Zoe Strecker - Kentucky Off the Beaten Path®: A Guide to Unique Places

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Copyright 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield

Text design: Linda R. Loiewski

Maps: Equator Graphics Rowman & Littlefield

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

ISSN 1535-8038

ISBN 978-0-7627-9673-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-1709-6 (e-book)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To those Kentuckians who, with lots of love and humor, continue to guide me off the beaten path in all realms of life. Gratitude to my Globe Pequot editors Tracee Williams and Julie Marsh for allowing me to share my affection for Kentucky in this guidebook.

To my kin and friends who help me discover the beauty of Kentucky. Thanks to my parents, Jack and Margaret Poynter, for instilling in me the desire to travel and showing me the heart of the Bluegrass State. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of visiting with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins in the Danville area. My sister Elaine and I always looked forward to staying with Aunt Doris and Uncle Walker Poynter in Danville and having fun with our cousins.

Thanks to my daughter, Kelly Rose, for helping carry the load and to my grandchildren: Sean, Emma, and Dylan Rose; Stefanie, Will, Trey, and Arianna Scott; and Logan and Grayson Peters. A special remembrance to my husband, Bill Finch, whose spirit goes with me every step of the way through lifes amazing journey.

Jackie Sheckler Finch

Contents

Introduction

In an age when Vive la difference! is our cultural rallying cry, Kentucky should be a travelers sheer delight. This 40,000-square-mile stretch of land is home to a greater variety of distinct cultures than any other rural state in the United States. Our landscapes vary wildly, our accents fluctuate county to county, and were downright contradictory, always have been. This contradictory nature is a quality that is both enjoyable and educational for locals as well as inquisitive outsiders. Despite being a longtime victim of simplified stereotypes, the Commonwealth of Kentucky doesnt include a single typical Kentuckian. Where the edges of Kentuckys cultures overlap, delightful contrasts abound. Where else can you find hitching posts for horse and buggy rigs in a fast-food parking lot? Where else do you hear English spoken with a heavy German lilt and a thick Southern twang? Or an Elizabethan dialect with a drawl?

Maybe the contradictions started with Daniel Boone (what didnt?), who was torn between settling the land he loved passionately and, not trusting his fellow pioneers, merging with the Native people who loved and adopted him. Maybe Kentuckys contradictory nature proved itself in bearing both Civil War presidents into the world within a year and fewer than 100 miles apart. The same waters that produce the worlds smoothest bourbon and worst bootleg also sustained the life of Carrie Nation and continue to fill the teetotalers baptismal fonts. Stereotypes of illiteracy are at loggerheads with a remarkable history of erudition and fine literary accomplishments, and the lack of national recognition for Kentuckys contributions to the high arts is suspect upon examination of the states almost unequaled tradition of music, dance, and fine craft.

Then theres our geography, as erratic as Colorados, yet older and more diverse in terms of flora and fauna. Vast, big-sky country dominates the western regions, where acre after fertile acre fans out, making a flat, Midwestern horizon, ending in swampland and rich arable bottomland by the banks of the great Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Central and northern Kentucky ride on a high, fertile plateau, where game has always grazed and where livestock continue to make the region wealthy and world famous for equine and bovine bloodlines. Eastern Kentuckys lush mountains are well rounded with age, well supplied with precious seams of coal and iron ore, and laced with clear, beautiful streams. The south-central region has a touch of it all, including some of the worlds most spectacular caverns.

In this book Im just giving you leads to places that you may not have otherwise found. Your job is to immerse yourself and explore everything with fresh eyes and an open heart. The people here are so friendly, youll get tired of smiling.

The pleasure of traveling in Kentucky begins with studying the map. Read the names of our towns and youll begin to believe that Kentucky soil grows poets (and humorists) even better than tobacco:

Bear Wallow

Horse Fly Holler

Cat Creek

Dog Town

Dogwalk

Dog Trot

Maddog

The Bark Yard

Monkeys Eyebrow

Possum Trot

Terrapin

Otterpond

Buzzard Roost

Pigeon Roost

Beaver Bottom

Beaver Lick

Rabbit Hash

Chicken Bristle

Chicken City

Ticktown

Scuffletown

Coiltown

Gold City

Future City

Sublimity City

Preacherville

Fearsville

Shuckville (population 7)

Spottsville

Jugville

Blandsville

Pleasureville

Touristville

Wisdom

Beauty

Joy

Temperance

Poverty

Chance

Energy

Victory

Democrat

Republican

The Mouth

Mouth Card

Dimple

Nuckles

Shoulderblade

Big Bone

Back Bone

Wish Bone

Marrowbone

Cheap

Habit

Whynot

Pinchem Slyly

Mossy Bottom

Needmore

Sugartit

Hot Spot

Climax

Limp

Subtle

Geneva

Moscow

Bagdad

Warsaw

Paris

London

Athens

Versailles

Ninevah

Sinai

Buena Vista

Key West

Texas

Pittsburg

Omaha

Yosemite

Two Mile Town

Four Mile

Ten Mile

Halfway

Twenty-six

Seventy-six

Eighty-eight

Bachelors Rest

Belcher

Brodhead

Oddville

Waddy

Wax

Dot

Empire

Embryo

Factory

Tidal Wave

Troublesome Creek

Vortex

Princess

Savage

Clutts

Decoy

Thousand Sticks

Gravel Switch

Quicksand

Halo

Moon

Static

Nonesuch

No Creek

Slickaway

Slap Out

Sideview

Nonchalanta

Fleming-Neon

Hi Hat

Go Forth

Alpha

Zula

Zoe

Zag

Zebulon

Zilpo

Yamacraw

Yeaddis

Yerkes

Uz (YOOzee)