The first Friday in May I packed up my car and hit the road. I met my BFF from high school at the half way point between our two homes. She lives in North Carolina. Our Dad's were career Navy. We met on the first day of high school. We got our first jobs at the same place. We had our first serious boyfriends at the same time (and they were friends). Lots of history between us. But I digress... we met in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. On derby week end. It rained on me all the way through Indiana with is most of the trip. I hit Kentucky and the sun came out. It warmed up. By the time we met at the hotel it was beautiful out. We had lots of plans for the week end.
Saturday morning dawned or rather did not dawn, but stayed cold, dark, and rainy. We went for a walk at the mall. Then we went to a quilt shop. We stopped into the tourism office to find something to do indoors. The lady there recommended a small town with lots of cute shops and antique stores. We grabbed umbrellas and headed out. It was a cute town. I saw lots of quilts. (Will post those later).
Sunday we awoke to more of the same, but not raining as hard. Luckily I brought my laptop so I grabbed a map and started looking for more indoor stuff to do. We headed for Bardstown. We walked around the square and the town and stopped for lunch at the Old Talbott Tavern. The original part of the building was built in 1779 and is known as the oldest western stagecoach stop in America. We ate in the original building. It was so cool. Some pics of downtown.
Then we went museum hopping. We went to a Civil War Museum, The War Memorial of Mid-America, and Women of the Civil War Museum. Gives such a life to all that history studied in classes. Our last stop was Old Bardstown Village, a reproduction of a 1790 frontier community. Most of the buildings are original, some over 150 years old. Of course they were moved to the current location. I sure would not want to spend a winter in those tiny buildings.
Monday we still hoped for good weather, but it was not to be. I hit the map and the laptop again and found Pleasant Hill which was a Shaker community in the 1800s and early 1900s. . We got our tickets and started off to see the village. In most of the buildings there were people in Shaker dress to give some history, and answer questions. It was fascinating. I really did not know much about the Shakers beyond the furniture. This Shaker community was mainly agricultural. They farmed, raised chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. We saw a sheep being sheared. later we saw the washed fleece, saw it carded and spun, and then dyed. Being a knitter I was of course excited to see the process.
In addition to the yarn, they still produce woven fabric, shaker brooms, and shaker wooden boxes. Of course Shakers no longer live there, but all of the 'manufacturing' is still done with the original tools and methods used by the community so long ago. It was just an amazing experience to learn about their way of life.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny. Of course it did, we were leaving Kentucky. ;) We did manage to do the driving tour of historic buildings in Elizabethtown before we hit the road headed for home. Sad to part, but happy to have had the time together.
Happy stitching everyone!
