Kentucky Spring

Spring has arrived in Kentucky and the woods were full of wildflowers.

Fern fiddleheads

 Red Prairie Trillium

Wood Poppy

Sweet White Trillium

 Maybe a Larkspur?

Early Saxifrage

 Phlox

A tenacious fern growing on a rock.

A Mammoth Cave

Did you know Mammoth Cave is the largest cave in the world?

It has 400 miles of underground passages.

The 2nd longest cave is in Mexico and has 308 miles underground,

so Mammoth Cave really is a mammoth.

This is the historic entrance to the cave.

You can hike to it if you are interested.  

There is a gate preventing you from entering without a guide and getting lost.

We opted for the "New Entrance Tour" and accessed the cave from this metal door.

Mammoth is a large dry cave formed by an underground river rather than by seepage,

 so it doesn't have lots of formations like Cub Run Cave had.

This is one of the few formations, known as the Frozen Niagra.

 There is also a new visitor's center with lots of info about caves.

 And there are many hiking trails.

These steps are on one of the more popular trails, descending down into Cedar Sink.

On the Cedar Sink Trail, you can see where an underground stream 

comes to the surface and then returns below ground.

You never know what you'll see out in the woods.

 

The Turnhole Bend Trail offers views of the Green River.

 There are also several ferries crossing the local rivers.

I'm not sure why they have ferries instead of bridges, 

but they are kinda fun.

 And of course, there is a camping.

We shared our campsite with this big bug!

Hello!

Cave Country

Kentucky is known for karst topography, 

where the earth consists of soluble limestone that is 

easily dissolved by the slightly acidic underground water.

This forms sinkholes and caves and Kentucky has lots of both.

On our way to Mammoth Cave, the world's longest cave,

we checked out Cub Run Cave.

Cub Run Cave was discovered in 1950, toured for a year

 and then sealed in a legal dispute for 55 years.

Consequently, it did not suffer from commercial vandalism

 where patrons were allowed to carve their names

 or break off a piece of the cave for a souvenir.

 The unassuming entrance.

 Inside is a wonderland of cave formations.

The ceiling is covered with stalagtites.

And there are huge stalagmites.

 rippling pools

 cave bacon,

and intricate flowstone.

We also saw many of the cave creatures, such as cave crickets

salamanders,

 bats,

and even the elusive blind crayfish.

Cub Run is a fantastic cave.

Don't miss it when in the Mammoth Cave area!

My Old Kentucky Home

Bardstown also is the site of My Old Kentucky Home State Park.

This is the location of Federal Hill, 

a plantation where Stephen Foster, a cousin of the plantation owner,

is supposed to have written the state song of Kentucky, 

"My Old Kentucky Home".  

We toured the home with a costumed interpreter, but no photos were allowed.

 The grounds were very picturesque and included a family cemetery,

And a statue of Stephen Foster

who also wrote Florida's state song, Suwanee River.

There is a gift shop, golf course & campground here

as well as summertime performances of Stephen Foster - The Musical 

in the amphitheater.

Most Beautiful Small Town in America

Spring is slow coming to Indiana, so we headed south, to Kentucky,

 where Spring is bustin' out all over!

Our travels took us to Bardstown, Kentucky, named 

"Most Beautiful Small Town in America" by Rand McNally in 2012.

 Its also the Bourbon Capital of the World.

Those are pretty big pants to fill, but Bardstown lives up to its titles.

Everywhere you look there are lovely historic homes. 

 Not just the large homes, but all the homes are immaculately maintained.

It is the second oldest town in Kentucky.

 The courthouse is the center of a quaint downtown,

including a whiskey museum and civil war museum.

There is a dinner train & carriage rides as well.

This tavern has been there for years, serving bourbon, of course.

 Which leads us to bourbon, Bardstown other claim to fame.

A common sight around Bardstown are the rickhouses storing & aging bourbon.

There are 5 distilleries in and around Bardstown.

 This trip, we visited the Willett Distillery and learned about their process.

Corn, water, rye & malted barley are cooked and fermented with yeast in large vats.

This one was really bubbling as it fermented.

This is the signature copper pot still at the Willett Distillery.

When the master distiller deems the "white dog" is the correct proof, 

by checking these pots, 

it is put in barrels,

and stored in a rickhouse for a minimum of 4 years.

Then the lucky tourists get to buy some of this!

If you get the chance, visit Bardstown.

Its truely beautiful.

Trout Lily

Spring is stirring.

I saw lots of trout lilies this morning.

The New Garden

The garden has gone through an overhaul.

The old raised beds were torn out and new bigger beds installed.
Then we laid landscaping fabric down.

Mulch was laid down so we don't have to mow around the beds.

 And the area was fenced to keep out critters.

 My herbs were relocated and early veggies planted. 
Ignore the rocks in the potato trough.  Gotta put them somewhere!

The finished project.