Saturday was the first time I've tried to get out and do anything significant
since my surgery. My hubs and I decided to take our boys
out for a day of fun, but it was educational too. (shhh...don't tell the boys!) :)
We got up bright and early and I made a phone call for some reservations for lunch..
you'll see in a few minutes where we ate!
The drive to our first location was all backroads......
they were a bit curvy, but OH SO peaceful!
See....
It took about 40 minutes to get to where we were going..
it's called Old Fort Harrod, it's in Harrodsburg KY.
Fort Harrod was founded on June 16, 1774 and it was the first fort west of the Allegheny Mountains.
This is what you see upon arriving to the old fort....
Can you see the black ribbon on the photo above?
One of the people that help work the fort had gotten killed
in a house fire and they were honoring them....so sad. :(
This fort has actually been re-built to the exact specifications
of the original, and it's only feet from the original location.
The exact spot the original fort stood is a parking lot now, and
this is across the street. But all the details are exact.
James Harrod was the founder of Fort Harrod. He and 32 men came down the Ohio River and up the KY river to the point later called Harrods Landing. They traveled 16 miles inland to the headwaters of Salt River and began to set up land claims and on June 16, 1774, Harrodstown and Fort Harrod were born. This settlement is the oldest permanent KY town and pre-dates America's War of Independence from British rule.
Fireplace in one of the cabins
Woodworkers shop
This is how the women cooked during those times....
definitely not a Kenmore, or Fridgidaire!
Their water supply came from a large spring. They built the
fort around this spring.
Primitive ways to build structures...
Here's where they stored their gunpowder...
This little lamb just wanders around inside the
fort...one of the workers said some days she will
let you pet her....it was not on our day.
She ran.
Her name is Ebony, which I found quite odd
since she is not black in color.
This is the blacksmith's shop...they do demonstrations too!
The fort has LOTS of information on the way
the lived in that day.....
here are a few.
(this is the weaving room in case you didn't know what that machine is.)
I think it blew my little boys mind that they had to spin all the wool from the sheep into thread, then weave it into fabric and THEN sew their clothes. He can't wrap his little head around the fact that there
was once a time without a Walmart!) :)
This plaque tells what transients would be charged if they needed food or drink, a place
to stay and a place for their horses.
Looks pretty cheap to me..
a quarter for a meal
12 1/2 cents for lodging
and a quarter for your horse to be fed.
Here's where they would eat.
This was the where they would make candles....
aren't they pretty!
There are candle molds on the mantle.
Here's the work station to prep everything to make the candles.
I took this shot out of the window from the second floor of the candle making cabin.
Shhh....don't tell on me...they don't always cooperate for pictures
so I sneak some in on occasion! LOL
:)
My hubby and one of my sons!
Uh oh, I got caught! :)
How would you like to trade your Sealy Posterpedic in on this model of mattress?
YIKES! I can't even imagine!
They still make brooms and baskets here and they're for sale.
$10.99 for a broom...not too bad!
I have to tell you my little guy was upset when we
got to this room....he LOVES turtles and wasn't
too keen on the fact that there was a big turtle shell lying on that table.
To him, it just meant there was a dead turtle somewhere.
(I didn't tell him they ate turtles...don't think his little heart could have taken it!)
This was the VERY first school in KY..
to think we now have the University of KY and
so many other fine universities...
we've come a long way!
Inside the one room school house.
Inside another cabin...it was 80 degrees and
they had a fire going...needless to say we didn't
stay in this cabin very long!
Some of the arrow heads found onsite.
My hubs and little man checking out the view
from where the frontiersmen would have been watching
to keep the fort secure from Indians.
All they saw was a festival going on outside the forts walls.
:0)
Here's a guy from the festival doing firesticks....
crazy!
See this beautiful church....
it looks like a normals church right?
Well it's not! Inside this church is the log
cabin where Abraham Lincoln's parents were married!!!
It originally stood about 45 miles away, but was moved here
and had this church built around it to preserve it.
Here's what the cabin looks like inside the church.
Pretty huh?!
There's also a museum at the fort
with an Abe Lincoln side
and a Jefferson Davis side, but we
weren't allowed to take pictures in there.
:0(
Goodbye Fort Harrod, it
was fun to visit you!
Now on our way to our lunch reservations!
We had lunch at Shaker Village..about 15 minutes
away from the fort.
Shaker Village is America's largest, restored Shaker community.
It's a 3,000 acre, national historic landmark.
(with VERY excellent food!)
Inside the dining house, which is also an Inn, there are some
amazing spiral staircases. There are two of them, one on each
side of the room. (back then it would have been one side
for the guys and one for the girls)
Waiting to be seated, you can see the
beautiful old transom above the double doors.
Here we are at our table.
The Shakers had very clean and functional spaces..
no unnecessary items to be found.
OK, I'm apologizing in advance....
all the pics we took of our food was after we had already eaten
a lot of it...we were starving!
Sorry. :)
There were corn sticks and yeast rolls...this
was all that was left when I remembered to take a picture!
:0)
Yep, I already started eating when I took this too!
I had a pan seared pork sandwich with watermelon roumalade. (basically tasted like
a sweeter than normal thousand island dressing, but boy was it good
on that pork!) Oh and potato salad. mmmm... it was yummy!
Here are a few of the houses we saw.
We didn't walk around the whole place cause I was getting
worn out fast! Like I said, this was my first big day out
since surgery.
Oh yes, they have people fully dressed in Shaker attire
to guide you through the homes.
:)
Hey guys and gals, this is true board and batten!
Ha!
Thanks for going on our trip with us....
hope you enjoyed it and learned something
along the way!
Hugs as always!
Missy
