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Mining Show at Carter Caves State Resort Park

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Carter Caves State Resort Park

If you’ve ever visited Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky, you know what I mean when I say it’s a breathtakingly beautiful park. If you’ve never been, here’s a perfect reason to go in just a matter of weeks.

The Eastern Mining Collectors Association will hold its sixth annual Spring Meet and Show at Carter Caves State Resort Park on April 1.

You can learn more about the rich and fascinating history of coal mining in Eastern Kentucky at this free event.

Vendors from across the country and as far away as California will be at the show to sell, buy and trade mining artifacts used in the mining of coal, gold, silver and copper. The artifacts include lamps, mine signs, photos, posters and other items. They will also be available to give free appraisals of mining-related items that you might have hidden in your attic, basement or barn.

Visitors will have an opportunity to talk about coal mining and understand the work that it takes for a miner today, and years ago, to produce coal used for electricity.

The show is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1. Contact Colin Gatland at 936-367-6295 or cgatland29@gmail.com for more information.

Carter Caves State Resort Park is located at 344 Caveland Drive in Olive Hill. The park has a lodge with a restaurant, cottages and campground. Besides cave tours, activities include hiking, horseback riding, swimming, boating and fishing. For more information about the park, call 1-800-325-0059.

Directions: From Interstate 64, Exit 161, take U.S. 60 east. Go approximately two miles and turn left on KY 182 north. The park entrance is three miles from the left turn onto KY 182 north.

Mining Equipment at Carter Caves Mining Show

Photo of Mining Equipment Courtesy of the Kentucky State Parks

Center Furnace Trail (Near Woodlands Nature Station)

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Center Furnace Trail (Land Between the Lakes) Center Furnace Trail (LBL)
If you’ve ever visited the Land Between the Lakes, you’re familiar with the wonderful main attractions and the fun things to do and see at each…

  • Woodlands Nature Station
  • The Homeplace
  • Elk & Bison Prairie
  • Golden Pond Planetarium

Personally, I can never get enough of any of these four places. In fact, it’s usually closing time that finally drives me and my camera away. That and the promise of fried catfish at Catfish Kitchen or blackened catfish at Willow Pond.  My husband, Michael, knows the sure fire way to get my feet moving is to say one word: Catfish.

We love the “main attractions” but we’re also fascinated with exploring “off the beaten path” in the Land Between the Lakes. There are always a million and one photo opportunities waiting around the corner. Next time you spend a day or weekend in the Land Between the Lakes, venture out (onto roads and trails open to the public, that is!) and you’ll discover what we discovered a long time ago – there’s even more to the LBL than you realize.

Center Furnace Trail in the LBL
The Landscape Tells So Much History
Recently, we met one of our friends at the Nature Station on a Saturday. An afternoon event was taking place, so the parking lot was pretty full. We decided to kill a little time while the crowd thinned out and happened to notice a nearby trail, the Center Furnace Trail.  Even though we’ve been to the Nature Station 1,000,000,002 times, we’d never ventured on this trail.

I’m not entirely sure I’d even noticed it before – in spite of a pretty large sign. I guess this animal-lover’s mind is always fixated on the “critters.”

We walked around the trail and found it all to be both interesting and beautiful. Again, countless opportunities for photography. All three of us are really into photography, so we were each very much in our element.

A Charcoal Hearth - Center Furnace Trail (Land Between the Lakes)
When we came to the “Charcoal Hearth,” (above) I noticed that we were being watched (below)…. a beautiful black vulture found us to be the highlight of her day.

Black Vulture
Given the fact that I’m nothing if not OBSESSED with birds and animals, my first impulse was to hurry along. I didn’t want to disturb her, after all we were in her home – not the other way around! However, just as I was walking forward, I noticed that she was on the verge of taking flight, so I kept my eyes on her. As big as she was, I knew when she took flight, it’d be something worth experiencing.

She did. It was. There was so much power in her wings! I tried to snap a few pics, but I admit – I was mainly just staring, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.

 

There’s a reason I spend as much time looking above me as I do around and below me when I’m in nature.

About Center Furnace Trail and Hematite

This wooded area was once a community – Hematite, Kentucky. Hematite grew around Center Furnace, which was first built in 1852.  The community continued to exist into the early part of the 20th century.

Center Furnace was one of 8 iron furnaces that operated “Between the Rivers.”

Center Furnace operated off and on for 65 years.

White Oak

Beautiful White Oak Tree

Click through the gallery below for more pictures of the Center Furnace Trail  – better still, grab your camera and experience the beautiful area for yourself.

Just be sure to look UP!

Cambellsville, Kentucky: The Last Druther’s Restaurant in Business!

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Druther's Restaurant in Campbellsville, Kentucky

Campbellsville, Ky – Home to the Last Operating Druther’s Restaurant

Unless you’re a Millennial, you probably remember Druther’s restaurants. My parents and I ate at the one in Madisonville frequently and, before it became Druther’s, we ate many a burger at Burger Queen.

I fondly remember the little plastic rings I’d collect featuring the restaurant’s Bee mascot Queenie Bee.

What I wouldn’t give to still have that massive collection!

The Burger Queen chain of fast food restaurants were based in Louisville, Kentucky and served up ridiculously delicious hamburgers from 1963 to 1981.  In 1981, Burger Queen changed to Druther’s – they kept serving outrageously delicious hamburgers, as well as chicken, fries, salads, etc.

“Andy Dandytale” would become the new mascot – though he and I never really caught on. My heart belonged to Queenie Bee.

On one of our frequent Road Trips Around Kentucky, my husband and I spent some time in Campbellsville. One of the first things I noticed when we pulled into town was the image of Queenie Bee on the sign in front of Druther’s… the last operating Druther’s Restaurant.  Like a kid calling out to McDonald’s, I exclaimed, “Queenie!”

Druther's Restaurant in Campbellsville, KY!

I See You, Queenie Bee.

Did You Know:

  • The first Burger Queen was built in Middletown, Kentucky, in 1963. The original building still stands on Shelbyville Road.
  • Druther’s slogan was, “I’d Ruther Go to Druther’s.”
  • The last Druther’s in operation stands at 101 N Columbia Avenue in Campbellsville, Kentucky (pictured here).

I’ll add more pictures of Central Kentucky, including Campbellsville and Greensburg over the next few days. I should have had the pictures up by now, if we’re being honest, but I’m fighting a cold and the victor has yet to be determined!

Druther's Restaurant in Campbellsville, Kentucky

The Last Operating Druther’s Restaurant – Campbellsville, Kentucky

Next time you’re near Campbellsville, Kentucky, be sure to park your car and walk around the beautiful downtown. Just remember… whatever you do… eat lunch at the LAST operating Druther’s Restaurant.

Druther's Restaurant in Campbellsville, Kentucky

Druther’s Restaurant on Columbia Avenue in Campbellsville, Ky.

Queenie Bee

The Beautiful and Historical Old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah, Kentucky

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Coca Cola Plant Building in Paducah

The Coca Cola Plant Building in Paducah

You should know this about me – I am obsessed with history, old buildings, vintage decor, and anything that’s draped in nostalgia. So when the husband said we were going to a new coffee house (Pipers Tea and Coffee) in the old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah, I was doubly excited. A coffee house INSIDE a landmark building??? I was amped up long before I approached the caffeine.

Unfortunately, one of the machines needed to create the coffee my husband wanted and the Chai Tea Latte I needed (yes, Chai Tea Lattes are a need for me) was broken. So, we just enjoyed the ambiance of the building, took a few pictures, and left empty-handed.  I wanted to write up a review for the coffee house, but I’ll simply share the pictures we took of the beautiful building.

Old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah

Old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah, Kentucky

The Coca Cola Plant located at 31 21 Broadway was built in 1939 by early Coca-Cola bottler, Luther F. Carson. The plan operated as a major bottler and distribution center for almost 50 years.

Coca Cola Logo on Floor inside the old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah Ky

Inside the Old Coca Cola Building

Fortunately, someone is renovating the Kentucky landmark and breathing new life in it. Although the video is a little dated by now, you can click here for information behind the renovation. It’s really, really interesting to see how they’re preserving the character of the building. I have endless respect for that.

The old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah, Ky.

Inside the beautiful old Coca Cola Plant in Paducah, Kentucky

Not surprisingly, the old Coca Cola Plant is on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation.

How great would it be if more wonderful pieces of the past were preserved like this?

You can learn more about the Coke building and its renovation on its Facebook page! Next time you’re in Paducah, go check it out in person. It’s really something to behold and, if you’re lucky, you can grab some tea or coffee in Pipers.

Have a Chai Tea Latte and think of me.

Click on the images below for the larger versions. This building is even more spectacular in person.

 

Kentucky Dining by the Lakes

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Kentucky Dining By the Lakes
On a recent trip to the Owensboro Library with a couple of my daughters, I grabbed an armful of my usual suspects: cookbooks, books about Kentucky, American History books, and even a few books about Bigfoot (please try not to judge me, I’m sensitive). One book in particular, Kentucky: Dining by the Lakes
covered three of my favorite things in the world…

  1. Kentucky History
  2. The Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley Region
  3. Cooking!

Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get home and jump right in.

From the Back Cover: Kentucky: Dining by the Lakes provides and insider’s look at some of West Kentucky’s preferred dining establishments. Chefs and restaurant owners have generously opened their kitchens to provide easy to follow recipes for a sampling of their most popular creations.  Reflecting the diversity of the local cuisine, Kentucky: Dining by the Lakes contains selections as down home as fried catfish and chess pie or as exotic as Entrecote au Poivre and Parfait au Grand Marnier…. 

The book was published in 1997, so some of the restaurants covered are actually no longer around. This makes the book EVEN more valuable, in my opinion, as we’re literally left with a taste from the past.  A great example is the recipe for “Bill’s Coleslaw” from The Pelican.

Not only does the book give a couple of WONDERFUL recipes for each restaurant covered, the reader is given fascinating mini-histories of each establishment.

I don’t want to give too much away because I want you to have the same fun experience I did when I looked through the book (page by page) and saw each surprise along the way. However I do want to sort of whet your appetite a little, so I’ll name a few restaurants and recipes included in the book:

  • Bluegrass Steakhouse and Seafood (Eddyville) – one of the recipes included for this restaurant is a delicious sounding “Greek Salad.”
  • Country Cupboard Chess Pie and Fudge Pie!
  • Miss Scarlett’s Hot Brown (along with several other equally impressive recipes)
  • Willow Pond Vinegar Coleslaw… (this one made me strip my gears with excitement)
  • Kentucky Dam Village Golden Fried Catfish AND Hush Puppies
  • Kenlake State Resort Park Country Ham
  • Whaler’s Catch Crab and Artichoke Spread
  • And lots more – including restaurants around the lakes as well as restaurants in Madisonville, Paducah, and Henderson.

Many more surprises are waiting on each page – again, I just don’t want to give too much away. Part of the fun of Kentucky Dining By the Lakes are the surprises.

“Legend has it that Ed McMahon mentioned Knoth’s Bar-B-Que on the Johnny Carson Show back in 1966, proclaiming it to have the best barbecue he had ever eaten. The very next day there were cars in the parking lot waiting for Knoth’s to open, and it has been a popular place ever since.” – Page 92

Kentucky: Dining by the Lakes is available on Amazon for pennies… and I do mean pennies. You can find used copies (which is exactly what you’d find in a library) for less than a dollar.  I’m going to order a copy the minute I take my library book back. Not only do I want to add it to my collection of Kentucky books, I know I’ll use the recipes again and again.

Click through one of the links for more information. You’ll love every single inch of this one.

"When reading about a Kentucky event, please be sure you check the date. Old events are not always deleted from the website. If you have an event you'd like to see on Genuine Kentucky or a 'Made in Kentucky' food or product you'd like reviewed, please contact us! " ~ Joi ("Joy")

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