Day 61 - Mineral Springs Lakes, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky

Okay, so I know we've said this before, but DANG!, today was just the best day ever!

You will remember that we planned to visit the Serpent Mound this morning before leaving southern Ohio and heading to Louisville, Kentucky. Through some miraculous twist of fate, the very place that Concetta was been wanting to visit for years and years just sort of wandered into our field of vision yesterday, as we rolled down Route 32, and announced that it was only eight miles away. Well, we could hardly ignore that bit of luck. Incredibly, for the first time in days, if not in two or three weeks, the sky overhead looked blue, or at least mostly blue. There were some clouds at first, which kept hiding the sun when I wanted to take a photo, but most of the time, if I waited a minute or two, the sun would pop out and I could click away.

The Serpent Mound is the world's largest surviving example of an ancient animal effigy mound. Stretching 1,348 lineal feet, it has an oval "head" shape at one end, and a curly tail at the other. To date, no artifacts have been found and no ancient Native Americans are buried there, though a couple of nearby, cone-shaped, mounds do contain ancient graves.

The mound is shaped like a long, twisting, six-foot-high "twinkie," and measures perhaps twenty feet wide at the base. I didn't find any stats on these measurements, but that's my observation. End to end, it appeared to be quite uniform in its dimensions. The park employees like to mow the grass bordering the mound, which makes it stand out from the background grassy areas. When we got there the mowing was in progress, so not all of the mound was highlighted in this fashion.

The thing I liked best about the mound area is the observation platform (photo right) the park service has provided so that the serpent can be viewed from thirty feet in the air. Makes it a whole easier to comprehend the magnitude of the work involved from up there.

After purchasing a book for me and a T-shirt for Concetta we were soon back on the road. My plan for the day called for using the same Route 41 that we had traveled to find the Serpent Mound. Only this time we'd be going in a southwesterly direction. I knew there were faster ways to get to Louisville, but I was shooting for scenic.

It wasn't long before we realized the wisdom of choosing that particular route. Alternating between rich, rolling farmlands full of red barns and white fences, and quaint, tiny towns hugging the sides of our narrow, two-lane highway, the road kept us totally fascinated. We just enjoyed every mile of Route 41. My only regret is that the road was so narrow, and in most places, even lacking a shoulder, that I just couldn't stop every time I saw a postcard vista. It just broke my heart to pass up some of the most beautiful scenery we'd seen so far, but short of stopping the rig right in the southbound travel lane to grab the camera, there was no way to take advantage of the dozens of photo ops.

Shortly before we crossed the Ohio river, Route 41 ended and we were forced to transition to a divided highway. But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had no more than touched the Kentucky shore when we were informed by a passing road sign that the historic site of Blue Lick was just a few miles away. Since it was approaching the noon hour, and we always like an interesting site to explore after lunch, we noted the mileage and kept our eye out for the day's lunch stop.

According to Wikipedia, "The Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis' famous surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east. On a hill next to the Licking River in what is now Robertson County, Kentucky (but was then in Kentucky County, Virginia), a force of about 50 American and Canadian Loyalists along with 300 American Indians ambushed and routed 182 Kentucky militiamen. It was the worst defeat for the Kentuckians during the frontier war."

Today, the peaceful, tree-covered hilltop belies the violence that once took place there. I trekked around through the dappled shade and ankle high grasses and tried to picture the events of over two centuries ago as I photographed the various monuments. But it was just too beautiful and restful. I think war is like that. All too soon no one is alive to recount the terrible events that may have changed many people's world forever.

Wikipedia's narrative continues: "On the morning of August 19, the Kentuckians reached the Licking River, near a spring and salt lick known as the Lower Blue Licks. A few Indian scouts were seen watching them from across the river. Behind the scouts was a hill around which the river looped. Colonel Todd called a council and asked Daniel Boone, the most experienced woodsman, what he thought. Boone said he had been growing increasingly suspicious because of the obvious trail the Indians left. He felt the Indians were trying to lead them into an ambush.

Hugh McGary, eager to prove he was no coward, urged an immediate attack. When no one listened, he mounted his horse and rode across the ford. He yelled out, "Them that ain't cowards, follow me." The men immediately followed McGary, as did the officers, who hoped to restore order. Boone remarked, "We are all slaughtered men," and crossed the river.

Most of the men dismounted and formed a line of battle several rows deep. They advanced up the hill, Todd and McGary in the center, Trigg on the right, Boone on the left. As Boone had suspected, Caldwell's force was waiting on the other side, concealed in ravines. When the Kentuckians reached the summit, the Indians opened fire at close range with devastating accuracy. After only five minutes, the center and right of the Kentucky line fell back. Only Boone's men on the left managed to push forward. Todd and Trigg, easy targets on horseback, were shot dead.

The Kentuckians began to flee down the hill, fighting hand-to-hand with other Indians who had flanked them. McGary rode up to Boone's company and told him everyone was retreating and that Boone was now surrounded. Boone ordered his men to retreat. He grabbed a riderless horse and ordered his 23-year-old son, Israel Boone, to mount it. He then turned to look for a horse for himself. Israel suddenly fell to the ground, shot through the neck. Boone realized his son was dead, mounted the horse and joined in the retreat."

The monument pictured lists each and every man who either died or survived, as well as the Indian tribes that took part.

After leaving the Blue Licks battlefield memorial, we continued our trip south down Kentucky Route 68 until we reached U.S. Route 64. We then headed straight west toward Lexington and Louisville. Although it was our plan to just keep driving until we got to the KOA in Louisville, Concetta spotted an interesting sign she had been keeping an eye out for as we rolled along just west of Lexington.

One piece of advice that we had received from our son Rob was to visit the Four Roses Distillery if we happened to make it to Kentucky. Well, what should pop up beside Interstate 64, but the sought after sign for Four Roses. Naturally, we took the off-ramp and set off in search of more adventures.

The distillery in question was at least a dozen miles off the beaten track, but it turned out to be worth it. Well, at first, it turned out to be just a comedy of errors. Concetta had told me that the tours took place on the hour and so we were hastening our sojourn off the Interstate in order to catch the 3:00 p.m. tour. As fate would have it, we arrived about TWO minutes after 3:00. Telling Concetta to grab us some tickets if it was still possible, I dropped her at the front door and I drove to the back of the property to find a place to park the rig.

Naturally, the door at which I dropped her turned out to be the employee entrance. So unbeknownst to me, Concetta set out to circle the employee building and enter the correct building that sat just behind. In the meantime, I slammed the rig roughly into a couple of parking spots and set off for the rear building (which was closest to me) at a brisk trot to try and catch the tour.

Then, just as I sprinted up to the rear door, a beautiful young blond woman rushed up to me waving her camera, and in the most "melt in your mouth" southern accent, asked me if I'd mind taking a photo of her assembled group, about eight persons in all.

What was I going to say? With a grimace and a nod I grabbed the camera and said, "okay, here we go...1...2...3...and snapped the photo. Then I took another one for good luck, pushed the camera at her, and dashed for the door.

Inside the building I could see no sign of Concetta or a tour. Figuring she was still down in the first building, I dashed out the opposite door, down the walkway, into the first building and pounded down the stairs as fast as I could. Every few feet I'd encounter a sign which read, "employees only. Do not enter." Sort of got me to wondering.

By the time I got to the front door I realized that I had made a big mistake and Concetta must have realized it, too, and gone up to the second building, the one I had just come from.

But as I exited the first building a chauffeur was just getting out of his long, black limo in front and he motioned me over. Rolling my eyes, I ran over to him. "Where's the tour?" he asked.

Well, I didn't exactly know, but I thrust an arm in the direction of the second building and said that I guessed it was that way. Then I took off running again. By then it was getting to be fifteen minutes after the hour.

By the time I had returned to the second building and burst through the door, I saw Concetta just entering a door at the back of the room. Dashing after her, I was just able to get seated next to her in the tour group room as the speaker finished her power point presentation on bourbon production. Still, Concetta told me, we had managed to get the last two tickets available and were going to be included in the 3:00 p.m. tour.

I had only managed to catch my breath and the whole group was up and walking out on the patio to begin the tour. I shook my head and thought, 'we just have to stop cutting these events so close.'

Now the production facility is interesting, if a tad on the warm and cozy side, but what every one of the assembled tour group members had in the back of their minds was the tasting room. This little bonus was the last thing on our tour and the whole group filed in obediently. Then, for the next fifteen minutes or more, our tour hostess described the different quality levels of bourbon she was serving us, and everyone was doing the "bottoms up" routine.

After sips of two different "strengths" of Four Roses, I was ready to abstain from further refreshment. Someone, after all, still had to pilot the rig through the madness of traffic in downtown Louisville, then over the bridge into Indiana, and finally search for the always elusive KOA camp (We had chosen the Indiana KOA because it was, oddly enough, closest to downtown Louisville, Kentucky).

Now for a day that largely took place without a speck of planning, other than our intention to show up at the Serpent Mounds this morning, we think it came off in grand style. For the first time in ages, the sky was just wonderfully blue all the live long day. The traffic was light. Our fellow drivers were polite. The lunch stop was educational. Our way was clear and we didn't get lost even once. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Four Roses was silky and wonderful. If it gets any better than that, you'll have to show me where that happens.

Ciao for now, good readers!