Into Kentucky
Comment via blog
Check Granny's letters of the day
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Day 2: October 26, 2023 Into Kentucky Comment via blog Check Granny's letters of the day |
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Dawn had cracked just a little when I left the motel.
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In Richmond, IN, I again went about a mile off of the route. This time it
was to watch my breakfast being cooked at
Joann's
Cafe. Actually, what I watched was a master of space and time
management turn out an impressive number and variety of orders on a not
overly large grill.
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Back on my planned route, groups of orange barrels alternated with orange
trees. I have plenty of pictures of the barrels and the construction zones
they populated but no one needs to see them. I'll just stick with the
trees.
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When the car in front of me turned right at this sign, I took notice. I
passed it before deciding I should check things out so I turned around at
the next intersection and approached the store from the south. When the
car that was now in front of me turned left at the sign, I was pretty sure
I'd made a wise move. Inside, Troyer's reminded me as an expanded version
of a store in Darke County Ohio I buy raw unsalted nuts. All the nuts I
found were roasted but I did find some that were unsalted. I left with a
smile, some unsalted cashews, and a half-dozen chocolate chip cookies.
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I don't know if my great-grandparents reached downtown Greensburg, IN, or
if they just cruised through the outskirt of town. Granny made no mention
of a tree growing out of the courthouse and, according to
the sign, the tree and tower thing had started
more than fifty years before they arrived.
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I first took a picture of this mural in Seymour, IN, in 2019 when
it wasn't quite done but
I've taken at least one other shot of the completed work before today.
I've also been to Larrison's Diner before. It has been in business since
1975 and the building has been here much longer than that. It might have
been a grocery when Granddad and Granny came through or it might have been
another business. It's probably not where she bought her cards but it
could be. I don't know for sure what kind of cards Granny bought but I'm
assuming it was greeting cards. Knowing that my daughter's birthday will
arrive before I get home, I decided I'd buy a card here, too. I took care
of that in gift shop in the same block as Larrison's
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The miles south of Seymour were uneventful and I was soon crossing the
Ohio River into Louisville, KY. From there, it wasn't long before I turned
onto the Dixie Highway and passed the big Old Forester bottle atop the
Brown–Forman distillery. I followed an older alignment through West Point
than grabbed a drive by shot of Fort Knox after returning to the current
main highway.
Although some of the 1920 trip was clearly on what was then the Dixie Highway, Granny never mentioned the highway in her letters. In the available 1923 letters, she mentions the Dixie Highway by name exactly once. "The Dixie Highway was one mass of rocks all the way thro camp Knox", she writes, which doesn't sound like high praise but she goes on to say they would have been glad to stay on it but were forced off by detour. Maybe the Dixie Highway of the time was just the lesser of two evils. |
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Granddad would have driven the original Dixie Highway alignment that I
moved onto as I neared Cave City but he would not have seen the cluster
of cement tepees it now passes behind. They wouldn't be built for another
fourteen years.
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After passing through Louisville, I eventually realized that I would be
somewhere around Cave City at day's end so I reserved a room at
Wigwam
Village No. 2. Other guests included a group of ten or twelve from
France. Co-owner Keith told me that the number of foreign travelers
staying at the village has been slowly increasing.
All but a couple of the tepees are sporting new stucco and those that aren't will probably have to wait until next year because of cooling temperatures. The moon was just a few days from full but clouds were doing their best to hide or at least blur it. |
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