ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Hodgenville, KY

One of our surprises in what is called the Derby Area of Kentucky was the prominence of the Abraham Lincoln story. We visited a National Historic Site, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln,a 19th century Kentucky cabin, symbolic of the one Lincoln was born, preserved inside a HUGE memorial building at the site of his birth. Thomas and Nancy Lincoln settled on the 328-acre Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, in the fall of 1808. Two months later on February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. Here the Lincolns lived and farmed before moving to Knob Creek, a few miles away. On July 17, 1916, Congress established both as national park sites. You probably agree what a gem our country has in our National Park System - so just know we love to visit our designated national treasures if possible.

In the center of Hodgenton, KY is the Abraham Lincoln Museum, another museum filled with collections donated by many local families and individuals or historical organizations with a lot of significance to our history. Not only were there 12 dioramas showing pivotal times in AL's life but there were so many rare memorabilia, my head is still spinning.

The State of Kentucky has established a Lincoln Heritage Trail across the Bluegrass State which was so helpful in showing Lincoln's influence in Kentucky, but also for the role that Kentuckians played in shaping the Lincoln legacy.

Driving back to Bardstown, we were getting hungry, so we decided to go by the Toll Gate Cafe, just outside the entrance to the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY. We ate at the same time the master distiller and the assistant master distiller stopped in to eat lunch. There were so many interesting things about the tour and the property that have been in the Samuels' family for 5 generations; but one of the interesting designations was that the Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest operating distillery in the WORLD, and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.