Kentucky highlights: horses, history, and hospitality charm visitors in the Bluegrass State

Travel America, March-April, 2004 by Frederick Karst

THE GRASS IS DIFFERENT IN Kentucky's horse country. It's bluegrass, after all, even if you have to find just the right time every spring to notice the hue.

Visitors are drawn to Kentucky by its history and scenery as well as bluegrass and horses. The state also produces prized tobacco and bourbon whiskey.

"Are these mountains?" asked a visitor, looking at hills around the Knob Creek Farm, the earliest home remembered by Abraham Lincoln.

"No, around here they're "knobs', like the name of the farm," replied National Park Service interpreter Vickie Williamson.

She pointed to an open field past some trees. "That is the location of the Seven-Acre Field, where Abraham planted pumpkins while the older boys planted corn," Williamson said. "The road (now U.S. 31E) is the same road the Lincolns used," Williamson said.

The park service acquired the farm from a private owner in 2001 as an addition to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (dominated by a granite and marble memorial enclosing a log cabin). Curiously, Hodgenville, where Lincoln was born in 1809, is less than 100 miles from Hopkinsville, birthplace of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Daniel Boone cut a path from Virginia into the wilderness that was Kentucky, opening the way through Cumberland Gap on the Wilderness Road. The state park at Harrodsburg, Kentucky's oldest city, has a reproduction of Old Fort Harrod and an outdoor drama. "Daniel Boone: The Man & The Legend." Near Harrodsburg is the restored Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. where visitors can stay in quarters built by the religious sect and see crafts being made.

As a border state, Kentucky was a prize to both sides in the Civil War. The Battle of Wildcat Mountain, the earliest major engagement, resulted in a Union victory. The Battle of Richmond was a decisive Confederate success. Living history events take place at both sites as well as other Civil War locations in Kentucky. Confederate sentiment grew in Kentucky in the aftermath of the war, contributing to an affinity for the South that lingers today.

One place where that tradition is fostered is Bardstown, site of My Old Kentucky Home, or Federal Hill, now a state park recalling visits there by composer Stephen Foster, a Yankee in love with the South. An outdoor drama, "Stephen Foster: The Musical," attracts visitors from early June through early September at the park's amphitheater.

Rita Herrmann. a curator at the highly regarded Civil War Museum in Bardstown, said, "This museum focuses on the war in the West. The only eastern battle featured here is Bull Run, the first battle of the war."

A recent addition is the Women's Civil War Museum, housed in the 1840 Wright-Talbott House. Exhibits depict the role of women as soldiers, nurses, spies, and plantation and factory workers. Other Bardstown-area attractions include the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery famous for the cheese, fruitcakes, and bourbon-chocolate fudge made by the monks.

The Bluegrass region around Lexington is prime horse country. More than 400 horse farms breed raid raise Thoroughbreds and other equine varieties.

Although public access is not always allowed by horse farms, the Kentucky Horse Park is a unique Lexington institution featuring daily shows, horse-drawn tours, museums, and horse-related events. The 1,200-acre-plus working horse farm has more than 50 breeds of horses.

Lexington, also renowned for its grand old houses, is the world's largest burley tobacco market.

In the same part of the state, Kentucky's capital, Frankfort, is notable for its historical sites, among which are the graves of Daniel Boone and his wife. Architectural gems include the beautiful State Capitol and a governor's mansion built in the fashion of the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's villa at Versailles.

Kentucky's scenic grandeur is evident in 51 state parks. One of the best known is Natural Bridge State Resort Park in the rugged eastern part of the state. The park's 78-foot arch is among Kentucky's top scenic attractions.

Big Bone Lick drew the attention of President Thomas Jefferson with its remains of woolly mammoths, mastodons, and other pre-historic fauna. Now it is a state park with a focus on the animals that were attracted to its natural salt sulphur spring.

The largest cave in line world and most famous in Kentucky is Mammoth Cave. with more than 300 miles of explored passageways. Visitors are thrilled by their remarkable beauty when they choose from a dozen tours, some easy and some more challenging.

Golfing, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, swimming, and boating opportunities exist throughout the state. In western Kentucky, the Land Between the Lakes is the largest inland peninsula in the United States, formed when the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers were impounded to create Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. The national recreation area managed by the U.S. Forest Service is Kentucky's No. 1 visitor attraction. It includes a nature center, living history farm, elk and bison prairie, planetarium, and observatory, not to mention 16 lake access areas.