Kentucky

I associate Kentucky with fried chicken (KFC), horses and bourbon. We had plenty of each.

I am not going to tell you about our first stop at KFC, because it is the same all over the world. But I can tell you about the Kentucky Horse Park, where they actually keep retired race horses and provide a respectable life for them during the last years once their racing days are over. We met derby champions (horses) in person and saw more trophies on display in the museum than anyone can count. One lucky horse earns up to 16 million dollars for its owner.

The bourbon was also tasty. Lexington has a really cool Distillery District with numerous bars offering outdoor and indoor seating. If I was living in Lexington, most of the time you would probably find me in this neighborhood.

Just outside of Lexington, you can find the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. We have already covered their history here if you are interested in reading more.

And the last amazing and unexpected thing we saw in Kentucky after driving for hundreds of miles across pristine areas on roads bordered by straight white fences was the Mammoth Cave National Park. The park contains the longest cave system in the world where caves sit on top of each other in multiple layers. It really blows the mind that underneath the unremarkable flat surface of Kentucky there is a massive cave system. The park itself also looks like an ordinary forest until you go underground. Definitely worth a visit.

In my mind I keep bringing up a question: would I choose to live here? My answer is no, but when I think harder, I realize, that I could live anywhere if I was forced by circumstances. But as long as I have free will to pick a place, Kentucky would not be on the list, neither any paradise island. Just because we get assimilated with the surroundings, I would not want to become too relaxed on an island or too conservative in Kentucky.

The only thing we missed here was the barbeque. But I like to leave some things unchecked so I have a reason to come back at a later time.