Hard to say goodbyes to John and Sajona after such a nice,
but short stay…but we had to be off after breakfast.
We took a quick one hour ride south to
the Cincinnati where we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. The town of Newport faces Cincinnati across
the river. It had been quite a depressed
area but a huge amount of money has been poured into it creating an
entertainment and restaurant destination. We made arrangements to meet our
great-niece Caetey and to meet her new partner, Rob, for lunch. This whole area
has quite a German immigrant history so our destination was the Haufbrauhaus
Newport. Although relatively new, it has
gained a good reputation for serving great German food. Patti especially enjoyed her schnitzel.
But the highlight of our time together was such nice conversations,
getting caught up with Caetey, who recently got a transferred within her
company to Cincinnati, and to meet Rob.
We had a great time, and loved the chance to take a few pictures of this
fun gathering.
Then, we had to be off on a 2
1/5 hour drive southwest in Kentucky. It
is known as the Blue Grass State and for its horses but we primarily saw lots
of trees and productive looking farms.
The closest we got to horses was seeing the Churchill Downs signs as we
drove through Louisville.
We were headed for the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National
Historic Site located near Hodgenville, KY. We have been to a number of Lincoln sites, including
his home in Springfield, IL and Ford Theater in Washington, DC. We have such respect and appreciation for
him. One hundred years after Lincoln’s
birth they built a big memorial at the site of the family farm. Theodore Roosevelt was there to dedicate it.
The memorial is really quite a sight. There are 56 steps up to it, one for each
year of his life. The formal, Greek
inspired building was quite dramatic at the top of the rise. Although there was a door in the front, we
found it to be closed. A sign directed
us around to the back where there was a door that opened.
Inside, they
placed what they thought was the original Lincoln cabin but it was later proven
to have been constructed 30 or 40 years later.
They now refer to it as a Symbolic Birth Cabin. Oh well. Dick assumed
that the real cabin would have not been at the top of the hill but would have
been constructed in a more protected spot near the spring that was still
flowing. But the memorial looked better
where they put it. They weren’t so
concerned with historical accuracy in 1909.
Although Lincoln’s father had purchased the land where
Lincoln was born, a title dispute arose and the Lincoln family was forced to
more in 1811. No such thing as title
insurance back then. They then moved to
the Knob Creek Place, about 15 miles away, where Lincoln’s father rented a
small farm. Here is where Lincoln had
his first memories of his home, his chores, and helping in the fields. The family lived here until there was another
title dispute, this time for the owner of the property but all of the tenants
were forced off the land. Although he
was born into poverty, it was reflective of the poor economic conditions of the
area that his father was in the upper 20% of taxpayers in this area. But, the
Lincoln family had to be on the move again, this time to Indiana.
For a time after we left the two historic sites, we were on
small two-lane highways passing many modern farms. We reflected on how different farming has
become when compared to what Lincoln and his family experienced. Then we were back on I-65, driving south to
Cave City, which is located just outside of Mammoth Cave National Park, our
destination for tomorrow.
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