Thursday, October 4th, we had a leisurely morning. Claude had an 11am conference call with Kentucky League of Cities. We planned to leave right after that call, which we did.
There was supposed to be a tour at 3pm. We were not supposed to be able to check into the hotel until 4pm. The plan was to go to Berea, stop in at Boone's Tavern and Inn and get the tour location, do our walking tour, come back and check into the hotel and then eventually have dinner.
We arrived at Boone's Tavern and Inn just about 2:30pm. We left our luggage in the car as we didn't think it would be needed until the 4pm check-in. However, we were checked right in and given keys to our room. The desk clerk called ahead for our tour. We walked over to the Visitor's Center from which the tour would begin.
We waited and no one came. Finally a man came through hurrying to the offices and asked us if anyone was helping us. I explained we were there for the 3pm tour. He said he would take care of it. Off he went into the offices. In a brief time a lady came out to explain that every Thursday the students are all required to go to a Convocation and so Thursday is the only day they don't have a 3pm tour. Oops. She said she would have two students there by 4pm after the Convocation and one of them could do a tour then if we cared to wait. Or we could come back on Friday. We chose to wait and she showed us into the little Visitor's Center theater to view the movie about Berea College.
This is an amazing small college. Founded by a man name Lee who was a minister. He believed that all men were created equal. This was during the time of the Civil War and many people did not believe that way. He was given a piece of land by Cassius Clay (not the one who later changed his name to Mohammed Ali). On this land he built a church and began to practice his religious beliefs, open to all races and nationalities of people. Eventually this church had a school and over the years and through lots of history this became Berea College. The College still operates on this basic premise that all men are equal (women are included in that phrase by the way). It is difficult to get in. Our tour guide said there were 1500 applicants for the time he applied and only 50 were accepted. The focus is mostly on Appalachian youth with low incomes but really ready for college. There is no football team but they seem to have every other sport covered. The students pay no tuition. They are expected to work 15-20 hours per week. The money they would earn covers room, books and board. We toured one large chapel in which the Convocation is held every Thursday and another small chapel that looked like it came from England. This smaller chapel is used by students of any faith to hold services or to just go in and worship. Claude and I totally enjoyed our tour, our tour guide and learning about this unique college.
In the rush of getting to where we thought we needed to be at the time we thought we needed to be there, I forgot to take my camera out of my craft bag. It was in the car during the entire tour of the college. I did take this one picture with my cell phone of one of the buildings of Berea College used for classes now.
Dinner was scrumptious. It was included in our package with the exception of the tip for the server. We each had tomato bisque with black-eyed peas. Then we split a fried green tomato salad. My entree was salmon and Claude had scallops. Throughout we were served spoon bread right from the pan to our bread plates. We opted to each have our own dessert. I had a chocolate cake (no surprise there) with a chocolate center filling full of walnuts and a white icing with a touch of caramel in it. Claude had the bread pudding (no surprise there either) with a fruit topping. We did ask for a wheelbarrow to carry us to our rooms but that was NOT included.
We waddled out to the veranda and found two rocking chairs facing the street and sat and rocked and enjoyed the cool of a summer evening Southern style. After rocking for a bit a couple about our age came noisely around the corner. The wife looked at me and point and said, "You're in my seat." I looked at her and said, "I feel like I'm in an episode of Big Bang Theory." They were obviously aware of that TV sitcom and we all had a good laugh. Turns out her hubby was in Berea for training, they were staying at the Inn and she had occupied my rocker during the day while he was in training. I did not give up my rocker.
We eventually headed upstairs to our room. This lovely old historic inn has done a renovation so it is Kentucky's first LEED certified green hotel. A bit of history about Boone's Tavern and Inn. Originally the president of Berea College's wife was the hostess for out-of-town visitors. After doing this for some time, Nellie Frost, the then president's wife, told her hubby he could build something where these guests could be taken care of or get a new wife. He chose to build something and that was Boone Tavern and Inn. The name Boone was chosen because it was on the Daniel Boone Trail. The word Tavern does not denote a place to drink like we normally would think of it. In that day (1909) it was a place to house guests as a hotel. I've blogged about Boone Tavern when my Countryside Homemakers went there for lunch in June of this year. Lots of pictures can be found on that Blog entry.
Friday morning we slept in as check-out time wasn't until 11am and we felt we wanted to enjoy our comfortable surroundings for as long as we could. We walked down the street and browsed through the shops. Found a few Christmas gifts. Then we headed to the Log Cabin Craft Store. Found a few more Christmas gifts. By then our dinner from the night before had worn down to a point we thought lunch might be in order. We entered the Main Street Cafe from the back and had a nice light lunch. Then we were off for the next portion of our adventure.
While researching things to do in the Berea area, I found a place called Tater Knob Pottery. The name was the big draw for me. I printed directions. This would be our next goal. The drive would take us through the Knob Region of Kentucky. The Knobs Region borders the Bluegrass Region and is horseshoe shaped. It is the smallest of Kentucky's six regions. The Knobs are cone-shaped or rounded hills formed from escarpments. It is just beautiful to drive through.
After one wrong turn we found Tater Knob Pottery. It is way, way back in these mountains. It is owned and operated by Jeff Enge and Sarah Culbreth. We happened to have passed Sarah on a very narrow bit of the road up to their place. She came back to see if she could help us. She was a delight to visit with. We watched her 'throw' three different kinds of pottery. While she worked that clay she talked away and we talked away. It felt like Sarah was a kindred spirit kind of friend. We purchased lots of stuff for ourselves at this place. It was a highlight of our Friday.
Before we left, Sarah pulled out a brown paper lunch bag. On it she drew a map for us to follow for a fun drive in the country the rest of the afternoon. She also autographed the map and said, "Someday this will be worth something." I shall save the bag...just in case. The drive would take us through the Red Lick area. A place that has the name 'lick' in it is simply a place where salt was on the surface and animals would come there to lick and get the salt needed in their diet. The end of our drive would take us to the Red River Furnace. This an iron furnace used for four years between 1869 and 1873. Claude learned how it all worked and shared his knowledge with me as I took pictures of this lovely old edifice. They have placed a roof over it and some drainage pipes down the back to help preserve it a little longer. We walked all around and inside of this old building.
Nestled in the grass in front of the Red River Furnace was a group of mushrooms.
We both entered our home tired but refreshed from a fun couple of days enjoying each other's company, learning some new things and seeing some of the beauty with which we are surrounded. Happy Birthday, Claude Jay!!
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