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You are here: Home / Archives for Kentucky History

Mammoth Cave National Park

August 16, 2010 by Joi Sigers 1 Comment

Mammoth Cave National Park was established to preserve the cave system, which includes not only the infamous Mammoth Cave, but the scenic river valleys of the Green and Nolin rivers, and a section of south central Kentucky as well. Within Mammoth Cave National Park lies the longest, and most remarkable cave systems on earth, with over 350 miles of passageway mapped and surveyed.  Little wonder it was named Mammoth.

Did You Know?
Stalactites grow downward they hang “tight” to the ceiling  while stalagmites grow upward they “might” reach the ceiling someday. Mammoth Cave’s formations include many types of calcite formations.

Even after 4,000+ years of eager exploration, this water-formed labyrinth still remains a mystery. It’s this fact, of course, that adds to its beauty and excitement.  Mammoth Cave National Park should be on everyone’s MUST SEE list – and maybe it’s because I’m a Kentuckian, but I think it should be very near the top.

This is one extra, extra special place.  The type of place you have to see to believe. The photography opportunities, alone, make a family trip to Mammoth Cave National Park more than worth it.

Mammoth Cave National Park: Cave Tour!

The National Park Service offers several cave tours to visitors. Many of the most famous features of the cave, such as Grand Avenue, Frozen Niagara, and Fat Man’s Misery, can be seen on lighted tours ranging from one to six hours in length. Two tours, lit only by visitor-carried paraffin lamps, are popular alternatives to the electric-lit routes. Several “wild” tours venture away from the developed parts of the cave into muddy crawls and dusty tunnels.

The park’s tours are notable for the quality of the interpretive program, with occasional graphics accompanying artifacts on display at certain points in the cave. The lectures delivered by the National Park Service cave guides are varied by tour, so that in taking several tours the visitor learns about different facets of the cave’s formation, or of the cave’s human history and prehistory.

A trip to the Mammoth Cave National Park could include:

  • Cave tours
  • Surface hikes
  • Canoeing on the Green River
  • A cruise on Miss Green River II
  • Picnicking, horseback riding, bicycling, camping and more.

If You’re Planning to Visit Mammoth Cave National Park:

  • Visitor Center Hours – Daily: 8:45 am – 5:15 pm
  • Click HERE for the Summer Cave Tours Schedule.
  • All cave tours and nature walks are pretty strenuous, so be sure you’re up to a particular tour before setting off.  Ask questions, the rangers can let you know exactly what will be involved.
  • Trails can be slick, so be certain to wear appropriate shoes.  All tours have a strict policy requiring the visitors to wear shirts and shoes.
  • Camera tripods and monopods, child strollers and infant backpack carriers are prohibited in the cave for visitor safety.
  • For further safety advice and tips, be sure to read the literature available at the park.  Most of it’s common sense, but read it all to be on the “safe side,” literally.
  • For all the information you could possibly ask for about Mammoth Cave National Park, Visit http://www.nps.gov/maca/

Did You Know?

Early guide Stephen Bishop called the cave a “grand, gloomy and peculiar place.“

Mammoth Cave National Park, 1887

Many believe that the best way to experience Mammoth Cave National Park is to camp out amongst the beauty. The park offers camping in three developed campgrounds and in more than a dozen primitive sites in the backcountry and along the Green and Nolin Rivers. Visit http://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/camping.htm for more information regarding the different campgrounds.

Did You Know?

The Green and Nolin Rivers course more than 30 miles through Mammoth Cave National Park, offering hours of boating, canoeing, fishing, and floodplain camping.

Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest known cave. As for the competition, if the second and third longest caves in the world were joined together, Mammoth Cave would still be the planet’s longest cave.  But that’s not all, there’d be over 100 miles left over!

Now tell me that’s not something you want to see close up and personal?

Filed Under: Facts About Kentucky, Kentucky History, Mammoth Cave National Park Tagged With: camping, caves, Kentucky tourism, Kentucky Vacations, Mammoth Cave National Park, national parks

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky

October 7, 2009 by Joi Sigers 5 Comments

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky

The original Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a two-story wooden structure which was opened in 1910.

The larger brick and concrete structure you see today was built in 1926.  The hospital has always been dedicated to the treatment of tuberculosis patients, a disease that was fairly common in the early 20th Century.

Reports estimate that as many as 63,000 people have died in this sanatorium. Furthermore, there have been many reports or patients being horribly mistreated.  Oh, it gets worse… there were (again reportedly) highly questionable experiments and procedures conducted.

If these occurrences don’t set the stage for a haunted location, nothing does!

Get this:  Ghost and paranormal experts and investigators who have ventured into Waverly have reported a host of strange paranormal phenomena, including voices of unknown origin, isolated cold spots and unexplained shadows. Screams have been heard echoing in its now abandoned hallways, and fleeting apparitions have been encountered.

Screams, isolated cold spots (indicating a paranormal being…. Holy Cats, I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight…), voices of unknown origin, shadows!?!?  I could not be more creeped out right now.

Click HERE for more information… if you dare.

Filed Under: Autumn Fun, Holidays in Kentucky, Kentucky History, Louisville Tagged With: Kentucky, Louisville, Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Delicious Bean Soup with a Wink and a Nod to Wolf’s Tavern in Henderson Kentucky

December 10, 2008 by Joi Sigers 2 Comments

I’ve been enjoying my my new Eating Your Way Across Kentucky: The Recipes cookbook. I collect cookbooks and looked high and low before I finally found this great cookbook. I’d heard about it from the owner of Farmer’s Feed Mill in Leitchfield, but couldn’t find it ANYWHERE. My husband and I were in a bookstore in Bowling Green one evening and ta da, there it was.

The cookbook includes the recipe for Wolf’s World Famous Bean Soup from Wolf’s Tavern in Henderson, Kentucky. I switched things up a little bit and came up with the recipe below. It is absolutely delicious, so give it a try – it’ll be just the thing to warm up with on a cold Kentucky evening.

The Best Bean Soup You’ll Ever Eat

2 store bought jars of Great Northern Beans, undrained
water
salt and pepper, to taste
1/8 cup shredded carrots (the finer, the better)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced ham (or more, if you’d like)
garlic powder
1 large can tomato soup
5 slices bacon

Pour the beans in a large soup pan. Add the can of tomato soup. Fill the soup can with water (twice) and add to the beans. Add the rest of the ingredients. As the soup simmers, keep a close eye on it and add more water as needed.

Fry bacon in a skillet. Add the bacon seasoning into the soup. Trust me, trust me, trust me.

The recipe in the book says to add either ham OR bacon, but with apologies to pigs everywhere, I love bacon AND ham muchly… So, I added the ham and crumbled the slices of bacon into the soup as well.

As with any soup (or chili for that matter) recipe, the real trick is to make it your own by adding the portions you prefer. So, add more or less of each ingredient – according to your own taste. Another trick to keep in mind with soup is this: When adding salt, pepper, and garlic powder – don’t go hog wild right off the bat. Be subtle with your seasonings, at first, because, as you add water, you’ll be adding more seasoning.

You’ll be amazed at how great the tomato soup makes this recipe.

Check your local Borders or click the following link to grab a copy of this cookbook for yourself – Eating Your Way Across Kentucky: The Recipes.

Filed Under: Books About Kentucky, Kentucky Food, Kentucky History Tagged With: bean soup

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