My Old Kentucky Road Trip: Historic Destinations & Natural Wonders

www.myoldkentuckyroadtrip.com.

Part I

WESTERN KENTUCKY AND THE JACKSON PURCHASE

Though obtained by the United States government in 1818 from the Chickasaw Indian tribe, the eight Kentucky counties that comprise the Jackson Purchase have been considered a part of Kentucky since its statehood was ratified in 1792. If you want to be technical about it, Andrew Jackson also purchased what is now known as West Tennessee in the transaction, but the true Purchase region is only found in Kentucky.

Our Jackson Purchase includes landmarks like the Kentucky Bend, which separated itself from the rest of Kentucky when the Mississippi River flowed backward; Fulton County, home of the annual Fancy Farm Picnic at which Kentucky citizens become the arbiters of politicians trying to make a name for themselves; and the Land Between the Lakes, where buffalo roam and boaters can make the most of a sunny day on the water.

Go west, friends! For food and an extra hour of fun (after you cross into the Central Time Zone).

1

A ROAD TRIP TO THE KENTUCKY BEND

To get to the most western point of Kentucky, located in Fulton County, you have to really want to go there. Like really, really bad. The Kentucky Bend—also called the New Madrid Bend, Bessie Bend or Bubbleland (locals call it this for its teardrop shape)—is an exclave of the state. This means that it is a piece of land belonging to Kentucky that is separated from the rest of the state entirely. Surrounded by Tennessee to the south, Missouri across the Mississippi River on its other three sides, and without touching any other part of Kentucky, Bubbleland is only accessible by Tennessee State Route 22. The seventeen residents of this far-southwestern peninsula claim Tiptonville, Tennessee, as their mailing address because the town eight miles south is the nearest post office, so the kids living in the bend travel to Tiptonville each day for school. When it comes time to vote, residents make the forty-mile trip south into Tennessee and then north back into Kentucky to Hickman.

Motorists don’t simply stumble onto these fifteen thousand acres. Well, it’s possible to if you’re really lost or if you make a wrong turn leaving Tennessee’s Northwest Correctional Complex or if you’re an escaped inmate. But other than that, if you’re going to Bubbleland, you’re going there on purpose. And you’re going to have two thoughts when you arrive: This looks like a big cornfield, and How in the world did I get here?

Now, the Kentucky Bend wasn’t always an (almost) island unto itself. In 1812, this area of the Mississippi River was disrupted quite a bit by a series of earthquakes that occurred along the New Madrid fault line in 1811 and 1812. The way locals tell it, Bubbleland was created when the Mighty Mississippi flowed backward and rerouted, cutting off this bit of land from the area that would become the Jackson Purchase in 1818. The bend was claimed as part of Obion County, Tennessee, for a while, but around 1848, Kentucky’s southern counterpart dropped its claim on the 17.56 square miles of mostly cropland, and it became part of the Bluegrass State. Original residents grew wheat and corn, which gave way to cotton fields in the early twentieth century. Today, the bend is primarily cornfields with a single graveyard, a few small fishing ponds, and a pretty interesting rumored history.

A sign welcomes motorists to the Kentucky Bend, or Bubbleland, the part of the state that is cut off from the rest of Kentucky by the Mississippi River.

According to the librarian at the Hickman Public Library, the most notorious feud in Kentucky’s history wasn’t those pesky Hatfields and McCoys in the far eastern part of the state. Instead, it was the violent discord that raged between the Darnell and Watson families through the late 1800s. Mark Twain made this feud famous in his memoir Life on the Mississippi, which was published in 1883.

In no part of the South has the vendetta flourished more briskly, or held out longer, between warring families, than in this particular region, Twain wrote. Every year or so, somebody was shot, on one side or the other, and as fast as one generation was laid out, their sons took up the feud and kept it a-going…And it’s just as I say; they went on shooting each other, year in and year out—making a kind of religion of it, you see—till they’d done forgot, long ago, what it was all about.

The feud ended when an elderly Darnell father and his two sons decided to flee the bend by steamboat. The Watsons caught wind of this escape plan and opened fire from the riverbank, killing the younger Darnells and dousing the family line.

Now, the Kentucky Bend doesn’t seem like the most likely tourist destination or Kentucky road trip stop. It’s a more than six-hour trek to get there, you actually have to leave the state along your journey, and once you arrive, there’s not all that much to see (and much of it is privately owned, so be friendly and polite with the locals). But you really have to make the trip.

If you go: Be prepared to get lost, and take some time to meet the locals. They can tell you (mostly true) stories about the history of this region that you won’t find in the history books, and they can help you get just about anywhere. They can also be counted on to help travelers change a tire when you pick up a nail on one of those backcountry roads.

What it costs: Not a thing, except a tank or two of gas and a stop for lunch along the way. Skip fast food and look for one of the unique local diners. If you pass through Madisonville, Hopkinsville, or Cadiz on your journey, grab a cheeseburger at Ferrell’s Hamburgers. This family-owned mini-chain of three restaurants cooks up some of the best burgers in the state. President Bill Clinton once enjoyed a lunch at the Hopkinsville location.

How to get there: Take Purchase Parkway to U.S. 51 to Kentucky 94, which leads through Hickman and south into Tennessee. From there, connect with Tennessee 78 and then through a round of detours—all surprisingly well marked along a very rural, two-lane route—to Tennessee 22 heading north. You’ll pass a few graveyards that dot the thousands of acres of corn, soybeans, and sweet sorghum that fill this region; a state jail; and some friendly locals. And to get back out of Bubbleland, there’s no other way but to retrace your steps.

If you spend the weekend: Take some time back across the Mississippi River to explore Hickman, Kentucky. The locals boast that Mark Twain once called Hickman the Most Beautiful Town on the Mississippi, and it certainly has a picturesque appeal. Take the ferry across the river to Dorena, Missouri, and back. The captains are a blast to talk to, and for just two dollars each way, they’ll take passengers on foot to get a river view of the Kentucky banks and chat with you the entire ride (except for the docking and undocking part, which is important). And if you make your trip in September, try to go the weekend that Hickman hosts the Pecan Festival.

The riverboat ferry crosses the Mississippi River from Hickman, Kentucky, to Dorena, Missouri. You can travel on foot for two dollars each way if you want the opportunity to see Kentucky from the Mississippi River.

2

A ROAD TRIP TO LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES

They call it God’s Country. The minute you pull off of the Pennyrile Parkway into Trigg and Christian Counties, you’ll hear it from the lips of everyone you pass. In God’s Country, the weather is always perfect; it never rains. Here, people are good to their neighbors; they take care of one another. It’s the perfect place to raise a family; it’s the most beautiful place in Kentucky. Now, while not all of these things are completely accurate (it does rain there on fairly regular occasion, as is needed to nurture the region’s bountiful cropland), there is something to be said about a place whose residents take such a strong pride in preserving, protecting, and promoting. And while officially changing the region’s motto to God’s Country would be open for much debate, there is no denying that the Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky is one of the state’s most incredible hidden treasures.

Tucked in between Kentucky Lake—often called Ken Lake in these parts—and Lake Barkley, Land Between the Lakes is a National Recreation Area managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. It is a natural sanctuary with beautiful views and a lot to see and do. Founded in 1963, this family-friendly recreation area is one of the largest blocks of undeveloped forest in the eastern United States. More than 170,000 acres of forests, wetlands, and open lands lie on a peninsula between these two lakes, including three hundred miles of natural shoreline and ideal opportunities for camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing, boating, water sports, and the chance to spot some pretty unique wildlife.

Lighthouse Landing Marina overlooks Lake Barkley from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It is one of many lodging opportunities in the area.

In just one weekend, snag a largemouth bass or paddlefish, spot a bald eagle, and drive among elk and bison in their native grassland habitat. You also have the chance to take a look back in time at this region of Kentucky in the 1850s. The Homeplace, a working farm that is open March through November, represents a two-generation farm in the late nineteenth century. Interpreters in period clothing go about their daily chores while visitors explore artifacts and restored historic structures and hear stories of the history of western Kentucky before the Civil War.

You’ve never seen hard work like this. Forget the chainsaws and table saws—these workers split rails for fence boards with heavy axes. But don’t get lured in by the tempting smells of hardy country cooking coming from the wood-burning stove. If you get too close, the ladies will likely be inclined to ask you to help.

When you finish churning your butter, take a short trip into the woods between Honker and Hematite Lakes, where you’ll find the Nature Station staffed by wildlife specialists who can help you spot even the most elusive creatures. Spot great horned owls, coyotes, and red wolves, and if you time it just right, you can take part in an educational program about wildlife, gardening, and nature photography.

Fishermen on Kentucky Lake