Wednesday, March 01, 2006
My Old Kentucky Home....
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, we left for Jackson, MS. That trip for us is an all-day affair. We leave at 10 am and get there at 8:30 pm. We fly from home to Minneapolis, to Memphis, and to Jackson. With some layovers at each place. The one nice thing about that, is that many times if we have a layover in Mpls, our kids will pick us up at the airport and we’ll go out for lunch or dinner and have a nice visit with them. On this day, our daughter picked us up and we went out to TGI Fridays, which is one of our favorite places to go.
Monday and Tuesday, I had training and meetings in Jackson. Then on Wednesday, we flew from Jackson to Kentucky (through Detroit). We flew in to the Cincinnati airport—which is actually in KY. We drove to Maysville, KY. It’s a beautiful area—right on the Ohio River. We went to a great little Winery in OH for supper.
Thursday, we wandered around the Town of Old Washington—which is an old town. It has a house where Harriett Beecher Stowe visited and watched some slave auctions happening on the square. That’s what prompted her to write the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. There were lots of unique shops and homes in the area. We ate at a tavern. Bob and I shared a KY Hot Brown. We weren’t sure what it was, so had to ask and then had to try it. It’s a slice of bread with turkey, tomatoes, and bacon covered with a cheese sauce. It was really good, but rich.
My retreat started at 4 pm at the Rosemary Clooney Room of a restaurant. She, as well as George Clooney (her nephew), are from this area. They have an annual Rosemary Clooney festival each year. The evening ended about 11 pm with a wine and cheese party at the hotel.
Friday, the retreat went from 9 am until 3:30 pm. I love the retreats and am usually 'high' during them--just so energetic and passionate about everything I'm taking about--but at the end, I'm absolutely exhausted. We came home and just vegged out in front of the TV (watching the Olympics Opening).
Saturday, we walked around the downtown area. There are some great historical buildings in the area. This area was also part of the Underground Railroad and there is a museum dedicated to the people who passed through, as well as the ‘conductors’ who helped them. A lot of the information on the Underground Railroad is not known, because it was such a well-kept secret.
Maysville has a floodwall. And in 1998, they commissioned Robert Dafford of Dafford Murals to paint murals on the wall. They are beautiful—almost look three-dimensional. They depict the history of the area from the early Native Americans on their buffalo hunts to the present day community. The area was an extremely busy seaport in the 1800’s.
We crossed the bridge over the Ohio River (which is build to match the Golden Gate Bridge) and went over to Ripley, OH where the Rankin House is. This was the home of a minister, John Rankin, and his family, and also an important station on the Underground Railroad. The house is way up on a hill, overlooking the river. There is a huge staircase leading up to it and that is known as the ‘Freedom Trail’. We were disappointed because the home was closed for the season. It would have been wonderful to see inside and the grounds. The community had lots of beautiful old homes.
We drove to Point Pleasant, OH and saw the birthplace and a schoolhouse of Ulysses S. Grant. Again, this was a quaint little town—with lots of great old homes.
On Sunday, we visited the Freedom Center in Cincinnati which is a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad. It was really interesting and heartbreaking and hopeful all at the same time. Some of the background on the Underground Railroad can be found at www.ket.org/underground/history/kyunderground.htm
