Origin: Barboursville, WV
States traversed: West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee
Destination: Memphis, TN
We began the day in our Charleston hotel room, eventually dragging ourselves out of bed to head down and enjoy the breakfast. It was below average for a Hampton fare, but still passable, especially since the hotel featured a much appreciated waffle maker. With that, we were on our way, and before long we passed into the state of Kentucky.
Our first stop was a small town containing a mini golf course called Bible Putt Putt. How could I resist snapping some pictures? Of course, it was Sunday, so I wasn't expecting it to be open, but it was worth a try!
Barbed wire fence guarding Noah's Ark
This hole was called "Delilah's Scissors"
Fortunately, it was a lovely day in eastern Kentucky, without a cloud in the sky. We took a little walk to case the joint before taking off in a west-southwest direction. Quite on accident, we spotted what appeared to be a castle on the side of the highway. Of course, we had to pull over an investigate. I almost ended up trying to drive up to it, but apparently it's a private residence, so that would have been a bad idea.
Horses! And horse with jacket!
After the quick detour, we continued heading to our destination-of-the-moment, a bunch of Abraham Lincoln sites, including his boyhood home and the place where he was born. We ended up driving through a small town that was positively Lincoln-obsessed, with everything from a bank to an ice cream store named after the president. It's no real surprise, since he's a native son.
Replica log cabin, made to be similar to the one Lincoln was born in
View over kid-Lincoln's shoulder at adult-Lincoln
A monument that looks like it would be more at home in DC than rural Kentucky
Recreation of the Lincoln family's abode
The area that contained Lincoln's boyhood home was preserved from that time up through now, so it featured some gorgeous farmland. Unfortunately, it's wintertime, so most of the leaves are gone, but the area was still quite a site.
Dana disrespecting Lincoln's boyhood home
Having gotten our fill of Lincoln, we continued onward toward Tennessee. We have one more stop before leaving Kentucky, however: I wanted to check out Mammoth Caves or at least go by the area. It was all I could have hoped for: a tourist trap with tons of hilarious/crazy/stupid stops that tried to sucker people into spending a few bucks. It reminded me of the likes of South Dakota or Branson, Missouri.
Sad triceratops looks out on the highway
Sup?
I was marveling at the who-knows-how-old signs posted everywhere
Elephant
Chief Heil says hello
Who is Sam and why is he sobbing?
As we approached Nashville, the sun was starting to set, so we drove around trying to make the most of the fading light of the day. Unfortunately, Hermitage, and once-home of President Andrew Jackson, was not admitting additional visitors as it was too late in the day. With heavy hearts, we bid goodbye to Nashville's skyline and headed onward to Memphis.
Since the night had set in, we didn't have any stops aside from finding dinner and the hotel. On the way, I tried to fill up on gas in a small, unincorporated community hilariously named Bucksnort, but the Citgo station refused to give me delicious fuel. Later on we stopped again to fill up and grab a corn dog to tide me over until dinner. A couple podcasts later and we arrived at our dinner location, Gus's World Famous Spicy Fried Chicken. The food was fantastic and perfect to cap a long day.
Tomorrow's agenda includes the sights of Memphis, a look at Graceland, and Mississippi!
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