This blog post is going to be a bit challenging to write. This area of the country has definitely been different.
Technically our stay in Louisville was in New Albany, Indiana. I tried to get us a hotel room in Louisville but the issue was being able to park Sunny. The hotels I called largely had underground garages and that was just not going to work so I found a place right over the river in New Albany (Holiday Inn Express) that had an open parking lot with lots of room. The hotel was just 8 miles from downtown so the location was perfect. We arrived and checked in. We took the opportunity of having a freezer and fridge in our room to empty the one in Sunny and defrost it. The first thing we did after “moving in” was we both took long hot showers. It was awesome! By the time all was said and done it was time for dinner. We decided to head out to see what Historic Downtown New Albany was all about. We found a small historic district with lots of restaurants and shops. We stopped at a nice place called ‘The Exchange’. We had a good meal and were sitting there having a drink and we struck up a conversation with a couple sitting next to us. They were locals who had been in town for a music festival that past weekend (it was a bit hectic due to weather but was pretty good). Their names were Dave and Jamie and we got along great! Dave is a civil justice lawyer in town and even provided us with his office address downtown so we could park there in the morning to check out Louisville. They also gave us a recommendation for a romantic restaurant for the next day called Mesh. We chatted about Louisville, people, ourselves, travel and even some politics. It was a great conversation and we exchanged information to stay in touch. We continue to meet great people on this trip. We hope to see them if they decide to come out East. We decided to check out one more place in town and found a cute spot where we spoke to another local couple who gave us more suggestions for the morning. Armed with local information as well as information from my friends Angelia and Steve back home we were ready to get some rest and head out to Louisville in the morning.
We woke up late and yes, took another shower 😊. Had breakfast nearby and headed over the bridge into Louisville. We parked downtown and headed on foot to the historic district. The area we walked through seemed a bit depressed and we were unsure what we were going to see but we finally reached streets with some very cool old-style houses. We spoke to a woman who was walking her dog and she said she had plans to do just what we were doing. After a small chat she pointed us in the direction of Central Park and the St. James Court area where the “true” old Louisville houses were. Apparently, the same architect who created Central Park in NY first created the Central Park in Louisville and the NY park is a larger version of this park. The park was small but I definitely could see the resemblance between the parks. The St. James Court area was very cool. The houses were old mansions built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. They were beautiful. There was even a pink one at the end of the street where Marge Jones and Tracy Knight had lived. The history is that they applied for a marriage license, were denied and sued, taking their case to the KY Court of Appeals. They were denied but their case marked the first lesbian marriage trial in U.S. history. While in front of the pink house we started talking to this man who was there on his own. He was originally from the UK but was now living in TN. His wife was in the music business and traveled often so he often ventured out to places on his own. His wife had always dreamed of doing what we were doing so he was inspired to tell his wife it was possible. Look at us being an inspiration! 😉 We headed back to the car and due to the humidity we decided to drive over to the distillery district. I had wanted to check out the Angel’s Envy distillery there and see what there was to see on Main Street. We found our way there and it was a very cool old brick building. We went to see if we could get into a tour but sadly the timing did not work out. We had made reservations at Mesh for our romantic dinner and we did not want to miss that but we at least got to walk around and peek into the distillery room. Besides, I had started my bourbon tour the night before in New Albany. Louisville is very easy to walk around and is visually interesting with its mix of Modern and old Southern architecture. We saw a lot of colleges and universities, but interestingly, not a lot of young people. We were there on a Sunday so not sure if they were commuter schools and the students lived elsewhere. We toured around main street and then headed back to our hotel room to get ready for our dinner out. Our new friends did not steer us wrong. Mesh was awesome. The food was great and I had to have a Manhattan simply to celebrate the town. After the amazing dinner we had there we headed back to New Albany for a farewell drink at ‘The Exchange’ and yes, met a man there who was working on the bridges. Interesting young guy who traveled a lot for his work. One thing I have really enjoyed about this trip is meeting and speaking to the people. We have found most people receptive to having actual conversations.
Our next stop was one of the recommendations we received from Dave and Jamie. We were headed to Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest towards mid-east KY. The weather continued to be unsettled from Hurricane Helene and we were dealing with showers and grey clouds. What we did not know was that the storm ramifications were not yet done with us. We traveled through some of what you would consider idyllic KY through Lexington. There were rolling green hills, white fences and horses. After some time, we started transitioning to much more forested areas. As we headed into the slopes of Western Appalachia the forests grew denser, the roads windier and the houses were definitely more broken down. We passed a house that was flying a confederate flag, and I thought to myself that I was glad we would not have to stop there in the dark. We rounded a corner and started going down a steep hill and we saw a toppled tree in the road. We had been seeing signs of some major destruction from Helene as we drove through but were not impeded…until now. There was no way that Sunny was going to pass under that tree. There was also no way we could back up the narrow windy road or turn around. We were definitely stuck. We had not thought to pack a chainsaw for such a circumstance. I called the campground we were headed to and was informed that they could not help us (I was hoping someone there had a saw they could drive up to us) and we were told to call dispatch. I called dispatch and Jonathan walked back to, yes, the house with the confederate flag to see if they might have a chainsaw we could borrow. Dispatch told us that they would send someone, but they were not sure how long it would be and Jonathan let the two cars behind us know we were not sure how long we would be stuck on his way to the neighbor’s house. While I was waiting at the truck, I heard dogs barking and Jonathan speaking loudly to someone. I walked down the road just to make sure everything was OK. Jonathan was playing with two dogs, but I could not see who he was talking to. After a bit of back-and-forth Jonathan came back to the truck. Apparently, the owner of the house agreed to help us out but did not want Jonathan to use his chainsaw because he was afraid that Jonathan would sue him. He agreed that he would meet us at our truck to see what he could do. He came over and he was straight out of central casting for a moonshiner. We got the truck in position and he made quick work of the branches that were getting in our way. We thanked him profusely and he left without so much as two words. I am very grateful that he was kind enough to help. Jonathan mentioned that he was thankful that he was a white guy who went to that house because otherwise he was not sure if that would have worked out as well. The thought curdled my stomach due to the presumption of the stereotype but also because the thought, had sadly, occurred to me as well and reminded me how lucky I am.
We headed on to the campground and that, in itself, was a bit strange. We pulled up to a house and paid for a site. The sites were primitive with no services and was basically just on a large piece of land. The man who owned the campground said he had to show us where to park and we meandered through the property before coming to a site by a river. I was not sure if we were ever going to be heard from again. All is well that ends well. The site was fine, apparently dispatch had ultimately showed up and gotten rid of the tree across the road making our exit the next day a lot easier and we got in a hike and saw the park a bit.
The next day dawned misty and grey. Helene was taking her time breaking up and leaving the area. We had planned the next day to overnight at a HH flower farm in Northeast KY near a rail trail. Unfortunately, once we got there the driveway was much too steep and looked like it had taken damage in the storm. We did not want to risk getting stuck. We decided to move further on to cut off some more hours the next day (heading into Pittsburgh). We found a place on the way near Charlton, WV called Kanawha State Forest that had a campground we could stay at. Since we largely avoid highways, the trip took us through the Appalachian mountains. It was a disturbing ride for me. We saw neighborhoods of houses that, by all rights, should have been condemned with families living in them. There were definitely also some very nice-looking houses but by and large the towns and houses we saw were the Appalachian rural poor. You hear about them and learn about them in media but to actually see the place and conditions made me introspective. It brought up feelings for gratitude that I have what I have and made me acutely aware of my privilege. I hated that I did not want to engage these people in conversation and even that I was uncomfortable being there. The last two days had been a whiplash of the experience in Louisville and really for 95% of the trip we had so far. Travel can be like that and it is not a bad thing. We had encountered looks of suspicion before along the way but it was more of a passive feeling and they were usually easily overcome, or at worst, easily ignored. I mean, if Jonathan and I can overcome that with strangers in New England we should be pros. The pervasive feeling here was different. The looks of suspicion were tinged more of a feeling of active or forceful suspicion or even malice. I am certainly, at least partially, projecting but I do not think I am entirely wrong. The people here are people and my optimism and experience says that if you can breach that wall they are a community that can be kind and welcoming but breaching that feels very difficult. Perhaps it would be worth it but perhaps not. Seeing what the world is like in all of its shapes and forms is a learning experience. Often it is about learning about ourselves.
We finally got to the campground through some more very back country roads. I have to be honest and tell you that I will be glad to leave the last two days behind me and head to my adopted home of Pittsburgh (I lived there for 5 years and love it there). Being uncomfortable, is well, uncomfortable. The campground is ok and we are lucky to have our home on wheels. I definitely need some time to process so having no connection and a quiet evening will be a good thing. We are about two weeks from home and are definitely feeling the tug. Sunny is starting to show a little wear and tear but who can blame her. We will need to give her some TLC when we get back. Tomorrow is another day and we will be on the road again!
