Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
2. Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
The plain yellow and white buildings of Shaker Village (also known as Shakertown) are
set on verdant, oak-studded hills in the little town of Pleasant Hill. This was once home to
some500Shakers,a19th-centuryreligiousorderandcommunityknownforitsagricultural
skills, ritualistic dancing, and dedication to a simple life apart from the bustle of the world.
Though the Shakers are long gone (the last died in 1923), their spirit lives on at
this former home—now a museum complete with crafts demonstrations, guides in Shaker
dress, and such examples of their handiwork as flat brooms and wooden clothespins (ori-
ginal Shaker inventions). Visitors are welcome to spend the night in one of the old com-
munal buildings, where the clean, bright rooms are sparsely decorated with handwoven
rugsandsimplewoodenfurniture.Dineyear-roundintheTrustee'sOfficeDiningRoomor
the Winter Kitchen, where local produce is regularly used in a variety of dishes.
3. Harrodsburg
Virgin forests and abundant game lured James Harrod to this area in 1774. Here, some 250
miles from the nearest town, he built the first permanent white settlement west of the Al-
leghenies.Theoriginalfortisgone,butareplicawithtwo-storyblockhousesanddirtfloors
conveysavividsenseoffrontierhousing.Insummerpeopleinpioneer-stylecostumes(wo-
men wear gathered skirts and white pin-on aprons) demonstrate such frontier crafts as rug
weaving, blacksmithing, and broom making. Next to the fort, the fieldstone markers of the
original graveyard are scattered in a grove of trees.
ToviewanothersideofHarrodsburg,visitthevenerableBeaumontInn(originallybuilt
as a finishing school for girls). Here, amid flowered carpets, antique furniture, and curtains
of Brussels lace, you can sample such local culinary delights as hickory-smoked country
ham, spoon bread, and General Robert E. Lee orange-lemon cake. (Enjoy the new Eddie
Montgomery's Steakhouse just south of town where fine food and country music make for
a great evening.)
4. Danville
In Danville, a short jaunt down Rte. 127, you'll find the state's first college, first log post
office, and first law school—hence the sobriquet City of Firsts. West of town Kentucky's
bloodiest battle in the entire Civil War unfolded on a hot autumn day in 1862, when thirsty
ConfederatetroopscameacrossUnionsoldierswhowereguardinganearlydrycreek.Can-
nonfire and screams filled the air as 40,000 men played out a gory battle that, when the
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