices and local Ale-8-One sodas (it’s a dry county) before crashing in their tents in the backyard. A more scenic place to sleep is the Koomer Ridge Campground inside the park, with a bathhouse and access to trails leading to numerous gravity-defying sandstone arches.
Heading back south on I-75 you’ll hit the tiny town of Berea and the Kentucky Artisan Center, visible from the highway. This airy, contemporary building is part travelers rest stop, part crafts fair, where vendors sell local pottery, bourbon barbecue sauces and folk art sculptures. The café serves state favorites like Louisville Hot Brown sandwiches (open-faced turkey-and-bacon sandwich slathered in Mornay sauce and broiled) and bourbon bread pudding. Craft-making demos are held on Friday and Saturday.
Further south is Corbin, home to the biggest Kentucky icon of them all: Colonel Harland Sanders. The Colonel ran a gas station here, frying chicken for travelers to nearby Cumberland Falls. While his chicken became massively popular, he didn’t begin to sell the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises until he was 65. You can visit the Colonel Sanders Cafe & Museum, with original 1940s kitchen equipment and a creepy life-size statue of the Colonel himself.
Emily Matcher
* * *
TRIP INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
From Nashville, take I-65 North for just over 50 miles and take exit 20 onto William H Natcher Parkway North for 70 miles to Owensboro.
DO
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
See a replica of Lincoln’s birthplace cabin, and his childhood farm. 270-358-3137; www.nps.gov/abli;