The plan was to leave early enough Tuesday so that we could take our time on the drive and explore a little bit of Cincinnati. Then Wednesday we could relax before the concert. And then Thursday we would stop at two more stops on the way home following a different path back through Kentucky till we got home.
This would be a much easier drive than the last trip especially since it was split over three days.
Tuesday we left early around 9 am and had a very short drive before we reached our first destination at the Simpson County Tourism building on Steele Rd. It is a small cabin with a red roof. Outside of it were several plaques with information about the area as well as a wall of murals around the parking lot. At the front I found the one I had come to see.
If you are wondering if you read that right - yes - it absolutely gives cause of death as a crash while chasing a UFO. While on a training flight he was directed by the tower to pursue a UFO and unfortunately was killed in a crash.
Before we left we stopped to look at the murals which represented the history of Simpson County. These grabbed our attention. The first showed several important buildings in Franklin, KY history.
What got our attention was the red well on the left side because it was described on the information placard as the "Devious Well." The description immediately had us questioning how a well could be devious so we decided to go inside and ask. Apparently in order to purchase property for the court house there had to be a working well on the property. The property had a well but it was dry. So the owner had it filled with water the day before the inspection to trick the county into purchasing the property. Well the trick worked and actually somehow primed the well and as the story goes it provided water for years to come. We were also told about a Simpson county landmark called "Octagon Hall." Apparently it is one of the most haunted buildings in Kentucky. We didn't have time to explore it Tuesday so we decided to change our return trip plans to come back Thursday.
The next mural that caught our attention was the "Mule Day" mural.
Specifically the two clowns at the center one of which appears to be peering back at us.
Creepy little fellow, right?
The entire town is a remembrance to Lincoln. At the center of the downtown area are two statues. One is the quintessential Lincoln sitting proudly in his chair looking across the circle. Across from him is a statue of a boy who is actually representative of Lincoln as a boy. Boy Lincoln is reading a spelling book that is so detailed the book actually has writing on the page he is holding open - an easy pronunciation guide for English words with French origin in case you were wondering.
Also in the town square was Laha's Red Castle which many reviews named the number one burger in Kentucky. I had seen pictures of their onion rings and knew we would be stopping here. The shop was busy because I had forgotten about the time change from central to eastern so instead of being there for an early lunch at 11am it was now noon. But that was ok because I placed our order to go and we ate at one of the nearby benches.
Sorry about the bitten hamburger but I had been standing there watching the four woman behind the counter make these burgers for almost thirty minutes so by the time I got mine I was ready to eat.
Anyway it was delicious. There trademark is the fried onions they cook along with the burgers and generously put on top of the burger. The taste worked perfectly and it was awesome. The burger is a very thin patty but because of the onions it packed in a lot of flavor.
And as you can see the onion rings were huge and delicious. great pricing as well.
We then finished walking around the square to the sweetshop which one of our coworkers had just told me about since he had also been to Hodgenville just a couple of weeks earlier. They had these delicious ritz crackers with peanut butter that were then dipped in chocolate. We got three for $2 to enjoy as we drove since we were full from lunch. They were absolutely delicious! Again if you are in the area these are worth it. We also got a piece of creamsicle fudge but we have not tried it yet. Maybe tonight?
As we exited the square we saw a sign in a window advertising the local radio station 93.7 Abe radio. So we put that station on the radio wondering how long it would last before we got out of range. We didn't see what kind of music it was but I figured it was either going to be good old country music or some kind of NPR station with classical music. Well it was old country music and the first song that came on was Lucille by Kenny Rogers which I can't remember the last time I heard that song but Meg knew what it was as soon as the first note played.
The next song was equally great when George Strait and Alan Jackson began singing 'Murder on Music Row.' I feel like these two legends should get together and sing this song again to Music Row cause I think they missed the message. That or maybe have Eric Church and Chris Stapleton cut it since the two of them have managed to keep it country while others have moved more towards pop and songs about nothing but being drunk and partying. I'm not saying it is all bad but it is more and more like pop with southern accents. Here is a video of the George Strait and Alan Jackson performing the song.
We lost the station pretty soon afterwards and it was completely gone by the time we reached our next destination in Lexington, Kentucky. At the entrance to the Lansdowne Shops Shopping Center is a plaque explaining the odd story of a one day President. David R Atchinson who was born near Lexington in 1807 and served as President for 24 hours from noon on March 4th, 1849 until noon on March 5th, 1849 bridging the terms of James Polk and Zachary Taylor. Atchinson served as President Pro Tempore and referred to his one day as the "honestest administration this country ever had."
Next as we were on our way to find a marker that stands on the very center of Lexington when we saw a huge wall mural of what I am calling "groovy Lincoln."
These kind of giant wall murals are so eye catching and a great way to take a plain wall and turn it into art. To me the most amazing part is having the ability to space out the drawing to fill the space and keep correct scale. I can't do that with a 7x10 piece of paper so to stand next to a four or five story building (at least) and have this giant painting done so perfectly is awesome.
Then we continued a few blocks away to the center point of Lexington. The camel is only 22 inches tall and stands on a pillar that says 0 mile marker on it and points north and south. It was sculpted by William Ingram and is supposed to call to mind the Bedouin people who would use camels to travel great distances. It has been moved several times but when it was first placed in front of Lexington's Union Station in the 1920s it marked the spot that the American Automobile Association would use to measure Lexington's distance from other major cities and points of interest. Now the camel sits on the corner of Main Street in Phoenix Park.
The area of Kentucky we were in is famous for horses and we had seen plenty of signs about horses, racing, and farms. Our next destination was a small horse cemetery that has the remains of some Kentucky Derby Winners and other horses owned by the Madden Family. The cemetery used to be several yards away but was moved in favor of development and a new Lowe's and Walmart (which is the parking lot that I used to park at to walk to the cemetery.)
The cemetery is horse shoe shaped and each grave has the name and claim to fame of the horses: some are Kentucky Derby winners, some had world records, and others are famous for the offspring they bore. Off to the side are larger monuments to other horses.
After leaving the cemetery and beginning to head to our next destination we realized the radio station we had on was just really on point. Obviously I like music the entire point of this trip was to go to a concert. And I like all different kinds of music. This station was 100.1 WKQQ and it played Bohemian Rhapsody, Dream On , Enter Sandman, and Sympathy for the Devil in that order. We had to blast the music and sing along and my ears were pounding but it was one good song after another we just couldn't justify lowering the music. A further bonus on top of the great selection was the station played 60 minutes of music commercial free. This station was amazing for a road rip and we stayed with it as long as possible.
Our next location was in Frankfurt, Kentucky. It is a sun dial built in honor and memory of the Vietnam Veterans from Kentucky. The monument was built by the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The design was selected after a nationwide competition that listed criteria as "the monument should be distinctive yet dignified, It should not seek to imitate other monuments, yet it should evoke an emotional remembrance while being aesthetically authentic as a work of art."
The selected design was submitted by a Kentuckian named Helm Roberts and in just over a year after the groundbreaking the monument was dedicated on November 12th, 1988. On the ground of the sundial are the names of each Kentuckian who served and gave their lives and it is designed so that the tip of the gnomon touches the name of each Kentuckian on the anniversary of their death. As the information plaque explains " Each name on the Memorial is located so that the tip of the gnomon shadow touches that name on the anniversary of death; thus, each Kentuckian killed is honored with a personal memorial day."
From the sundial we could see the State Capitol building which was where our next destination was located. At the State Capitol building is a floral clock. Now since it was fall it wasn't very floral but it was still pretty neat. The clock doesn't sit flat but is tilted and suspended above a small fountain.
And then we were on our way for the last leg of the drive straight to Cincinnati. For the night we were just planning on driving past a couple of wall murals before heading out to dinner and the hotel. However as soon as we entered Cincinnati our plan changed. First it has a nice skyline with some interesting buildings especially the Great American Tower which is topped by a crown modeled on a tiara that Princess Diana wore. As we drove to our first mural we saw several others and realized that on almost every block was a different mural. We stopped at a parking lot and paid for a few hours of parking so that we could walk around and explore.
The first mural I was looking for was to hard to photograph at night so we decided to return there the the next day. Around the corner from our parking lot was a mural of two birds. And above our parking lot was a mural with a flock of passenger pigeons flying from tree to tree. Apparently the last passenger pigeon, Martha, had spent her last days at the Cincinnati zoo and this mural was in homage to her. 
We continued our walk around Cincinnati to the mural I had very much been looking forward to finding. It is a mural of Neil Armstrong looking from the moon back to a distant earth. I was excited for the mural when I first read about it but even more so because the day before leaving for our trip Meg and I had gone to see First Man in theaters and it was spectacular - I highly recommend the movie... and the mural.
The mural also has a nod to ET as you can see him and Elliot sailing past the earth on their bike.
We passed two other murals on our walk around Cincinnati while we searched for the public library. One mural was a still life of various fruits. The other was a painter, Elizabeth Nourse, whose self portrait appears to be looking back at the street as if looking for her next subject to paint.
We also found this fun mural as well that shows three larger than life figures looking out windows admiring what is going on in the city around them.
We had one more spot to see in Cincinnati for the night and that was a fountain of books at the Cincinnati Public Library. The statue of the books was neat looking but unfortunately the fountain had been winterized.
Then we left and went to our hotel for the night. I asked the staff for recommendations of some place to get dinner and they suggested the bar right down the road. We went over and it was a small local bar with lots of sports and the election results (this was election day) on the tv. We both got burgers and the food was good. We also tried some local brews. Meg had a Mad Tree beer and I had one from West Side Brewing. We didn't stay long because we knew we had to be up early the next day because we needed to be at one of my destinations at 11:55 and had two places to go before that. The hotel was a LaQuinta in Sharonville. I recommend this brand of hotels if you are traveling with pets they allow dogs and the hotels are usually very clean and safe. They offer free breakfast which can be hit or miss but this one specifically had a very nice breakfast.
Our first stop on Wednesday was the New St. Joseph Cemetery for two graves. The first is a stone dollhouse that stands in memory over the grave of three small children. John and Ellen Keating lost their two small children and a niece in the years between 1868 and 1878. In memory of them John, a stonecutter, carved a stone dollhouse for them including putting in furniture.
Mary Julia Keating was only 1 year and 3 weeks old when she passed away in 1868, Eddie Keating was 2 years and 7 weeks when he passed in 1878, and their niece Mary Agnes daughter of Michael and Lizzie Keating was only 3 months old when she passed away in 1876. Inside you can see some dollhouse furniture though I don't know if it is original. Also people seem to bring little toys and add them inside the dollhouse.
Next up was a second cemetery, the Vine Street Hill Cemetery for two more graves. We came to this one second because I needed the staff to be there so I could get a cemetery map in order to find the graves. I did know what section I needed but for one I needed the plot information. We got there a little before nine so we decided to try and find the graves on our own first. The sections were across from each other so Meg took one section and I took the other. As I was searching I heard a rustling sound and I looked up and saw a large deer. He disappeared into the thicket behind him and I thought I was good to keep looking but then a female deer popped out of the thicket and I decided to back up.
I started going to find Meg and see if she had better success. She did she had found the grave of Edward William Boers who had been awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during peace.
On July 21, 1905 while stationed on the USS Bennington there was a boiler explosion. Seamen Edward William Boers displayed bravery that earned him the medal and he is one of, I believe, 193 people who have received the award during peace time. While we were there it was obvious that the cemetery is falling into disrepair. Granted there had just been very bad storms on Sunday night that may have caused some of the damage we were seeing it wasn't all of it. There were a number of graves broken in half or toppled over. We found one family plot that should have had a head stone then stone labeled 'father" with a stone labelled 'mother' and then the mother's head stone. However her stone had some how been turned over and moved at least five feet away. It as hard work but we managed to turn her stone back over and get it in place. After we got it back in place and I took this picture my phone went from 70% battery down to 0% and shut off. It came back a moment later when we were at the car and I'm going to hope it was a sign of thanks for moving the gravestone back.
The next grave was that of August Bloedner. August was a member of the 32nd Indiana Infantry during the Civil War. After the Battle of Rowlett's Station in Kentucky he carved a monument to his fallen fellows thereby creating the first Civil War Monument. A replica of the monument now stands in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville which is where I first learned of August Bloedner. Cave Hill Cemetery Blog.
Having searched most of the section unsuccessfully I went to the office to see if they could help me with a plot number. We were still a little early and there was only a few maintenance guys there but they were friendly and asked what we needed. We told them we were looking for a plot number and they told us at nine when it opened they would definitely be able to help us. Once the office did open we went inside and they handed us a large book that had an index to find the graves of everyone in the cemetery. We searched the index and the book and could not find August Bloedner. I double checked my research and confirmed he was in fact buried at the cemetery. We returned to the desk and they checked a large card catalogue that they had and found his card. They were able to give us his plot number and we went back out to the section to search.
As we walked in the section Fred and Doris the deer, yes I named them, kept a watchful eye on us. We moved from plot number to plot number trying to find August's grave. At one point as I walked around I felt a difference in the ground and paused. I kneeled down and began pulling away the grass and found a grave that had been almost completely reclaimed by the grass. At first I thought maybe I had found the grave we were looking for because the gentleman's first name was August. But it was not.
We returned to the office to see if their specialist was in and could maybe show us where the grave was located. At this point I was afraid we were not going to find it. The gentleman was in and he began looking at the card and several maps to find where it was. When he was ready we got back in our car and followed him over. We walked over to the Chapel, which is not currently being used and is very run down.
It did take a while. He had looked at maps that broke down burials by year and he knew the names of the surrounding graves. I'm happy to say he found it. I don't know how because it was completely covered by the grass. He had scissors with him to cut the grass back.
I had seen reports online when I was researching these graves that the cemetery was in disrepair. And what I saw certainly confirmed that. I wonder how many other graves have been reclaimed by nature or how long some of those other graves have been broken. The sad part is the employees seem to care for what they do. The maintenance guys were very welcoming as we saw them clearing away fallen leaves from the main office and as we searched I saw them passing around and cutting grass. While we were waiting for the specialist we got to observe the woman in the office on the phone with a family member who had recently lost a loved one and was calling to arrange the burial. And the gentleman who eventually helped us find the grave was very interested in what brought us to find this grave and told us a story about another visitor who had come looking for a grave. I told him about the monument in Cave Hill and he showed genuine interest in it. My feeling is they are overwhelmed with the care that an old sprawling cemetery needs.
Next we headed out of Cincinnati to Newport, Kentucky.
Next we headed out of Cincinnati to Newport, Kentucky.
In Newport is one of twenty World Peace Bells across the world. It was dedicated on December 31st 1999 and first rang in the new millennium. It rings at 11:55am daily so as to not interfere with the neighboring courthouse bells.
We got there in plenty of time and waited as11:55am came and went and then those neighboring court house bells began to ring. Apparently a storm about a month ago resulted in a lighting strike to the green hammer and shut it down. They are currently working on getting the bell back up and ringing.
Welcome to every toy beloved by a child in the 80s: care bears, strawberry shortcake, Mr. Potato head, spirograph, an easy bake oven, and more.
Then we went to Union Terminal, the largest half dome building in the Western Hemisphere.
Unfortunately they are in the middle of a large construction project that should be finished soon. So we really couldn't go inside and look around. As we walked around outside Meg spotted a plaque that named this location as the first ever professional baseball field. Inside were two murals depicting the history of Cincinnati. Union Terminal has had a long history. It started as the center of train travel and industry and is now a series of small museums which has allowed for the preservation of the building even thought train travel has diminished.
As we were leaving down town Cincinnati to go back to our hotel and get ready for the concert we passed the last mural we would see. I just referred to him as a dapper man. Apparently he is a Cincinnati politician named Jim Tarbell who served on the council for a number of years and also for a short time was Vice Mayor. He was beloved and in 2012 was named "Mr. Cincinnati." His top hat and dapper dress is in style with another Cincinnati legend, Peanut vendor Jim Shelton who sold peanuts outside the Red's games he once said "if I look good, people buy more peanuts. They like to talk to me. The next time they come to a game, they remember me, come over to talk to me some more, and buy some more peanuts." It was a winning business philosophy for sure.
And now it was time for the concert! We got to Bogart's early so that we could park and look around the area. We decided to go into one of the bars right across from Bogart's since we didn't want to get on line yet. The bar was called Divebar and while I wouldn't call it a dive it was definitely a great spot for a drink and to watch a soccer game. We got to watch the end of a game where Manchester United narrowly beat Juventus with only minutes to spare. . . well it was an 'own goal' so technically Juventus lost it more than Manchester won it.
We got to try some more local beers like Doom Pedal from Fifty West Brewing Company, The west Side Hefeweizen, and Happy Amber by Mad Tree Brewing. We noticed they had a kitchen and asked if it would be open late, thinking we would come back after the show and get dinner.
Then it was time for the show. The group is Prettymuch as I wrote at the beginning of the blog. They are a high energy band of five young men. I have been following the band's success for a while since they were putting out videos on youtube to last year when they went on their first tour and came to Nashville. I love their songs they are fun and energetic and you can't help but move along to their music. Watching them makes me think back to grade school when everyone was in love with the New Kids on The Block, Joey McIntyre all the way for me. And then in High School the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC took over the hearts of fans across the globe. I took video while I was there but my phone couldn't capture the sound of the show and I wanted to watch the show live and not through a camera. Here is a video I took of their song 'Summer On You' which is one of my favorites, I love the way everyone is singing along with them and the song is really fun! But seriously you can go on Youtube and find much better quality videos out there.
Now 'Summer On You' was written by Ed Sheeran and then recorded by the group. But most of the other songs are a collaboration between the group members. They take turns on vocals and then will all come together for beautiful harmonies: 'Would You Mind' and '10,000 hours' are two of their earliest songs and a great example of them switching solos and then harmonizing. They are definitely well matched together and their own individual sounds and styles come together to form a great sound.
'Open Arms' is one of my favorites as they slow down the tune and it is just their harmonized vocals with a soft drum beat. It shows off the vocal talents of each of the members. This tour is the Funktion Tour and they have been playing a teaser of a song. In the last two weeks the full song has been released and is called 'Real Friends' again high energy and positive. I think that is what I like about them is their songs have a young optimism to them that stands out when their is so much cynicism these days. This optimism is not naivety rather I think it is a choice the band members have made to express to their fans a message of positivity and coming together. Much like they have come from different backgrounds so do their fans and they chose to see themselves as something that will bring different people together.
Look them up you won't be sorry I highly recommend 'Summer On You' and 'Open Arms' and their newest song 'Real Friends'.
After the concert we did go back to Divebar for some chicken nachos and were not disappointed.
That left us with a second night in the hotel a good breakfast and the drive home that had two stops planned and then the added trip over to the Octagon House and a visit to Franklin Kentucky.
In Covington, Kentucky there is a replica of the famed Notre Dame in Paris, France.
St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption is a minor basilica. Morning mass was in process so I didn't take many pictures inside. The Cathedral was first opened in the very early 1900s and was officially named a minor basilica December 8th, 1953. It is 1/3 the size of Notre Dame but it is beautiful and it is amazing. As we walked around both Meg and I marveled at the flying buttress architecture and the giant rose window. Actually Meg literarily commented "look at the flying buttress." That kind of gothic style is all over Europe but finding examples in America are few and far between.
It also has the second largest hand made stained glass window measuring 67x24.
 |
| https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kentucky/unique-chapel-in-ky/ |
The next planned stop was in Owensboro Kentucky which is right on the Indiana/Kentucky border and my GPS actually took me through Indiana to get there. I hadn't realized that and so had not looked up anything along that route so Meg and I just decided to keep our eyes open for any signs that looked promising. And about an hour into the drive we saw it: a sign for the Archabbey of St. Meinrad. Meg looked it up and it would cause us a 30 minute detour which seemed reasonable so we took it.
The Archabbey was founded March 21st, 1854 and is currently home to around 85 monks. It is named for Saint Meinrad, a monk who died in 961 and is known as the Martyr of Hospitality. It is one of only two Archabbey's in America and 11 in the world.
This photo is actually of the back entrance of the abbey. The front would have required us parking and walking through the beautiful grounds, which are open to the public. We did however stop in the gift shop to see various crafts made by the Archabbey Monks as well as other Monks. I got some amazing cookies and a loaf of zucchini bread from the Archabbey bakery. The primary craft of the Monks at the Archabbey are caskets and urns and they had a large display of them but there were some other smaller crafts that the Monks had made. They also had Trappist beers (from other monasteries) so I bought one to try when we got home. It was a nice stop even though we didn't walk around the grounds we did drive around it enough to see the large scale of the building, a small lake, and some of the grounds.
And then we were back on the road to Owensboro, Kentucky and a very large and very old sassafras tree. The historical marker plaque from 1968 explained that the first mention of the tree was in 1883 and it has been used as a landmark in the area for centuries. It is believed the tree is between 250-300 years old, which makes that tree older than our country and now closer to possibly being 350 years old. At that time it was over 100 feet tall but it has been cut down since it now stands along a busy street near several businesses. It was still pretty tall but not 100 feet. Its circumference is over 16 feet and the tree was easy to spot as we drove by. It has been registered with the American Forestry Association as the largest sassafras tree in the United States.
And now we would have begun heading home but instead we drove back to Simpson County and Franklin, Kentucky to visit Octagon Hall and the "Devious Well" we had learned about on Tuesday. We hoped to go inside and tour the building and learn its history, since it claims to be one of the most haunted buildings in Kentucky. Unfortunately things that I hope to do don't always work out the building was closed due to filming. We did get to see the outside of it and I plan to return to it for a tour once it re-opens.
They also allow overnight ghost hunts but they are not public: you need to submit past work of ghost investigations. With two investigations in our past and already planning two more for next year maybe Octagon Hall will be our first solo ghost investigation.
We parked at a spot about a block away from the court house and town center and walked over to find the 'Devious Well' and the Court House. The well is just a replica now as the original wooden well is long gone and dry but as part of their history, and a bit of fun history I might add, they have kept the story alive. We knew it as soon as we saw it since the bright red couldn't be missed and it perfectly matched the mural drawing. The nearby plaque explained that it was William Hudspeth who dug the well and upon finding it dry had it secretly filled the night before inspection.
The Court House also has some good history to it. Apparently it is the Court House where Johnny Cash and June Carter married on March 1st, 1968. One week after proposing on stage in Ontario Johnny and June travelled to Franklin Kentucky because they could purchase the license and marry on the same day. Had they married in Nashville, Tennessee they would have had to wait.
And then we finished the last 50 minutes drive taking the scenic route back to Coopertown. Another successful trip. And I am already planning the next road trip.
