Petersontravels

On our last day in Glasgow we were hoping to hit a local museum, but it was closed due to the weather.  The schools were also closed, so I guess it doesn’t take much snow to shut things down?  It was only a couple of inches!  We ended up walking around the main part of Glasgow, even though it was maybe 20 degrees out.  First we walked past the theater where we are attending our concert tonight.  Sold out!

In the center of Glasgow is the Public Square with the Barren County Courthouse.

There are several plaques around the square regarding the local history, this one regarding a Civil War skirmish on Christmas Eve.

This plaque commemorates local Willa Brown Chappell, the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license in the United States.

Here is the back side of the plaque.  Willa was quite impressive, particularly for a Black woman coming out of the south!

In a corner of the square they had a Veterans Wall of Honor for all of the service members from Barren County.

Adjacent to the courthouse was this memorial to the Barren Country Confederates who died during the Civil War.

The only thing left for us to do was attend the concert!

We had purchased VIP tickets that gave early access to the concert for a somewhat private acoustic set.  There were 80 fans for this early set, so it was quite intimate.  While he only played two songs during this set, he spent about 45 minutes answering questions and signing autographs.

This is the interior of the theater from the balcony.  A fairly small venue with seating for about 1000.

We were fortunate enough to have purchased tickets months ago, so we were up close in the second row.  Check out Stephen’s guitar, which he affectionately refers to as “#1”.  The white patches on either side of the strings are masking tape.  Definitely old school!

He performed a new song towards the end of the concert that I ended up recording in full.  This is “Gary”, referring to a guy who can fix pretty much anything.  According to Stephen, “Ain’t a lot of boys named Gary these days!”

All in all, it was an excellent concert, and well worth the trip to Nashville and Glasgow!  We love Nashville and will  be coming back.  The next day we had some time to kill so we actually visited a Tennessee winery called Arrington Vineyards.  It wasn’t even worthy of a photo.  We did have lunch at this excellent little restaurant called Grindstone Cowboy.  As soon as I saw the sign on the door I knew we were in the right place.  The food was great as well!

One last shot of the sunset over Nashville as we were waiting to board our flight.

Up next, we are on our next big adventure, Australia!

Our trip from Nashville to Glasgow, KY took us right by one of Kim’s 1st Cousins, Eddie (and his wife Donna) along the way in Hendersonville, TN.  We visited with them for a few hours before heading to Glasgow, KY.  It was good for Kim to catch up, since she hadn’t seen Eddie in about 40 years.

We then made our way north, crossing into Kentucky, to our final destination, and nearly hit several deer along the way!  If you are in these parts, be careful driving at dusk, as there were a LOT of deer along the roadway.  The speed limit is 55 for a reason.

It snowed in Glasgow that night, so we woke up to a winter wonderland.  Here is a photo of the place we are staying, Main Street Bed and Breakfast.  If you find yourself here, this is a great spot to stay, and Cherie is a great cook and a wonderful host!

The official greeter for the B&B is Kodiak, a really fun dog that we got along with quite well.

Our first day in Glasgow we headed to Mammoth Cave National Park, which has the longest cave system in the world!

Inside the visitor center there is plenty of info on the cave system, so if you arrive early it’s worth visiting before your tour.  This model depicts the layout of a portion of the cave system.

We had signed up for what is likely their most popular visit, the “Historic Tour”.  The tour ended up selling out just before it started, so even in February you should likely book ahead to ensure you get on a tour!  It was 34 degrees outside, so we had a brisk walk to the cave entrance.  I originally toured this cave in 1986, while I was in the Navy and traveling cross country for Damage Control School in Newport, Rhode Island, so this entrance brought back some memories (without the snow).

Those are icicles, not stalactites!

The first open area you enter is The Rotunda, and it’s impressively large, hence the Mammoth Cave name.  Our guide said there are other rooms in the cave system that are much larger!

This is where the historic nature of the cave makes an appearance.  During the War of 1812 there was a need for large amounts of gunpowder, and one of the components of gunpowder is saltpeter.  Turns out that the bats that lived in these caves dropped large amounts of guano, and by filtering out that guano from the dirt you get saltpeter.  This section of the cave was worked for several years by slaves to filter out that necessary element, in this spot.

It was amazing to see what amounts to hundreds of yards of mine tailings in this area of the cave.  A little further along our guide lit up an oil lamp so we could see what it was like for tourists to visit before electrical lights were installed.  One of the guides ended up performing a song on his harmonica so we could get a feel for the acoustics inside the cave.

The rock formation in this photo is known as the Giant’s Coffin.

Our guide pointed out historic graffiti on the cave ceiling.  The large black lettering was created by holding up candles and making each letter dot by dot.

There are deep pits along the way created by years of rushing water breaking down the limestone.

They even have one called Bottomless Pit.  It’s like Injun Joe Cave in Disneyland (which Disney likely had to change the name of).  I couldn’t see the bottom, so perhaps they are serious??

You have to walk through one very tight spot called Fat Man’s Misery.  Lizzo was not part of our tour, thank God!

If was definitely quite narrow!

The narrow passage opens up to another large room, with more old graffiti.  These were actually placed here by bands that came here to perform in the cave before it became a National Park.  Luther Ewing String Band was apparently hot in the 1800’s!  Bust a move!

We ran across a spot that is normally high and dry, but with the recent rains (and snow), this area got quite muddy.  Our guide put a flashlight on a table pointed into the cave where you could see the water level.  Made for a pretty cool photo!

This section of cave is known as Mammoth Dome.  It’s so mammoth I can’t even see the top of it!

It’s hard to imagine the thousands of years of dripping water carving this out of the limestone.

Finally, near the end of the tour, are some actual cave formations.  There are apparently plenty of these in other sections of Mammoth Caves, but only this small section on the Historic Tour.

Just as we were nearing the end of our tour our guide pointed out this small bat sleeping suspended from the ceiling.  I was surprised with all of the people walking by that the bad didn’t wake up!

Back towards the entrance of the cave is a memorial to the fallen comrades of Kentucky and the American dead of the World War.

After 2 hours and 2 miles, we finally reemerged into our winter wonderland!