KENTUCKY A nearby vacation option

Western Kentucky offers state parks, museums, quaint riverfront towns, amusement parks and more.
By JULIE A. WAGNER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CARROLLTON, Ky. -- We were staying in a cabin in the hills of western Kentucky in crisp fall weather, but somehow we never got around to roughing it.
Our two-bedroom, one-bath cottage at General Butler State Resort Park not only included heating and indoor plumbing but also a telephone, a full kitchen complete with stove, refrigerator, coffeemaker, toaster and dishes, and comfortable furniture from which to watch the cable television.
In fact, we gave up any pretense of roughing it on the second day when housekeeping showed up to ask if we needed more towels.
With our creature comforts more than met, we were free to discover a rich, historical region heartily flavored by the Southern hospitality of everyone we encountered.
General Butler State Park
The state park, off Interstate 71, was a great home base. A former estate of the Butler family, it includes 791 acres of beautiful hills and woodland and views of the Ohio River Valley. It boasts a golf course, tennis courts, a very scenic overview that is easily accessible by car, a small lake, picnic areas and a convention center.
Besides several cottages, accommodations include a 111-lot campground and 54 rooms in the main lodge. The main lodge has a gift store, a restaurant and a large lobby with a fireplace, a piano and a nice view of the surrounding park. A convention center is near the lodge.
The Butler-Turpin State Historic House, built in 1859, is preserved and open for tours on the park's grounds. In fact, staff at the visitors center in town told us that unlike many historic estates, the Butler House actually includes items used by the family in the 18th and 19th centuries, because descendants donated items back to the site. Many historical places use only items from the era, not necessarily the exact things used by the people who lived there.
The Butlers, beginning with General William Orlando Butler, were a famous military family in Kentucky. Family members fought in battles dating to the Revolutionary War.
Nearby, the family cemetery offers facts and figures from the lives of the Butler family dating to the 1600s.
General Butler park is a comfortable six-hour drive from the Youngstown area. Directions are easy -- Interstate 76 to Interstate 71 through Columbus and Cincinnati. The park itself is less than two miles from Interstate 71.
Carrollton
Right outside the park's rear entrance is Carrollton, the Carrollton County seat. The town has the distinction of being where the Ohio and Kentucky rivers meet.
Plan at least three hours to stroll the streets of this charming little town, more if you like to browse in interesting shops or gaze a while at the riverboats.
The staff at the visitor's center is very helpful, and they have a lot of information on local sites. Plus, the two women we spoke with had grown up in the area and gave us a lot of practical advice on what to see and when.
Since it was close to Halloween, they filled us in on the local ghost stories. Apparently, there was a ghost spotted at the historical Carrollton Inn. We didn't get the chance to check it out for ourselves, but the owner was not the sort to make such things up, they said. The inn, at Third and Main streets, was established in 1805.
Later, we found ourselves intrigued by the Port William Antique Mall. It offered a wide variety of items, including toys, clothes, tools and furniture. Of course, there were plenty of historical pieces centered on the state, including keepsakes from past Kentucky Derby races.
We topped off our visit with lunch at The Mustard Seed, a small tea room and gift shop near the courthouse that offers homemade sandwiches, soups and delicious pies. The owner's specialty is a spicy version of the pimento sandwich, which is popular in the South. The chili was warm and pleasantly spicy. The service was so good it felt like we were sitting in a friend's dining room.
Since we visited Monday and Tuesday, we missed several equally promising stores that open only later in the week and on the weekends.
Also in the town, the old jail, located on the grounds of the courthouse in the center of town is intriguing. The walls are thick stone, and prisoners were tightly packed into its confines. The door to the jail was very narrow. We had to turn sideways to enter. A case of claustrophobia had us exiting shortly after we arrived.
Big Bone Lick State Park
A different sort of history awaits visitors about 40 miles to the north of Carrollton. Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Ky., took us back 12,000 to 20,000 years when glaciers of the Ice Age stopped just short of the area. Giant mammoths, land sloths, bison and mastodons were driven south and stopped in the area to lick up salt from the springs that erupted there. The creatures got caught in the bogs and died. The result was a treasure-trove of fossils that have been dug and transported worldwide since the 1700s. The site also was a stop on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
The park is a pleasant drive from Route 71 through horse farm country.
Upon arriving, check out the small museum in the same building as the gift shop. The room contains a lot of pictures and fossils and a six-minute film that will introduce you to the park's history. It is well worth the $1 admission, and it sets you up for the rest of the park.
The historical part of the park features a life-size diorama of a mastodon, a woolly mammoth and a sloth caught in the bog.
The walkway winds through the smaller but still-existent salt springs. The main attraction is the bison herd. The path leads around their area, and at one point we were within six feet of the bison, who gathered just inside the fence. At one point a young man was rushed by the large male in the herd after he tried to approach and pet one of the bison. The fence held the animal back, but the crowd quickly dispersed.
Like Butler, Big Bone also includes picnic areas, fishing and hiking. The only lodging available is a campground.
On the riverfront
Heading back to General Butler we drove scenic Route 42, which twists and winds along the Ohio River. Local residents say that was the only road they used to travel between the riverfront towns before Interstate 71 was built. We passed through several towns, including Ghent and Warsaw, each with the small shops and local flavor that Carrollton offered.
The Markland Locks and Dam near Warsaw were a very interesting sight. The locks were built between 1956 and 1959, and the dam was completed in 1963. Five outmoded locks and dams were replaced with one modern structure, resulting in less time in the lock system and more efficient operation of towboats along the river.
There is also a casino boat docked off the shores of Indiana just across the river.
Location, location, location
Our stay in Kentucky was short, but there were many things that we could have done if time allowed. Interstates 71, 75 and 64 form a triangle between Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati.
Cincinnati boasts King's Island amusement park as well as an aquarium. Louisville offers Churchill Downs (the site of the Kentucky Derby), the Louisville Slugger Museum and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. America's stash of gold at Fort Knox is just south of Louisville.
New perceptions
When we remarked upon the friendliness of the people, one person told us that it is because Kentucky is mostly a tourist state. That's not something I would have ever believed before our vacation. But looking at their brochures featuring a large number of state parks and considering the importance of the Ohio River in the history of early explorers, one gains a whole new appreciation for a state that is often the subject of less than flattering jokes.
A relatively short drive from Youngstown, Kentucky presents a wonderful option for a family vacation.