Visit to Shakertown
I keep a diary of trips we take for two reasons. I have trouble remembering and I want something of mine to read when I am taken to the "home." Pretend you're feeble, frail, and bored and join me in a little weekend trip.
Travel Journal
Destination: Shakertown, KY
Start date: October 27, 2007
Travelers: Carrol and John
Goal of trip: Weekend Getaway
Saturday, October 27, 2007
We put Alex in the Dal-Acres West Kennel and got out of town about 9:30 this morning, prepared for a 7+ hour drive.
Second stop was at McDonald’s for an “old people’s coffee.” Seventy-six cents.
A near emergency precipitated a stop at an antique mall on Route 4 between I-55 and Lebanon. John rushed into the business and announced that “this old man needs a restroom in the worst way.” The owner said, “We have the worst restroom in Illinois. Help yourself. First door on your right.”
He was right on both counts; location and condition. I had a little trouble finding the light switch on the wall because the switch was a string hanging from the ceiling. I knew the string on a light was just the beginning of a nostalgic trip.
Thirty miles farther down the road at Lebanon, we stopped again to drain two bladders this time.
By the time we reached Mt. Vernon, it was lunchtime. Carrol had prepared a ham and Lorraine Swiss cheese on home-made bread so we thought we would pull into a McDonald’s parking lot, get something to drink, and eat our sandwich in the car. Unfortunately, a tour bus had dumped a load of hungry tourists at the counter. We postponed our planned drinking.
Before getting back on the road, we stopped at a gas station, picked up a 20-ounce bottle of Diet-Rite cola for me and a diet Dr. Pepper for Carrol, and switched seats. Carrol took us out of Illinois and well into Indiana on Interstate 64 before I woke up.
Somewhere between the Evansville exit and Louisville, we remembered how many times we had driven the crooked old US 460 through the hills of Southern Indiana between Laconia and Sparta and the Metro-East. I-64 has changed everything – traveling speed and ease, driving time, and scenery. Just like the changing leaves and life, travel changes too.
At the south side of the I-64 double-decked bridge across the Ohio, the milepost numbering started from zero. Watching for Exit 53, the rolling hills of Kentucky brought to mind the few years we called Kentucky, home. We have never driven through Kentucky that we didn’t both say something like, “I could live in Kentucky.”
Even after we left the Interstate at Exit 53, our new route, US 127 South,remained a four lane road until we reached Kentucky 68, 28 miles down the road. A curvy, hilly two lane road took us to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, just as the Mapquest directions had said.
We checked into the Inn and were given directions to find the building where our room was. Neither of us remembered with certainty which building we stayed in the last time we were here. If not the same building, the area was clearly the same. Lugging bags up to the second floor we found our simply furnished room, Room 191.
Two single beds, two rocking chairs, a small writing table with chair, a nightstand, and a chest of drawers – that was the furniture. Oh yes, there was a small television perched atop a very un-Shaker-like bookshelf. Three electrified candles mounted on a Shaker candle sconces hanging from the pegs mounted on all four walls, a floor lamp, and a nightstand lamp provided an escape from darkness. The pine floor with one rag-rug, the Shaker pegs, and the bare walls made certain that guests understand the Shaker doctrine. “Odd or fanciful styles of architecture may not be used among believers. Beading, mouldings, and cornices which are merely for fancy may not be made by believers.”
The bathroom is small. So small, that the door will open only halfway because it hits the lavatory. The commode is smaller than normal, and to old people, too close to the floor.
Our dinner reservations were at 7:15 so we drove to the dining room and sat down to a candlelight dinner. Although the food was not noteworthy in taste, its uniqueness and ample servings will shape our memories of this weekend.
For starters, there was little cornbread sticks and a relish dish consisting of: pickled okra, olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, small carrots, cauliflower, picked baby corn, and grapes. Then an appetizer – Carrol had tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing and I had seafood chowder. The main course came with a pineapple casserole plus two other vegetables; Carrol had green beans and zucchini and I had rice pilaf and green beans. Carrol chose baked chicken and I opted for baked trout. Along with the main course, the server set pickled watermelon rinds and beets on the table. A basket of pumpkin muffins and cornbread offered a place to put the real butter. Of course, Carrol drank coffee and I had a Diet Coke.
Back in our room about 8:30, we rocked and read until bedtime. Chaim Potok and Thomas Hardy ended a good day for the Stahlmans. (The Clay and The Mayor of Casterbridge.)
Destination: Shakertown, KY
Start date: October 27, 2007
Travelers: Carrol and John
Goal of trip: Weekend Getaway
Saturday, October 27, 2007
We put Alex in the Dal-Acres West Kennel and got out of town about 9:30 this morning, prepared for a 7+ hour drive.
Second stop was at McDonald’s for an “old people’s coffee.” Seventy-six cents.
A near emergency precipitated a stop at an antique mall on Route 4 between I-55 and Lebanon. John rushed into the business and announced that “this old man needs a restroom in the worst way.” The owner said, “We have the worst restroom in Illinois. Help yourself. First door on your right.”
He was right on both counts; location and condition. I had a little trouble finding the light switch on the wall because the switch was a string hanging from the ceiling. I knew the string on a light was just the beginning of a nostalgic trip.
Thirty miles farther down the road at Lebanon, we stopped again to drain two bladders this time.
By the time we reached Mt. Vernon, it was lunchtime. Carrol had prepared a ham and Lorraine Swiss cheese on home-made bread so we thought we would pull into a McDonald’s parking lot, get something to drink, and eat our sandwich in the car. Unfortunately, a tour bus had dumped a load of hungry tourists at the counter. We postponed our planned drinking.
Before getting back on the road, we stopped at a gas station, picked up a 20-ounce bottle of Diet-Rite cola for me and a diet Dr. Pepper for Carrol, and switched seats. Carrol took us out of Illinois and well into Indiana on Interstate 64 before I woke up.
Somewhere between the Evansville exit and Louisville, we remembered how many times we had driven the crooked old US 460 through the hills of Southern Indiana between Laconia and Sparta and the Metro-East. I-64 has changed everything – traveling speed and ease, driving time, and scenery. Just like the changing leaves and life, travel changes too.
At the south side of the I-64 double-decked bridge across the Ohio, the milepost numbering started from zero. Watching for Exit 53, the rolling hills of Kentucky brought to mind the few years we called Kentucky, home. We have never driven through Kentucky that we didn’t both say something like, “I could live in Kentucky.”
Even after we left the Interstate at Exit 53, our new route, US 127 South,remained a four lane road until we reached Kentucky 68, 28 miles down the road. A curvy, hilly two lane road took us to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, just as the Mapquest directions had said.
We checked into the Inn and were given directions to find the building where our room was. Neither of us remembered with certainty which building we stayed in the last time we were here. If not the same building, the area was clearly the same. Lugging bags up to the second floor we found our simply furnished room, Room 191.
Two single beds, two rocking chairs, a small writing table with chair, a nightstand, and a chest of drawers – that was the furniture. Oh yes, there was a small television perched atop a very un-Shaker-like bookshelf. Three electrified candles mounted on a Shaker candle sconces hanging from the pegs mounted on all four walls, a floor lamp, and a nightstand lamp provided an escape from darkness. The pine floor with one rag-rug, the Shaker pegs, and the bare walls made certain that guests understand the Shaker doctrine. “Odd or fanciful styles of architecture may not be used among believers. Beading, mouldings, and cornices which are merely for fancy may not be made by believers.”
The bathroom is small. So small, that the door will open only halfway because it hits the lavatory. The commode is smaller than normal, and to old people, too close to the floor.
Our dinner reservations were at 7:15 so we drove to the dining room and sat down to a candlelight dinner. Although the food was not noteworthy in taste, its uniqueness and ample servings will shape our memories of this weekend.
For starters, there was little cornbread sticks and a relish dish consisting of: pickled okra, olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, small carrots, cauliflower, picked baby corn, and grapes. Then an appetizer – Carrol had tomatoes and vinaigrette dressing and I had seafood chowder. The main course came with a pineapple casserole plus two other vegetables; Carrol had green beans and zucchini and I had rice pilaf and green beans. Carrol chose baked chicken and I opted for baked trout. Along with the main course, the server set pickled watermelon rinds and beets on the table. A basket of pumpkin muffins and cornbread offered a place to put the real butter. Of course, Carrol drank coffee and I had a Diet Coke.
Back in our room about 8:30, we rocked and read until bedtime. Chaim Potok and Thomas Hardy ended a good day for the Stahlmans. (The Clay and The Mayor of Casterbridge.)
That was Saturday. Tomorrow is "go to church" day. Come back tomorrow.
posted by John | 9:25 AM
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