What to do in Kentucky?

[Exterous]

So I've got a free weekend in Nashville coming up in March and I was thinking of heading north into Kentucky (I've been to Nashville before but never anywhere in KY). I plan on going to Mammoth Caves and maybe some others like Diamond Cave but am looking to see if anyone has any other ideas on what to do and where to eat. Pretty open on driving to wherever but I need to be back in Nashville by Sunday evening. Not a huge fan of bourbon so the various tours\tastings are mostly lost on me. I am a fan of hiking but not sure what the weather will be like in March and I don't have a ton of time

Thanks guys!

 

[IronWing]

Reading up on karst topography before you go will make a trip to Mammoth Cave more enjoyable, IMHO. You will understand how what you see on the surface relates to the underlying cave system.

Mammoth Cave NP has hiking trails that take you to some sink holes and karst windows where you can see underground rivers surface and disappear back into the earth.

I took the half day tour at Mammoth Cave which got kind of monotonous. The historical tour might be better.

 

[BoomerD]

Meth or hillbilly heroin?

 

[IronWing]

You need to try a country ham sandwich.
1) buy some country ham slices
2) Buy some salt risen sandwich bread
3) Remove two slices of bread from the loaf.
4) Run a hair dryer over the bread slices for ten minutes each
5) place ham slices between bread slices
6) eat.
A Kentucky classic.

Find a restaurant that serves Kentucky hot browns.

 

[glenn1]

Paducah and Land Between the Lakes Parks are OK. But honestly I'd not bother going up into KY and would spend more time exploring central TN if I were you. Most of KY north of Nashville sucks ass, take it from somewhere who lived there while stationed at Fort Campbell for a few years.

 

[Exterous]

Meth or hillbilly heroin?

Pft I can do that at home

.

One of your posts was more helpful than the other

Paducah and Land Between the Lakes Parks are OK. But honestly I'd not bother going up into KY and would spend more time exploring central TN if I were you. Most of KY north of Nashville sucks ass, take it from somewhere who lived there while stationed at Fort Campbell for a few years.

Any particular place in central TN?

 

[chitwood]

What to do in Kentucky?

..leave?

 

[momeNt]

Kentucky has I believe cigarette prices that are in the top 10 in the country. Depending on where you are from, and if you know any smokers, it would be a good idea to ask them if they'd like to purchase some in bulk.

 

[lxskllr]

Visiting family? A sister perhaps?

 

[glenn1]

Any particular place in central TN?

Plenty of stuff in town and close by you have Hermitage and Bellemeade Plantation, little further out Cumberland Caverns is kinda cool, plenty of Civil War battlefields, etc.

If you have some reason to visit KY (such as you have a goal to visit every state someday) then by all means go but I don't think you'll miss out if you stay in TN either.

 

[Guurn]

Mammoth cave was a great experience. Other than that...umm maybe Idlewild disc golf? I strongly recommend against Wigwam village No 2.

 

[Exterous]

Visiting family? A sister perhaps?

I'll be in the area for work

Plenty of stuff in town and close by you have Hermitage and Bellemeade Plantation, little further out Cumberland Caverns is kinda cool, plenty of Civil War battlefields, etc.

If you have some reason to visit KY (such as you have a goal to visit every state someday) then by all means go but I don't think you'll miss out if you stay in TN either.

A big part is that I do want to visit every state and am interested in the caves so I figured I would see what else was interesting while I was in the area. Sadly so far it doesn't seem like much since horses aren't a big interest of mine. On the positive side I'd only be paying for Saturday night out of pocket and a little bit on the car rental so it wouldn't be an expensive side trip

 

[1sikbITCH]

Kentucky has I believe cigarette prices that are in the top 10 in the country. Depending on where you are from, and if you know any smokers, it would be a good idea to ask them if they'd like to purchase some in bulk.

Know the lay of the land first. This is ten years old but nonetheless the law is likely the same. Most states have contraband laws:

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/tennessee_cigarette_police_state/

Under state law, bringing more than two cartons of cigarettes into the state without paying Tennessee taxes is a “Class B” misdemeanor, carrying punishment of up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. Bringing 25 or more cartons is a “Class E” felony, with minimum penalty of one year in prison and a maximum of six years plus a fine of up to $3,000. In addition, the specific state statute dealing with untaxed cigarettes provides that vehicles used to transport more than two cartons “are considered contraband and are subject to seizure,” says a Department of Revenue statement.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s (and I guess likely still today), it was a common thing for people from Maryland to trek up 95 to Philly to score ounces of the prettiest pinkest shale you ever did see. The MD troopers would sit at the border and write down descriptions of cars with MD plates going into PA and then pull them over as they were returning an hour later.
I imagine down south the emphasis is on smokes and liquor.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Visiting family? A sister perhaps?

I'd have guessed cousin.

I was going to say "let's just assume the OP means after his cousin", but then I didn't really have much to offer for what to do. Since its winter he'll miss out on the sultry summer scenery that makes that area pretty nice to visit. But maybe it looks kinda nice if they got some nice snow (wasn't that region supposed to get a big winter storm recently?).

I was gonna say BBQ, and then realized that's probably more what Tennessee is known for, and Nashville, Memphis. Is Fort Knox even worth checking out (isn't it no longer the major gold depository)?

 

[x26]

Mammoth Cave
Corvette Museum?
Sex with your Sister/Brother/Mother!!

 

[Sonikku]

Get some fried chicken.

 

[Humpy]

Drink an Ale 8 One!

You can be as racist as you want there too, so that's fun.



... and fuk yer cousin.

 

[feralkid]

You need to try a country ham sandwich.
1) buy some country ham slices
2) Buy some salt risen sandwich bread
3) Remove two slices of bread from the loaf.
4) Run a hair dryer over the bread slices for ten minutes each
5) place ham slices between bread slices
6) eat.
A Kentucky classic.

Find a restaurant that serves Kentucky hot browns.

Yum.

Also grits, red eye gravy, jowl bacon, corn bread, pickled sausage, corn fritters, moon pies (none for me, thanks) and bourbon, but maybe not all on the same day; try to pace yourself.

I can barely find greens in AZ.

 

[IronWing]

You left out the RC and boiled peanuts.

 

[IronWing]

 

[lxskllr]

I can barely find greens in AZ.

Can't imagine why...

:^D

 

[jcwagers]

Since I live more in the southeastern part of the state, I'm not as well-versed in what's out in western Ky. If you want to head to Knoxville and then north on 75, you may find a few more things to get into. In my area, we have Cumberland Falls and the original location where KFC was founded. You can go a bit further east and hit Cumberland Gap.

You could go further up I-75 and hit Lexington and see the Kentucky Horse Park or find a few other things up that way. Honestly, there's nothing bad but nothing that you'd kick yourself for missing. That would be a lot of driving to get around and I don't know if you'd find the returns worthwhile vs the driving time.

However, if you do head east towards Knoxville, you wouldn't be too far from Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. There were some pretty heavy fires around that area back in December but there should still be stuff that you could check out. Just trying to throw some ideas out there for you......

 

[Imp]

Jennifer Lawrence rides horses...

 

[SearchMaster]

Can't imagine why...

:^D

 

[WiseUp216]

Creation Museum