Cumberland Falls

We left home at 8:30 am and drove to Sam’s Club in Lexington to get a few things on our shopping list that we needed. Nothing was perishable or needed short term, but we thought that since we were passing through the area we may as well pick up things that are on the current sale.

It didn’t take long to get through Sam’s especially with the self-checkout app, and we took the short drive south on I-75 to Berea. We parked at the Kentucky Artisan Center first and walked around looking at the locally made furniture, clothing and crafts. We enjoyed walking through the exhibits and sales areas. It always reminds us of West Virginia’s Tamarack Center near Beckley. We drove into Berea’s Old Town since tourist season is over and the shuttle wasn’t running. We parked at the Berea Welcome Center in Old Town and walked around the college and shops in Berea’s historic section. We enjoy the abolitionist history of Berea College and the town. Berea continues to be a very diverse learning community, serving first generation college students across Appalachia. Although many of the artisan shops have changed since we last visited Berea, there were still many craftspeople in the small shops near the college.

Col. Steve with Col. Sanders

We continued south on I-75 to Corbin, Kentucky where we ate at the KFC that is near the location of Col. Harland Sanders’ original restaurant from 1937. This new site contains not only the restaurant but the Sanders Café and Museum, a collection of artifacts and memorabilia detailing the life of Col. Sanders and the history of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. We enjoyed our “Finger Lickin’ Good” meals and chatted with the friendly docents in the museum. The original restaurant from 1937 was in a service station across the street from the present building. That restaurant was destroyed by fire in 1939. Several buildings have housed the restaurant, all within a few yards of each other, but the current restaurant and museum was constructed in 1990. Harland Sanders was in the military but was given the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon in 1935. He was later recommissioned by his friend, Governor Lawrence Weatherby in 1950.

We took a few snapshots then left the restaurant for Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. We stopped at a Walmart in Corbin to buy a turkey sub from the deli that we would have for dinner and items for our breakfast tomorrow. The restaurant at the resort is closed on Mondays so we planned ahead to bring food. Although it was only 1:30 when we arrived at the lodge, we were able to check into our room. Much of the lodge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s with the sandstone block construction so common in CCC buildings. We appeared to be in one of the original areas of the building.

Our room was small but comfortable and, to our surprise, had an adequate number of electrical outlets for charging our devices, electric toothbrushes and other electronics. After changing clothes, we decided to hike down to the falls from the lodge rather than driving to the falls parking area. Although the trail was only ½ mile, it was steep and narrow, so we made the walk slowly to get to the visitor center.

Double rainbow at Cumberland Falls

The recent dry weather throughout the area caused the volume of water in the Cumberland River to be lower than usual, but the falls were still pretty great. We thought that the self-described title of “Niagara of the South” to be something of an overstatement. The bright fall sun struck the mist rising from the waterfall causing a double rainbow over the river. We had hopes of seeing the moonbow during tonight’s full moon.

Eagle Falls

We walked across the river on the Rt. 90 bridge to the Eagle Falls Trailhead parking where we took the 1.5-mile trail to Eagle Falls. Unlike Cumberland Falls, Eagle Falls is a high narrow waterfall from a small stream down toward the Cumberland River. We met several other hikers along the way, took a few snapshots at the falls, then made the hike back up to the lodge where we showered and cleaned up before dinner.

Moonbow over Cumberland Falls

We enjoyed the sub sandwich from Walmart while we sat in our room in the lodge. Mary had packed some fruit and snacks as well. Around 7:30, not wanting to walk the steep path from the lodge to the falls in the dark, we drove to the parking area at Cumberland Falls. The full moon had risen, and we were pleased to see the moonbow clearly. The moonbow didn’t show a color spectrum like the rainbow earlier in the day, and it was not as bright. However, we could clearly see the arc over the falls. Many people were lining the railing to see the moonbow, but we still had a decent view. A couple standing in front of us needed to walk to the restrooms and asked us to hold their prime viewing place which we were happy to do. By the time they returned, we were ready to drive back up the hill to our room. We planned to get up early on Tuesday morning to see the full lunar eclipse, so we wanted to get to bed early. When I looked at my Fitbit, I wasn’t surprised to see that I had walked over 12 miles today.

 

Family Weekend at Berea, Kentucky

For my Father’s Day gift this year, my daughters and their families gave us a weekend at Berea, Kentucky.  For a number of years we have been wanting to have a weekend where we could all congregate and have things to do that would appeal to everyone.  Berea was the perfect fit.

We picked Gran up at 8 am and took the drive down I-64 West to I-75 south taking about two and a half hours.  We parked at the large modern Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea and picked up the free trolley that travels all around the small town.  The driver was an excellent guide giving us a lot of information on the history of the college and the town.  When the trolley arrived in the Old Town part of Berea, we saw Ian and Emily parking so we beckoned them onto the trolley to take the rest of the tour with us.  By the time we arrived back to the visitor center Greg, Sarah and Peter were at the college area so we met them there.

Lunch was at the Main Street Café which is in the same block as the Boone Tavern.  The salads and sandwiches that we had seemed to suit everyone.  After lunch, we all walked around some of the many shops and crafts in the Old Town and college areas of Berea.  There are glass blowers, a pewtersmith, weavers, painters, a dulcimer maker and many other artisans and craftsmen.

When we were tired we sat on the porch of the Boone Tavern being entertained by Peter while we waited for our rooms to become available.  We enjoyed catching up and playing with the baby.  We were able to get to our rooms around 3:30 and rested a bit before dinner.  The rooms in the old somewhat small but that is not surprising for a hotel that opened in 1909.  The rooms were furnished with beautiful well-crafted cherry furniture.  The furniture was built by Berea College students in their classes.  The bed was comfortable and the rooms were quiet.

We met for dinner at 5:30 in the Boone Tavern.  Until very recently, a jacket and tie were required for dinner. Although there is no longer a strict dress code, diners are generally appropriately dressed for dinner at the restaurant.  Servers and much of the kitchen staff are students at the college.

We all had some of the spoon bread for which the Boone Tavern is famous.  Popular menu items for our family were the pork chops, rabbit pot pie, lamb meat loaf and southern shrimp and grits.  We all enjoyed our meals and had no room for dessert.  We believed that the $220 price for the seven of us wasn’t bad considering the quality of the meal and service.  Gran treated us for the dinner.  We changed clothes after dinner and took a short walk around the campus and up the observation tower a couple of blocks away.

We awoke early and enjoyed being lazy on a Sunday morning.  As people started to awaken and move about, Emily and I took breakfast orders and made a run to McDonalds.  Emily, Ian, Sarah and Greg took a drive toward Bighill while Peter hung out with us.  He played for a bit then took a short nap on our bed.  We walked around town for a little then went to lunch at Papaleno’s where Emily and Ian treated us to some good Italian food.  Many of us had the baked spaghetti or one of the pizza varieties they offer.  We enjoyed the lunch.  After lunch we walked the short distance to the Log House Craft Gallery where student arts and crafts are sold. 

Most of the items for sale are made by Berea College students so we all bought a few things and enjoyed looking around.

We made our way back to our cars and said our goodbyes after a great weekend as we went to Cincinnati, Georgetown and Huntington.  On the way home, we stopped for a couple of geocaches along the way and still made it back by 5 that evening.  Everyone had a great weekend and look forward to seeing each other soon.