Kentucky

I discovered the black binder in our closet while looking for a decent road map of Kentucky. Inside, I found the old syllabus outlining the first geography field course I taught at UWW. Sheathed in plastic, it was entitled, Kentucky’s Roadside Caves, Karst, and Kitsch. Poring over the details of the itinerary, I remembered our journey traveling south across the rumpled plateau of the Cumberland, eight geography students in tow who didn’t know one another until they stepped foot inside the passenger van. By the end of our travels, the students had christened themselves the Breakfast Club, after the 1980s, John Hughes flick of the same name. Much like the Cumberland Plateau as it meets the Appalachias, it was a trip of tremendous highs and lows - flooded campsites, unrequited love, the birthplace of Colonel Sanders, the gravesite of Floyd Collins, bourbon distilleries and fire and bats and cement-made Wigwams – it was perfectly goofy and all very life changing. I’ve kept a photo of the Breakfast Club in my office ever since.

So it came as a great delight when we discovered that Kentucky would be on the horizon for November for altogether different reasons than in ‘02. And it did not disappoint.

Here are the highlights of the weekend: (1) Pulling over to grab water out of the trunk and discovering a perfectly good pair of vice grips tossed aside the road. (2) Stumbling upon a 1-hour, National Endowment for the Humanities lecture near Lexington featuring a Daniel Boone reenactment by historian Scott New. In character, and in full regalia. (3) An impromptu visit to a Civil War site thanks to the good people at the Berea rest stop. Hallowed ground, wild turkeys, and gauzy lighting made it extra surreal. (4) The Ale-8-One ginger soft drink bottling company in the one and only Winchester, KY.

Elmo accompanied us for the early part of the journey until Casey handed him off to a small child. We’ll miss you Elmo, but we’ll see you again, Kentucky.