Travel journal — Part 4: Kentucky backroads

May 28

The overwhelming impression I have of Kentucky is how beautiful the rural areas are. I have never seen such inviting and scenic countryside — full of hills, pastures, blue grass, farms, old houses, tiny towns, and windy roads that dip and straddle the tops of hills and ridges. Also, I have never seen so many barns as I have in Kentucky.

Spent most of the day Monday driving these “blue highways” with the window rolled down, the wind rushing in, and the smell of sweet, freshly cut hay, on the ground, and in new bales, wafting into the car amost everywhere. I don’t think I could have imagined grass could smell so sweet. It’s haying time all over Tenessee and Kentucky, where rains have been good, and the landscape is green. Honeysuckle is also blooming along all the roadsides.

I left Cookeville, Tenn., yesterday morning and backtracked eight miles south to Burgess Falls State

Park to view the stunning main waterfall I had seen pictures of. A trail leads along Falling Water River, past a series of four falls, each progressively larger and grander. The 3/4 mile trail passes smaller cascades until it reaches the middle fall which is qutie grand in its own right, and then 1/4 mile further, Burgess Falls, which drop 50-80 feet over an unusual pointed ledge that splits the river into several disinct falls: a plunge fall, a cascade and a tiered or stepped fall. A good bit of water was flwoing over those Fort Payne limestone benches. Along the trail are large beech, ash, and oak trees as well as several spring-fed feeder creeks flowing down smaller ledges into the main river, forming their own tiny waterfalls. It’s such a beautiful place with always the sound of rushing water going over falls in the background.

I am amazed that there are hundreds of waterfalls in Tennessee, and 200 of them are described and rated in Gregory Plumb’s book, “Waterfalls of Tennessee.” He is the author of the excellent “Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest,” which I used extensively when I lived in Edmonds, Washington, ten years ago. I was delighted to discover the newer book on Tennessee waterfalls.

Next on my travel intinerary was a visit to Standing Stone State Park in the northernmost part of Tennessee near Dale Hollow Lake. It is reached by way of winding country roads which, after about an hour, brought me to this truly lovely state park, 11,000 acres all told, on the Cumberland Plateau. This area is called, more specifically, the Eastern Highland Rim, and has a forest cover on the ridges of Copper Mountain containing a wide variety of plants and trees.

I was struck by the remoteness of the park and the peacefulness on that Memorial Day. I walked through the area with rustic cabins set in woods, and saw that only a couple of them appeared to be in use, surprising to me because it was a three-day holiday weekend. The cabins were so appealing and picturesque I was almost tempted to see if one was available for that night, but I knew I had many things yet to see that day.

I walked for a short distance down a trail in woods above a small lake where I could hear the sounds of a family plahing in the water. A child was excitedly calling out to his dad. What a wonderful vacation they must be having.

I picked up a brochure at the park office telling about the Cordell Hull birthplace nearby and decided to make that a stop before I headed into Kentucky.

Hull served as Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary of state from 1933-45, longer than any other person who has held that office. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in establishing the United Nations.

The Cordell Hull Museum and birthplace are located near Byrdstown in northern Tennessee. This towering statesman was born in 1875 in a small log cabin which is preserved at the site. Unfortunately, the museum had closed only half an hour before I got there, but I walked around the grounds, looking at the log cabin a while before leaving. Fascinating. It made me want to find out more about the life of this man who cam from such humble origins.

The day was getting warmer as I drove on into Kentucky, the first time I had been in that state in quite a number of years. The clouds were big and white. The countryside seemed to roll on over hills forever, and it felt mighty fine to be in the car driving through places I had never seen before. Kentucky Highway 61 is a particularly nice road to travel on.

After miles of backroads, I came to the historic little town of Greensburg on the Green River, which contains the oldest courthouse west of the alleghany Mountains. It’s a simple and classic limestone building that was built in 1802 and served as a courthouse for 133 years. After that it was a public library for many years.

(Continued in next entry)