51. OWENSBORO & HENDERSON

Owensboro & Henderson, Kentucky

6/19/2010

Oh, Patricia! You and your two-for-one entries. Well, since both towns were in a direct line from each other on our trip home, we were able to visit both pretty easily. So there.

First, we stopped in Henderson – home of artist and naturalist John James Audubon. In town is the Audubon State Park, where the man himself studied the birds that became the basis of his famous paintings. They have a nice little museum there that is kid-friendly. They have a few display cases of preserved animals, as well as a few live reptiles in cages – a big hit with Daniel. We would have liked to have explored the park itself a little more, but the 93 degree weather knocked that idea out of our heads.

About 45 minutes east is Owensboro, home of the International Bluegrass Museum. This seemed like an appropriate place to end our trip. It’s a small museum, but admission is only $5 ($4 with AAA) so we didn’t feel ripped off. The man running it (Richard) was very friendly and knowledgeable. He told us he had performed at Bean Blossom himself in previous years, which was kind of neat. In fact, the festival and Bill Monroe were a huge focus of the museum. I guess we didn’t realize the impact of this one man in the music world. I will have to learn more about him.

Daniel probably enjoyed this museum the most. We had the place to ourselves, so he had fun running around hitting the red buttons that played seminal bluegrass recordings.

Before we headed home we had dinner at the Moonlite Bar-B-Q. We tried the Schultz-recommended burgoo – which was sort of a spicy mutton soup. It was really great. It sort of reminded us of Indian food, but apparently it’s a local dish. This place has won a lot of recognition over the years, according to the plaques decorating their lobby – from best bar-b-q in Kentucky to “One of the best 100 restaurants of the 20th Century.” Wow. Not bad for a cheap bar-b-q joint. Highly recommended.

Not a bad way to spend the day. We started off in Illinois, traveled through Indiana and finished our trip by dipping down into Kentucky. According to their road signs that’s “the land of Lincoln”, “Lincoln’s boyhood home,” and “The birthplace of Lincoln.” Hoo boy. Everybody wants a piece of Lincoln, don’t they?