October, 2018 Day 6, Just One Thing

Day 6 Wednesday, October 17, 2018

  

     My original plan for the day had just one thing.  And I never got there.  Yeah, it was that kind of day.  

     Dawn was breaking when I left the Royal Inn and Albany behind me.  There was no light show, just various shades of blue among the clouds on the horizon. I thought about heading back to Karen’s Lunchbox for breakfast, but decided to head out instead.  I had picked up some fresh fruit at the local IGA the evening before anyway. 

      Just north of Albany is the town of Seventy-Six. There’s a small municipal park overlooking Seventy-Six Falls.  It’s a short walk down a flight of stairs to a fence at the top.  Unfortunately, there’s also a tree blocking the view.

     There’s also a trail that goes up to a pair of overlooks.  To get a clear shot, you have to cross the barricade and go right up to the fence.  

    After a brief backtrack, I was on Hwy 127 headed north to my one scheduled stop of the day.  But first. I had to cross the Wolf Creek Dam.  Note the fog half way across,

     I drove right into it.  Between the low sun and the thick fog, traffic had slowed to about thirty.  The sunbeams through the trees were creating some amazing lines in the fog.  There just wasn’t anywhere I could pull over. 

     Somehow in that soup I missed the sign for state route 1058.  I didn’t realize until I had traveled too far for me to turn around.   Situated in the town of Creelsboro is the
Rock House Natural Bridge.  This was my only scheduled stop for the day.

       Instead, I pulled off and folded out the Kentucky State map.  If I drove northwest, I could hit a pair of historical spots.  So, I turned and followed Hwy 92 north to Hwy 55 and into Columbia.

     The Adair County Courthouse...

     There are church signs that make you think, some just make you want to groan. 

      A few miles north, I cut across on Hwy 565 and drove past one field of cows after another.  Hwy 61 would eventually bring me to Hwy 88 and this restaurant., long for sale. 

      North 31E would theoretically take me all the way to my motel, eventually.  Passing through Hardyville, I saw this supporting Sheriff candidate Jeff Wilson.

     In the town of Hodgenville(pr; HUH-jinn-vlle) sits Sinking Spring Farm.  In 1808 Thomas and Nancy Lincoln bought this land, built a cabin and settled down.  One year later, their son Abraham was born. 

     On the site of the cabin sits a memorial to the sixteenth president.  There are fifty six stairs, one for each year of his life.  Inside is a replica of the cabin where the Lincoln’s lived. 

     They were here for about three years when their claim on the land was challenged.  Until it was resolved, the moved east to Knob Creek, where the Lincolns rented some farm land. 

    They would eventually lose their land claim.  The same thing happened to the owner of the farm they were renting.  Fed up, they packed up and moved to the new frontier of Indiana.

      Back on Hwy 31E, I continued north towards Louisville.  I passed through downtown Bardsville around 2P and was really looking for a place to grab some lunch.  Stuck at a traffic light, I saw Café Primo across the street.  After parking, I dashed inside.  It was mostly subs and pizza which worked for me.

     The pizza was all thin crust and they used provolone as the cheese.  Interesting, and quite good.  I also tried and Old Chub Scotch Ale.  As I found out, it’s definitely not the same as a Scottish Ale.  There was definitely a hint of scotch in the flavor, which isn’t exactly my thing.  So, one was enough.

      After lunch, it was back on Hwy 31.  It was a good thing I had a Louisville city map.  I had to pull it out twice to figure out where I was going.  So much for it being easy.  Yes, I did have a GPS tucked in the glove compartment.  But, I would rather puzzle it out with maps.  

       Across the Ohio River from Louisville is the town of Clarksville.  It’s named after George Rogers Clark, brother of William Clark, one half of Lewis and Clark.  During the Revolutionary War, George Clark established a post on the site to defend the west against the British.  He was given land here after the war for his service.

      This was also the place where William Clark met Meriwether Lewis.  They shook hands on the shore of the river officially beginning their journey west as the Corp of Discovery.

      A few blocks from the river is what used to be the Colgate Palmolive factory.  On its roof is a clock measuring forty feet across.  At one time it was the second largest in the world.  Now it’s the twelfth largest.

     Eventually, I worked my way to the Clarksville, Indiana Raddisson Hotel.  After the previous night at the Royal Inn, it was a very nice change.  After ditching my stuff and writing up some trip notes from the day, I drove back out to the city park along the banks of the Ohio River and settled in for sunset.

      The chill of the evening felt good as I simply stood there taking it in. 

      Back at the hotel, I grabbed my camera and made my way to the hotel’s bar.  My intention was to just go through the day’s photos over a beer.  I tried something called a Busted Knuckle Ale.  It’s a brown ale with a slight medicinal aftertaste.  Yeah, one was enough.  But, I did get into a long conversation with two other guys my age about the state of things in this country.  We talked for quite some time and I enjoyed it, though we often disagreed.  Somehow, it remained civil throughout.  We eventually shook hands and called it a night.

Coming Up,
It's no Slippery Noodle