This was our last weekend here at the Loucon Training and Retreat Center, so we decided to do a little sightseeing and hiking on the camp grounds.

On Friday we did what all people should do when in Kentucky, visit the birthplace of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.  Sharon and I have visited many of the Presidential homes and libraries, but I think this is the first birthplace.  The museum at the National Park visitor's center was very nice.  It contained several displays depicting the inside of what the small cabin Lincoln was born in might have looked like.  We also viewed a 15 minute movie about his family background and early life as a young child before moving north to Indiana.  The large statue of Lincoln's parents, sister, and Lincoln as a baby is very life like.  In 1909, a group of local citizens started the building of a memorial to Lincoln.  President Theodore Roosevelt attended the ground breaking ceremonies.  Several years later, President William Taft attended the dedication and grand opening ceremonies.  I believe that it was about 1936 when the facilities taken into the National Park Service.

Here are some pictures of our visit to Lincoln's birthplace.

                              The statue of Lincoln as a baby with his parents and older sister.

This is what the cabin Lincoln was born in may have looked like.  This display is made from descriptions given in diaries and journals of the time.

This log cabin is a downsized cabin like the one Lincoln was born in.  When the memorial building was built the architect decided to cut the original building down to fit in side the memorial better.  The original sized of the cabin is depicted by the barrier around the cabin.  It was believed that this cabin was the actual cabin that Lincoln was born in, but in 1946 researches determined that it was not.  But, it is from the time he was born.

The memorial is very impressive.  There are 56 steps from the lower area up to the memorial.  That is how old Lincoln was when he was assassinated.

After we left Lincoln's birthplace we headed into Hodgenville, KY, for lunch.  We had been told that the best hamburgers around were at the LaHa's (pronounced Lay Hey's) Red Castle restaurant.  We found it on the corner of the town square.  The burgers are very much like White Castle or Krystal burgers, but much better and a little bigger.  We had a couple of burgers, fries, onion rings, and cokes served in the can.  As you can see from the pictures the place was a little small, but nice.  Also, it is really a little greasy spoon cafe.

As you can see the Red Castle is not very big.  When you enter the front door it is only about 12 feet to the back.  There is a bar with about six stools to sit on.  We decided to eat in.  Most of the business is take out.  There were several people that came in while we were there and ordered burgers to go.  The burgers are made from hamburger that is bought fresh daily.

These three ladies were our cook and wait staff.  The young lady in the middle is the cook, the girl on the right cooked the fries and onion rings, and also put the hamburgers together.  The girl on the left was our waitress.  It is a good thing that they work well together, you can see the edge of the counter bar and across from it the cook grill.  Oh yeah, we were served on very nice dinner plates.  Each burger was given it's own special piece of wax paper to rest on, this kept off of the counter.  Nothing special about this place, but the food is great.

When we finished with lunch we went across the street to the Lincoln Museum.  The museum is owned by the city of Hodgenville.  As you can see by the pictures it has a little of everything.

Looking across the square at the Lincoln Museum.  We are standing in front of LaHa's Red Castle.

                                                 Avery nice paining of Abraham Lincoln.

                                                     Lincoln in debate with Douglas

                     Lincoln and his son Todd in the photography studio of Matthew Brady.

            Abraham Lincoln and wife Mary on the night of his assassination in the Ford Theater.

                  The upper room of the museum.  This room is full of items from the Lincoln years.

That ended our day outing for Friday.

Saturday started out with me taking a walk around some or the camp to take some pictures.  I have talked a lot about the camp, but have not shown you what it looks like. 

Later we made a trip to Walmart for some much needed what ever we could find items.  We always find something to buy, and this time we did.  Won't go into what we got, but we really needed it.

After a late lunch we decided to take a hike on some of the hiking trails and go to one of the many water falls on the property.  The staff presented us with a map of the grounds when we got here, a hand drawn one that stated not to scale.  Well it is not only not to scale, but not very accurate either as to where the trails go.  We decided to hike to Whispering Falls.  The map shows two trails to get to the falls, one that is very short, and one that is a little longer.  We, or I should say I, decided to take the long route.  Well, the trail started out very well marked, but when we got to a section of the trail, the trail ran out.  We came to an area that had been cleared due to downed trees from an ice storm last year.  The trail ran into the clearing, and seemed to stop.  I wandered around the edge of the clearing until I found what looked like the trail.  We headed down the trail.  The further we went the less of a trail the trail became.  I was worried because we came across a creek that was on the map.  The trail became less and less of a trail.  I knew that if we just followed the creek as the map indicated that the trail would eventually reappear.  Don't you believe it.  I was able to navigate us to a water fall, but not the one we were looking for.  We had to make a decision as to whether or not to go back the way we came, or keep going along the creek.  I knew that the creek would take us to the lake on the edge of the camp grounds.  Well, as I started looking for a way through the think forest I decided we needed to head back up the mountain, not the way we came, towards the main camp.  Sharon was not really prepared for a trail blazing hike, she was wearing shorts.  The trail blazing took us through a lot of briar's and brush.  Sharon stayed right with me as I work our way up the mountain through the woods.  After being gone for about two hours we found our way back to the clearing where I thought I had found the trail.  We never did make it to Whispering Falls.  Don't know if Sharon will take another hike with me for awhile.  She did say that the next hike we went on she wanted to take a machete, she didn't say what she was going to do with it.  Any guesses?

Getting started on my morning walk to take pictures of the camp.  The sun is just coming up over one of the cabin areas.

Wild turkeys that are everywhere on the camp grounds.  This is just across the field from where the RV is parked.

                                            One of the many pick-nik areas on the grounds.

The camp dining hall is in the background.  The cherry tree is loaded with blooms.  All of the flowering trees were at full bloom, or just starting to bloom

                                 In the distance you can see one of several outdoor chapels.

                                                              Some more turkeys.

A group of youth that were here for a weekend retreat.  We attended church with them this morning.  The service was led by the youth, and very good praise band.  A young man from Campus Ministries at Kentucky Wesleyan College gave the sermon.

The easy, well marked trail that we started out on.  The path was wide and easy to follow.

The trail is getting harder to follow.  You can see the thick brush that we are now walking through.  Sharon still has a smile on her face.

I think Sharon has lost her smile and is looking for that machete

                                                                The falls we found.

I found out later that the trail we were supposed to be on had not been taken care of for some years.  I think that I will make them a new map, one that does not show that trail.

One more week here at Loucon.  We will finish up with the cabin and then off to our next project.

You all have a nice day, and remember,

God Loves You

Gary