November 13, 2009 Today was another driving day…all day. We left Pigeon Forge a bit late because we had a couple of errands to run…so it was probably noon when we left. We drove through Tennessee and in the early evening we reached Kentucky. We had some trouble finding a place to stay, but the road that we were on took us through beautiful Kentucky farm land. Finally at about 7pm we landed in Danville. We were exhausted…Luckily the hotel was a connected to a restaurant so we could just walk over to it. The meal was ok and ended with [View Full Entry]

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Oct 18 Day 9 There was frost on the sail cover this morning. I think it’s time to get farther South. The weather was cool but pleasant today. Rick played the National Anthem on his harmonica as Wayne raised the Stars and Stripes as we entered Kentucky Lake. We had sunshine and a light north - northwest -northeast breeze all afternoon. Just enough wind to fly Rick’s gennaker and sail much of the 20 miles to Kenlake State Park and Marina. We decided to stay at a marina so we can plug in our little heater to stay warm for another [View Full Entry]

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Smithland, Kentucky is located at the intersection of the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers. Today it is on a ghost of its past as few business remain and the tourist industry has long passed the small town. There are approximately 1000 people living in Smithland today. A very nice $7 million dollar Justice Center is the most predominate building in town. Built next to the current court house the building is very nice. The former main street of Smithland slowly started disappearing in the middle of the last century as building after building was torn town and only a vacant lot remains [View Full Entry]

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I hated leaving the colorful, albeit wet, hills of eastern Kentucky this morning. We have a small house buried deep in the woods of Wolfe Co. When I arrived there on Thursday night, I heard a coyote howl. In the morning, several turkeys were eating bugs in the pasture behind the house. Later on in the morning, two young doe grazed in the same place. Last evening, I was standing outside by the fire watching the bats leave the attic of the house. We eventually plan to close off their access but have to wait until all the babies are grown [View Full Entry]

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Marion, Kentucky is a small town in Western Kentucky with a population of around 3000 in town and about 10000 in Crittenden County. There is some small industry in Marion that adds several jobs to the economy. Schools were consolidate years ago with a single high school serving the county. The city has imposed a 3% eat in tax on all food that you purchase and eat in the city. In addition there is a $1 per night room tax on motels rooms. While the purported reason of such taxes is to promote tourism, that cannot be said to be the [View Full Entry]

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Oct 10, 2009 Day 1 - Just want to let everyone know we are actually on our way. Left Baraboo the first time at 6:30 AM this morning. When Wayne realized he forgot some of his cloths on a hanger we turned around and went back. We should have checked that list one more time before we left. We departed for the second time at 6:50 AM. It’s time we get South. The temperature was 29 degrees F when we left. We had a smooth uneventful trip and arrived in Paducah, Kentucky at 6:00PM. The temperature is 62 but is suppose [View Full Entry]

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Salem Kentucky is a small town in Western Kentucky about 12 miles west of Marion and 30 miles east of Paducah. Approximately 750 people live in Salem which at one time was the county seat. There are no schools in Salem as the children all attend a Livingston County School as the result of consolidation. There is no formal government In Salem however there is a Mayor and City Council. Police matters are handled by the Livingston County Sheriff's Department or the Kentucky State Police. There is very little retail business in Salem where once there was a new car dealership. [View Full Entry]

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Salem Kentucky is a small town in Western Kentucky about 12 miles west of Marion and 30 miles east of Paducah. Approximately 750 people live in Salem which at one time was the county seat. There are no schools in Salem as the children all attend a Livingston County School as the result of consolidation. There is no formal government In Salem however there is a Mayor and City Council. Police matters are handled by the Livingston County Sheriff's Department or the Kentucky State Police. There is very little retail business in Salem where once there was a new car dealership. [View Full Entry]

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We decided to spend a couple of weeks in middle America. First stop was Bardstown, Ky. A quaint little town in the green rolling hills of Kentucky. Fortunately, it is also part of the bourbon trail of kentucky. There are eight distilleries who have banded together to promote Americas whiskey. We were able to visit Makers Mark, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam and Heaven Hill. Makers Mark and Woodford Reserve were in beautiful country and had fantastic tours (and whiskeys too). You get to see every facet of the production from fermenting the mash, to distillation, aging and bottling. We tasted the [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 - Waking up with a sore head and a little worse for wear, we headed to the Makers Mark distillery where we were shown around and told how the whisky is made. There was a tasting at the end but at this point the smell was enough for us! Once our tour was over it was back in the van, straight to Nashville. A really interesting and different place. There were bands and solo artists playing every minute of everyday, with music blaring out of every bar down the strip with loads of bikers walking around with their Harley's [View Full Entry]

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