Powell County

We set out on this weekend, planning on seeing four or five counties.  But as I've said before, our plans have a way of changing.  We knew we were going to go to Natural Bridge, which is in Powell County, head south from there and see where we ended up.  The thing is, we didn't get very far.  But every part of this day was a tremendous experience that you have no way of planning.  So, after we cover a little background on Powell County, I'll fill you in on the way the day started.

POWELL COUNTY BACKGROUND

Powell County was the 101st county formed in Kentucky.  It was formed by an act of the Legislature on January 7th, 1852 from parts of Clark, Estill and Montgomery Counties.  The county is named for Lazarus W. Powell, the 19th Governor of Kentucky and later represented Kentucky in the United States Senate.  The county seat is Stanton, which was known as Beaver Pond until 1852 and was incorporated in 1854.  The name was changed to honor U.S. House of Representative Richard M. Stanton from Kentucky.

The Powell County courthouse was burned by CSA guerrillas in 1863.  The second courthouse was built after the Civil War and was torn down in 1890 and replaced by a 2-story Victorian style building.  The third courthouse was demolished in 1977 and replaced with the current building.


Powell County is home to one of Kentucky's most well known landmarks, Natural Bridge.  It is a sandstone arch that stands 65 feet tall and 78 feet long.  The property surrounding the bridge was acquired in 1889 by the Kentucky Union Railway which later became a part of the Louisville Nashville Railroad.  In 1926 the railroad donated the lands to the state park system and Natural Bridge became one of the four original Kentucky State Parks.

The Red River Gorge is also situated in Powell County.  The Gorge is a part of the Daniel Boone National Forest.  While natural bridge is probably the most famous of Kentucky's natural arches, Red River Gorge is home to over 100 sandstone arches.  There are literally hundreds of trails, arches, rapids, cliffs and waterfalls in the Red River Gorge.

OUR VISIT

I would assume it's pretty easy to guess, that our trip to Powell County included a trip to Natural Bridge.  That was going to be the only thing on our trip, but on our way there, mom said we might as well swing into Stanton and see downtown.  It must have been divine guidance, because we were really glad we stopped.

Across the street from the courthouse, they have constructed a very nice memorial to our Armed Services.  It's a small park area that has large monument wall and individual statues representing each of the various branches.  It also has a 10 Commandments monument as well.  Here are a couple of pictures from the park.

We walked over to see the courthouse and the historical markers that were there.  But, I have to be honest.  Not that there is anything wrong with the courthouse there, I just really like the old 100+ year old courthouses. 

After we left Stanton, we headed out to Natural Bridge.  We love it there.  This was our second trip there already this year.  We had been there earlier in the summer, before we decided to start the 120 in 12.  So instead of cheating, we thought we needed to go back.  As always though, we were fighting the clock.  So instead of hiking up to the bridge, we decided to take the chair lift.  Which is not cheap, by the way.  Being aggravated by the price didn't last very long though.  My youngest son rode with me and we had the best time both riding up and coming down.  We whooped and hollered and tried to hear our echos.  We spoke to everyone that passed us either way.  It was one of the few times on this journey that he said he had a great time. 

When we reached the top, we hiked over to the bridge looked around for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures and we were on our way.  I'm not sure I can say this enough, there is just not enough time!  The thing is though, we had a great time and unbeknownst to us, we were about to have few more. 

For those of you keeping track, Powell County is number Twenty Three.

Don't give up on us now, we're about to make an unplanned stop in Wolfe County.  See you on the road...

Campbell County

The visit to Campbell County was a no-brainer.  We make this every year on the same day.  The Sunday before Labor Day.  We love the City of Newport and always make the trek there to watch the WEBN Fireworks.  We have made this trip probably 15 of the last 20 years.  And as always it was a great trip.  And as much as I want to tell you about it, first we have to cover the history.

CAMPBELL COUNTY BACKGROUND

Campbell County is one of three counties lining the northern tip of Kentucky south of Cincinnati.  It was formed in December of 1794 from parts of Scott, Harrison and Mason counties.  The county's namesake is Colonel John Campbell a Revolutionary War hero.  One of the unique features I noticed about Campbell County during my research is the number of times the county seat has been moved.  It was originally in Wilmington then moved to Newport, then Visilia, back to Newport and finally ended up in Alexandria.  Along with moving the county seat, in 1883 the Kentucky Legislature created a special law that allowed Campbell County to form a courthouse district.  This change in the law allowed the county to conduct county business in Newport, in addition to its legal requirement to conduct business in Alexandria.  As far as I can tell this is the only place in Kentucky where this is done.

Campbell County is home to Northern Kentucky University.  NKU is located in Highland Heights just seven miles southeast of Cincinnati.  The school started as an extension of the University of Kentucky in 1943.  After merging with the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1971, the school finally became known as Northern Kentucky University in 1976.  In recent years NKU has spent close to $100 million in expansion and building projects.

There are numerous cities and small town located in Campbell County.  However, none are as infamous as Newport.  It used to be said "before there was Las Vegas, there was Newport".  Newport used to be home to upscale casinos on Monmouth Street.  When investigations and charges of racketeering forced the casinos out, peep shows and strip clubs took over.  But revitalization efforts in the 1980's and 90's helped create a family friendly atmosphere.  In May of 1999 the $40 million Newport Aquarium and Newport on the Levee entertainment complex was opened.  Today it is a hot spot for kids and adults alike.

Campbell County and the community of Southgate were thrust on the worlds stage on Memorial Day weekend  1977.  The famous Beverly Hills Supper Club caught fire and burned to the ground that night.  The Club was a notorious nightclub and illegal gambling house since the 1930's.  It is believed that close to 3,000 patrons and 182 employees were inside the club on the night of the fire.  Before the night was over, 165 person were killed and over 200 were injured.   The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire is the 3rd deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history.  This tragedy changed building code enforcement nationwide.  It was also the first disaster case tried as a class action.

OUR VISIT

Our visit to Campbell County started as a drive north on US 27 out of Pendleton County.  As we were driving, looking at the map, I noticed the Campbell County Lake not far off of the highway, so we decided to check it out.  We had never even heard of the place and didn't know what to expect.  It turns out that there is all kinds of road construction in the area and I gave the GPS fits trying to get to where we wanted to be.  But we finally made it.  The lake is owned by the Campbell County Fiscal Court and the area serves as a recreation center for numerous activities, including fishing, soccer, golf and frisbee golf.  The facilities were very, very nice.  It makes me wish we had something like that here at home.  As you can tell by the picture, Roadkill loved the place.

After we left the lake, we decided we should stop at NKU.  We have seen so many other colleges and universities we thought we should see this one too.  That stop was one of the best decisions we've made since we started this adventure.  None of us had ever been the NKU campus before and expected it to be similar to all the others.  We were wrong!  It is a clean, beautiful, modern campus.  Being a holiday weekend there were not many people around, so we had the place to ourselves.  As you can see, we made some new friends.  Then, when it was time to leave the boys didn't want to go.  That has not happened much on the 120.

We got back in the car and jumped back on US 27.  Our final destination was Newport.  As we were driving along, I saw the Highway Marker for the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire.  I slammed on the brakes, did a u-turn and headed back to see it.  I was 7 years old when the fire happened and I remember the stories on the news and the attention that it drew.  I never really knew where it was, so I was interested in seeing for myself.  Today though, the driveway is gated and is grown over with weeds and bushes, but I got a picture of the marker and now know where it happened.

It had been a long day and we had not eaten lunch yet.  Everyone was starving!  The good news for me is, I can't hardly go to Newport and not eat at the Hofbrauhaus.  It is one of my favorite restaurants ever.  Surprisingly the wait wasn't too long, to be the afternoon of Riverfest.  The downside was it cost $20 to park.  Hofbrauhaus is such a fun place.  Everyone has a good time and the German food and music are top notch.  We sat there and enjoyed the food and atmosphere for almost an hour and a half.

Once we decided to leave, we headed over to Newport on the Levee.  A lot of the businesses had started to close in preparation of the night's festivities.  So, since we had a good parking spot (and had paid $20 for it) we headed back to the car and people watched until it was time for the fireworks.  With about thirty minutes to go we got out and headed toward the river.  After being run off by the police from our first spot we decided to grab a spot on the wall on Saratoga Street.  Launch time was 9:05.  We had a great view plus we were able to make a quick exit when it was over and beat the rush.  Like I mentioned earlier, the fireworks this year were the best I had ever seen.  They had over 7,000 shells and shot a third of those in the last 3 minutes.  The total show lasted a little over half an hour.  This trip is one of the highlights of our year, year in and year out.

When the show was over, we jumped back on US 27 and headed towards home.  Since Monday was a holiday, we were going to take advantage and try to see at least 4 more.  Stay tuned and we'll fill you in on Nicholas, Fleming, Rowan and Bath counties.

See you on the road...

Pendleton County

It seems like it has been forever since I set down here and posted something.  Time is the enemy even when we aren't on the road.  I can't seem to find time to write. 

But we finally made it out on Sunday afternoon over Labor Day weekend.  The problem is we didn't really get out of town until after 2:00 pm, so we started out short on time.  But we managed to get two counties in.  The first stop was up US 27 in Pendleton County.  I'll fill you in after we cover a little background.

PENDLETON COUNTY BACKGROUND

Pendleton County was formed in 1798 by act of the Kentucky General Assembly from parts of Bracken and Campbell Counties.  The county was named for Edmund Pendleton a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Continental Congress and Chief justice of Virginia. 

Falmouth is the largest city and the county seat. The city was founded where the South and Main Forks of the Licking River meet.  As a result, Falmouth has been known for its natural disasters.  Major damage was done to the cities of Falmouth and Butler when the river flooded 19 feet above flood stage in April of 1964.  Then in March of 1968 a large tornado caused extensive damage totaling nearly $7 million.  The worst devestation took place in the flood of March 1997.  That year, the river crested at 52 feet which is 24 feet above flood stage.  This left nearly 80% of the city under water.  In that disaster, five people lost their lives and over 600 homes were flooded.

Falmouth is known as the landing spot for Colonel Henry Byrd of the British army.  Col. Byrd commanded British, French and Indian force numbering close to 600 as they marched Ruddle's Station in Bourbon and Harrison Counties.

Pendleton County was one of the first counties in the Commonwealth to raise tobacco.  It was a heavy burley known as twist-bud and was used for chewing and snuff.

The Falmouth Outlook has been serving Pendleton County since 1907.  You can visit their website here.

The county is also home to Kincaid Lake and Kincaid Lake State Resort Park.

OUR VISIT

The first thing we did was visit a subdivision that some friends of mine developed in the mid 1980's.  Nothing really exciting to see there, just wanted to point it out to mom and the boys.  After that, we headed downtown Falmouth.  We spent some time checking out the courthouse and the surrounding square.  It is laid out differently than any other county seat we have visited so far.  It's very unique and has several different monuments and memorials there.

When we vere finished downtown we took a drive over one of the small bridges across the Licking River.  The problem was, it had us going the wrong way, so we turned around and headed back towards US 27.  We had a date to keep in Campbell County.

Some thoughts after getting thru the first 12...

It's not taken long for us to learn a few lessons and to figure out just how the 120 in 12 is going to go.  We started this journey on August 1 and have to be finished by July 31, 2011.  In twenty one days, we have seen twelve counties out of one hundred and twenty.  I'm glad we have gotten off on such a good start, because life is about to slow us down.  School has started, soccer has started and basketball isn't that far off.  Our time is really going to be limited and we won't be able to see counties in groups of four or five like we have been.  The problem is, we have to average 10 counties a month.  Thats 2.5 per week and with all that is going on till the end of the year, we will be lucky to average 2 per week.  If that ends up being the case, we will be way behind by the first of the year.  But never fear, we will persevere and get through them all!  The map above shows the counties we have visited so far.

I'm not sure our rules for this project have been completely laid out, I will list them here, so as you read our posts you will know why we may have done what we did.

1. Put our feet on the ground in all 120 Kentucky Counties in 12 months time.
2. We don't have to visit anything in particular, just visit the county.
3. Take a few pictures to record our visit.

4. Lastly, we have to learn something we did not know about the county.

Pretty simple rules.  The down side is, some counties will really be shorted because of the time factor and others will see a lot more of us because there is so much to do or we have had something recommened to us.

If you've been reading all of our posts, I have been listing some of the issues we have faced so far.  The biggest issue is time.  Although it's not one of the rules, we want to take the road less traveled and avoid the Interstates or major highways as much as possible.  This truly allows us to see the counties we are visiting.  Unfortunately, traveling takes a little longer on these roads.

The other issue I have notice is, the first county we visit on a multiple county day gets the longest visit.  By the time we reach our last county we are out of time and have stop, look around, take a picture and head home.  Hopefully we will get better at planning our trips and distribute our time more evenly.  This will be a neccesity with the limited time we are going to have over the next few months.  My guess is, we will be making some short nearby county trips in the evenings to help keep our average up.

The last "problem" is the amount of time it takes to research the background info on each county.  I have up to two hours of writing time in each post.  A few of them are under an hour but the average is probably about 90 minutes.  I have to figure out how to become a better researcher.

Those are about all the issues we have experienced.  And those issues pale in comparison to the time we have spent together and the things we have learned.  I would rank this as some of the best Family Time we have ever had.

Just a few thoughts on the counties we have visited so far.  I have traveled a lot more than mom and the boys, so I have been to several of the places we have visited and will visit.  But there are a few that I had not been to and some things that have stood out to me.

One of the first things that comes to mind is, I had no idea there was a Federal Prison in McCreary County.  I had never been to the University of the Cumberlands campus.  I have been to Bell County and the Cumberland Gap, but I did not know that Middlesboro was built entirely in a meterorite crater.  Like I mentioned in my Laurel County post, I had eaten at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken before, but didn't mind doing it again with the boys.  That place is rightfully a National Landmark.  KFC is a huge part of American pop culture.  Living in Central Kentucky I have heard of Bybee Pottery and have even owned a piece, but had never been there.  I never realized the long history that they have.  What can I say about Rabbit Hash?  We loved it there!  It's places like that we wished we had more time.  Then there was the Jackass Farm.  How do we ever beat that?

Don't take it as these are the only places we have liked.  In fact, we have enjoyed each and every stop.  You'll notice on the right side of the page an ever growing list of places we will return to when this is all over.  I'm afraid by the time this over, that list will be over 100 items long.  This project could go on for years!

I hope all of you are enjoying this as much as we are.  I encourage you to sign up and follow the 120 in 12.  The response we have gotten so far has been amazing.  Everyone wants to know where we've been and where we are headed next.  I can't speak for the rest of them, but I love talking about it.  If you have any suggestions on places to visit, places to avoid, places to eat or if you want to join us sometime, please let us know.  For those of you who don't know us, I'm sure you'll recognize Roadkill if you see him.  If you do, come on over and say hello.

See you on the road...

Roadkill

On our way through the great state of Tennessee, we came upon this lonely critter with the cutest little button nose and fuzzy striped tail. He said his name was Roadkill and he was looking for a ride. We told him we were the Jones family and that we were going.....well, just about everywhere! Everywhere around Kentucky, that is. We explained our 120 in 12 project to him and he begged to come along, saying he'd never been to Kentucky. He said he'd heard all about the horses, mountains, lakes, parks, college campuses, great food and good times Kentucky is known for and that BLUE was a much better color for him than ORANGE and he begged to come along.....mumbled something about it being his destiny and that we had to take him. What could we do? We felt like it was meant to be that Roadkill would become part of this adventure, so we agreed to let him come along. Turns out, he's a great road companion, but tries to worm his way into all the pictures! Sooooo........be watching for Roadkill the Raccoon in our 120 in 12!

Scott County

The first stop on our journey was Scott County. With it being a neighbor of ours, we spend quite a bit of time there, and decided this might be a good way to get our feet wet. And, as luck would have it, we were able to see and do some things that mom and the boys had never seen. Before we get into our trip, we will get into a little background.

SCOTT COUNTY BACKGROUND

In 1784, Elijah Craig an idealistic Baptist preacher (Yes, that Elijah Craig, the one of Bourbon Whiskey fame.) founded the town of Lebanon, VA. In 1790 it was renamed George Town in honor of George Washington. Then when Kentucky became the 15th State in the Union in 1792 it became known as George Town, Kentucky.

The community went into decline after Craig died in 1808. Then in 1816, Elder Barton Warren Stone moved to Georgetown and found it to be "notorious for its wickedness and irreligion."

Georgetown College was formed in 1829 when Silas Noel, a Frankfort lawyer, Jurist and minister, led 24 Baptist leaders in persuading the Kentucky legislature to charter the Kentucky Baptist Education Society. More information about the history of Georgetown College can be found by following this link.

During the nineteenth century, Scott County's cultural and economic life were based on tobacco, milling, distilling and the rope and bagging businesses. These were deeply tied to the deep south. While Kentucky remained neutral during the Civil War, Scott County was Southern leaning.

Other prominent communities in Scott County are Stamping Ground and Sadieville. Stamping Ground was founded in 1834 and was named for the buffalo herds that would gather there for the salt springs. Sadieville was formed in 1879 as a stop on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad and was named for Sadie Emison Pack, an honored citizen who was hostess to the construction engineers working the line.

Scott County has seen many changes over the years but one of the largest came in 1985, when Toyota announced Georgetown to be the site of its first American assembly plant. This has resulted in numerous satellite factories and businesses to help support this operation. The Toyota factory alone sits on 1,300 acres and has over 7.5 million square feet under roof. The have approximately $5.5 billion invested in this plant. They employ roughly 7,000 people and their primary line, manufactures the Toyota Camry.

Another highlight for Scott County is when the Cincinnati Bengals moved their training camp to Georgetown in 1997. Bengals president Mike Brown is quoted as saying, "there isn't a team in the league that wouldn't like to have its training camp in a facility like this one."

OUR TRIP

Our trip started with lunch at the new Pizza Hut. I know, I'm sure you're thinking "Pizza Hut, really?". But we don't have one here it town anymore, we like it and needed something fairly quick, so that's where we ended up. It was actually really good. We had a wonderful Hostess and a great Waiter. You don't get that much any more.

After lunch, we headed over to the Suffoletta Family Aquatic Center. For those of you who haven't been there, it is a small water park, complete with a large leisure pool with a pretty good size play structure, a 600 foot lazy river and 200 foot slide. And, the price was reasonable, it was only $24 for the four of us. They also offer season passes. But, we had several other places we wanted to go, so we only spent a couple of hours there and had a good time just chillin' in the lazy river and people watching. You never know what you might see when you go to a place like that!

After that, we headed out to Stamping Ground. Mom and the boys had never been out there. It's a nice quiet little town. One of the things we noticed was almost every barn out that way had a "quilt" hanging on the front of it. On our way back we stopped at a small roadside park on Elkhorn Creek. Not real sure what the name of it was, but it was nice and peaceful. Several people were there, fishing or grilling near the dam.

When we got finished looking around and after taking a few pictures, we headed back in to Georgetown, where we decided to walk around campus at Georgetown College. Unfortunately, school is out and most of the buildings were locked and we couldn't get in anywhere, but we enjoyed walking around. It's a nice compact campus that is well maintained and offers that small college feel. This was a good stop, the boys had never been on campus before.

Mom decided she needed some ice cream, so we headed to The Dairy Queen. They were packed! I assume because everyone was leaving the Bengals Training Camp., so we decided to run through the drive-thru and get it to go.

The last stop on out trip was Evans Orchard and Cider Mill. This is a great family stop. Depending on the time of year you visit, they have various pick your own fruits and vegetables. They have 12 acres of peaches, apples and pears, two acres of small fruit and over 30 acres of vegetables. They also have a playground and petting zoo for the kids. If you're looking for something fun to do, anytime of year, Evans Orchard more than likely has what you're looking for.

WHAT NEXT?

It may not seem like much, but we had a good time seeing Scott County today. However, I did realize something as we were out driving today. As with everything else, TIME is the enemy. We are barely going to scratch the surface of each county. There is no way to see everything there is to see in each and every county we visit. We will have to make some choices for each and go with it.

We are headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee on Thursday. My guess is, we will visit a Kentucky County or two on the way there and a few more on the way back, so stay tuned.

What z thinks

I want to see all the things Kentucky has to offer and all the fascinating things that we have never seen. For example I hope to see things like Cumberland Falls, Mammoth Cave and all the State Parks. I love to take pictures, I will be taking pictures of everywhere we go. I will probably share some of them here.

I'm glad I get to do this with my family. I'm also glad I get to do this because I think it will be good experiences that I can remember for a long time. I think this is something that I will eventually be able to tell my kids about. I hope this will lead us to be able to travel to other states more and see all the things they have to offer and maybe even to other countries.

The "how" and the "why"...

I've lived in Kentucky my entire life and there are still about 25 or 30 counties I have never been to. All that is about to change! My hope is that, along with my wife and 2 boys we are able to visit all 120 counties in the next 12 months. Unfortunately we have to work for a living and are going to have to do most of this over the weekends. So, if we are able to hit the road every weekend, we will have to see 2.5 counties a week. And being a realist, I know that isn't ging to happen. That being the case, in some of them, we will only be able to cross the county line and call it being there. Once our "12" is over we'll try to go back and hit the ones we didn't get to spend a lot of time in.

After we have been there, I will post a short biography on the county along with a link to their local Tourism Commission or Chamber of Commerce as well as a few pictures and a short commentary on what we did. With a little luck, my wife and oldest son with have a short post on each county as well.

Wish us luck, and if you have any suggestions on What we should do in a certain county, please leave a comment and let us know and we will do our best to check it out.