USA TRAVEL GUIDE, “SOUTHEAST” KENTUCKY

KENTUCKY: THE BLUEGRASS STATE

BY CLAY LARROY

Traveling can be an important part of your life, whether for business or for pleasure. Take time each day to alleviate stress while traveling or vacationing and you will thank yourself for it when you get back home. With all the chaos, jet-lag, partying and other excitement of travel comes a whole lot of stress on your mind and body. By the time most vacations are over, another one is needed to recover so taking a few minutes each day to rejuvenate will make it easier for you to resume your normal life when it's all over. When you want to plan a vacation contact me!

Bourbon, bluegrass and one heck of a horse race: what's not to like about Kentucky? The beating heart of America's bourbon industry, visitors can sip (okay, glug) their way through the likes of Jim Beam and Maker's Mark on tasting tours of the state's top distilleries.

Much of this corn-based liquor is quaffed during the Kentucky Derby, described by plaudits as ‘the greatest two minutes in sport'. The state goes mad for this blink-and-you'll-miss-it horse race: fancy hats are dusted off, bets are placed and mint juleps are quaffed at extraordinary speed. Held in Louisville, the Derby is part of a two-week festival, which kicks off with the USA's biggest fireworks display, followed by a smorgasbord of events, including a marathon and steamboat race.

If you're inspired to snatch a bit of action yourself, saddle up and canter across the prairies or take a tour of a thoroughbred center to spot future winners.

Aside from riding, you can hike the Appalachian Mountains, rattle along mountain bike trails in the Daniel Boone Forest, or duck underground in Mammoth Cave, the world's longest cave system. You can canoe gentle rivers, paddle white water rapids, or hook blue catfish in the Ohio. Or how about exploring Civil War battlefields and the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln?

The soundtrack for any Kentucky trip is bluegrass, and music aficionados can track the birthplaces of such legends as Billy Ray Cyrus and Loretta Lynn along Route 23, the Country Music Highway. Time it right, and it won't be long before you're slurping another bourbon and tapping your toes at a bluegrass festival.

Where to stay in Kentucky

Hotels

Kentucky's lakes, horse country and mining towns provide endless accommodation opportunities. Discover bed and breakfasts among the rolling bluegrass hills of horse and bourbon country. Spend the night in romantic mountain cabins in the Appalachian Mountains. Take in the beautiful scenery of the Lakes Region by staying in tranquil lake cabins. Or check in to state park lodges in the steep, narrow hills of the Outer Bluegrass region. For cheap family holidays, Kentucky also offers hundreds of chain hotels.

Things to see and do in KentuckyBelle of Louisville
Big South Fork National River
Cumberland Gap National Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Falls of the Ohio State Park
Harrodsburg
Hodgenville
Jim Beam Distillery
Kentucky Horse Park
Kentucky Speedway
Land Between the Lakes
Lexington Children's Museum
Louisville
Mammoth Cave
National Corvette Museum
Rockcastle
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail
Stars of Country Music Highway US-23

Ride on the nation's oldest steamboat, the Belle of Louisville (www.belleoflouisville.org), which still sails along the Ohio River.

Go trail riding in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (www.nps.gov/biso), a national park wilderness straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Hike in Cumberland Gap National Park (www.nps.gov/cugo) with its breathtaking views of the Appalachian Mountains. The Cumberland Falls, known as the 'Niagara of the South', is one of the few places in the world where you can see a 'moonbow' (lunar rainbow). Canoeing and rafting trips are popular.

Explore the vast Daniel Boone National Forest (www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone), with its magnificent Red River Gorge that runs through the entire region. Two of Kentucky's most beautiful lakes, Cave Run Lake and Laurel River Lake, lie at each end of the forest.

See the Falls of the Ohio State Park (www.fallsoftheohio.org), where visitors can walk onto the world's largest exposed Devonian fossil bed.

Travel to Harrodsburg, the oldest permanent English settlement west of the Alleghenies. Old Fort Harrod State Park contains part of the replica 1774 fort. Actors dressed in 18th-century costume demonstrate skills, such as blacksmithing and quilting.

Visit Hodgenville, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Boyhood Home (www.nps.gov/liho) is a reproduction cabin located on the original site where he lived until he was eight years old. The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National 

Historic Site (www.nps.gov/abli) has 56 steps, one for each year of his life.

Tour the Jim Beam Distillery (www.jimbeam.com) and sample some of Kentucky's famous bourbon whiskey.

Visit the Kentucky Horse Park, a working horse farm in Lexington. Enjoy an educational look at the state's equestrian history, then watch films about horseracing and breeding, and demonstrations of horseshoeing and harness making. Tour the nearby International Museum of the Horse and the American Saddle Horse Museum (www.imh.org).

Thrill to the sights and sounds at the Kentucky Speedway (www.kentuckyspeedway.com), a motor racing circuit located 18km (30 miles) south of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International airport.

Hike, fish, trailride and view nature in her majesty at Western Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes, a National Recreation Area. The peninsula is surrounded by Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley (www.kentuckylake.com).

Take the family to the Lexington Children's Museum (www.explorium.com). Many exciting exhibits can be touched and explored by children, including a Bubble Factory and the Science Station X.

Get into the horse racing spirit in Louisville during the two weeks of Derby celebrations which climax with the most important date on Louisville's calendar - the famous Kentucky Derby (www.kentuckyderby.com), held the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Descend underground into Mammoth Cave (www.nps.gov/maca), the largest-known network of natural caves and underground passageways in the world, with more than 560km (350 miles) of explored passageways. Tours vary from 30 minutes to six hours. Above ground, the park offers miles of hiking trails.

Tour the National Corvette Museum (www.corvettemuseum.com) in Bowling Green, home to one of America's best known sports cars. Tours of the corvette assembly plant are also available.

Canoe, kayak or raft one of Kentucky's 14 major river systems. Rockcastle is one of the most popular white-water canoe runs in the USA.

Tour Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill (www.shakervillageky.org). Members of the 19th-century Shaker religious sect lived a simple life here. Today visitors can tour their 2,024-hectare (5,000-acre) farm and living history museum.

Hike or backpack two major trails through the scenic forested highlands of Eastern Kentucky - the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail (www.sheltoweetrace.com) and the Jenny Wiley National Recreation Trail.

Follow the Stars of Country Music Highway US-23 and visit the birthplaces of country music and bluegrass stars Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, Loretta Lynn, the Judds and Billy Ray Cyrus. See Loretta Lynn memorabilia at the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum (www.kingdomcome.org/museum) in Benham.

REFERENCE SITES:

http://www.travelresearchonline.com/

“I am more than just a Serious basketball fan. I am a life-long Addict. I was addicted from birth, in fact, because I was born in Kentucky.” 
― Hunter S. Thompson

Travel to create marvelous memories for you and your family or friends!