Kentucky – our 45th State (Part 1)

After Lexington (see our post here), we spent several more days exploring different parts of Kentucky, beginning with Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace National Historical Park which includes his birthplace and boyhood homes.

According to the National Park Service (NPS), “In the fall of 1808, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln settled on the 348-acre Sinking Spring Farm. Two months later, on February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin. Here the Lincolns lived and farmed before moving to land a few miles away at Knob Creek.”

We both thought Abe Lincoln looked a lot like his mother.

We stopped at Lincoln’s boyhood home first. “The Lincoln’s moved to Knob Creek after a title dispute forced them to leave Sinking Spring Farm.” – NPS

“Abraham Lincoln’s family moved here from his birthplace at Sinking Spring Farm in 1811, when the future president was just two years old. Lincoln’s earliest memories were of life along Knob Creek, and his experiences in this valley shaped the man who would guide the nation through the bloodiest conflict on American soil – the Civil War.” – NPS

This memorial to Lincoln was dedicated in 1911, eleven years before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC was finished, making this the oldest memorial to honor Lincoln.

The log cabin inside the Memorial building

In case of a fire due to stray embers, this fireplace has a log built to be quickly removed – the rest of the fireplace would collapse and put out a fire

Less than an hour drive from Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace National Historic Park is Mammoth Cave National Park. “The most extensive known cave system on earth lies beneath the sandstone ridges of this park’s surface. More than 350 miles of passageways have been surveyed and mapped … but to this day, the water-formed caves largely remain a mystery.” – NPS

We drove through some back country roads in Kentucky – with views of corn.

The sign at the little-used back entrance to the park

The road to the visitor center. We didn’t see anyone for miles until we reached the visitor center parking lot.

There are many tours you can take to view the different parts of Mammoth Cave

A short 30-minute drive from Mammoth Cave, in Bowling Green, KY, is the the National Corvette Museum. This is an indoor museum telling Corvette’s history, with over 70 different car models plus memorabilia & more.

This museum had a nice display showing the history of the corvette beginning with how sports cars came to be in the US

After WWII soldiers wanted cars like they had seen in Europe

1946 Stout Y46 Concept Car. The first fiberglass automobile.

1953 Corvette – the first Corvette produced in Flint, MI (on far right)

“After some rainy weather on February 12, 2014, such a 40-foot-wide and 25-foot-deep sinkhole opened under the floor of the Skydome area of the museum. Video from the museum’s security camera shows the collapse occurring at 5:38 AM local time. Since this did not occur during visiting hours no one was injured although much of the Skydome area concrete floor collapsed. Cars were on display in the Skydome, a separate structure attached to the main museum. Eight rare and one-of-a-kind Corvettes, portions of the display stands and rails, large concrete floor slabs and dirt fell into the sinkhole, causing serious damage to some of the Corvettes. The Corvettes involved have an estimated value of a million dollars.“ – Wikipedia