Seniors Discover the Unbridled Spirit of Blue Grass Country

I’ve been to The Blue Grass State a couple of times, but never to just take in major sites and attractions as a senior tourist.  Major national conferences pulled me in, but I did get to visit Churchill Downs a week before the Big One in Louisville.

If you have driven through the state you will agree with me that all those beautiful white fences that host some of the best horses in the world still stick in one’s mind.  Locals refer to Kentucky as an “Unbridled Spirit.” I liked that as it describes the friendliness and hospitality of just over 4 million Kentuckians.

What Senior Visitors Can See and Do

I continue to make up a nice long “Travel Bucket List” and Mammoth Cave is on it.  Mammoth Cave National Park is the most extensive cave system on earth with more than 350 miles of passageways mapped, and who knows how many more uncharted. Cave tours range from 30-minute beginners’ tours to a 6½ -hour Wild Cave Tour, requiring a headlamp and serious chutzpah.

Another big draw for senior sport car fans is the National Corvette Museum, not far from Mammoth Cave, and just off Interstate 65 in Bowling Green. The 52 state parks and historic sites are equally great reasons for a visit to Kentucky.

For historians, Kentucky was the first region west of the Allegheny Mountains to be settled by American pioneers. A fellow by the name of James Harrod established the first permanent settlement n 1774. The following year Daniel Boone, who had explored the area in 1767, blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap and founded Boonesboro.

And did you know that Abe Lincoln was born in Kentucky? It was also home to Muhammad Ali, Judge Roy Bean, James Bowie, George Rogers Clark and James Audubon. The origin of the name Kentucky they say comes from the Iroquois word “Ken-tah-ten,” which means land of tomorrow.

Seniors, Imagine…

Imagine finding in one travel destination the second-largest inland peninsula in the United States, the second-largest contiguous block of forested public land east of the Mississippi River and the largest publicly owned bison herd east of the Mississippi. It’s all in Kentucky.

Next imagine finding the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Red River Gorge, Natural Bridge State Resort Park and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, each big attractions. Senior visitors pour through the Gap to visit the 20,000-acre park just south of Middlesboro. With a width of 125 feet and a drop of 68 feet, Cumberland Falls State Park is well worth a stop.

Jim Beam, and KFC, started by the legendary Colonel Harland Sanders, Lexington, known as the Horse Capital of the World, plus it’s the state capital and home of the U of Kentucky Wildcats, all found in Kentucky.  Enjoy your stay in Blue Grass Kentucky.  jeb