Bardstown

One of the nephews got married over the weekend. Since the wedding was in Indy and the Missus is well enough to travel, we decided to get away for a couple extra days on the front end. It's been close to three years since we've gotten away together to anyplace besides a doctor's office or some other medical facility. We headed south to the beautiful Commonwealth of Kentucky, stopping first in Shelbyville at Claudia Sander's Dinner House. Claudia was the wife of the Col. Sanders and the restaurant has some of the finest Southern style cooking you can hope for. I had the vegetable platter. I chose corn pudding, beans, mashed potatoes, and baked apples from the offerings. The Missus went with fried chicken and had creamed spinach as one of her side dishes. I tasted it and have to say it's without a doubt the best spinach I've ever had.

We then proceeded to the Bourbon Capitol of the World, Bardstown, Ky. Both of us have been to Bardstown previously, both together, and as part of different groups. Beautiful town, especially in the Spring of the year. Friday was especially nice so we visited the Abbey of Gethsemani and the Sisters of Christ of Nazareth convent.

Gethsemani

The monks at the Abbey make fudge and fruitcake along with a few other items you can purchase at the gift shop, so we brought a little fudge and fruitcake home with us. Fruitcake often times gets a bad rap, but the monks turn out a really good one. I'm sure the Kentucky bourbon it's soaked in has something to do with it. The Abbey was home to Thomas Merton. He's probably one of the most famous of all Catholic monks, having written many books covering not only the subject of religion, but also poetry and photography. I've read a few things of his, including The Seven Storey Mountain, probably his most famous work.

After our visit to the Abbey we went to the Sisters of Christ of Nazareth. It's a stunning campus. A huge variety of trees, a couple of grottoes, and lots of Gothic style architecture. The inside of the church is beautiful. It reminded me of Notre Dame, just on a smaller scale. The gift shop was closed for lunch but we were able to visit Heritage Hall to get a better understanding of the good works the Sisters have been doing for about 200 years now. One of the more interesting things on display was a letter from Abraham Lincoln decreeing that no harm should come to the convent from anyone during the Civil War or War of Rebellion as it is also called. That actually makes more sense to me - no way war is ever civil.

Right across from where we were staying is the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, also about 200 years old. In fact, it's the oldest cathedral west of the Alleghenies. It's a beautiful building made from all local materials. The inside has some large oil paintings but they're hard to see due to them being framed on each side by stained glass windows putting the paintings in the shadows, and the fact that the paintings themselves are extremely dark, I would assume due to needing a good cleaning.

Quite the day of religion in general and Catholicism in particular - especially for an old heathen such as myself. Doubt if I've ever been to three different churches in the same day before but lots of good history of the area and the role the church played in developing the region.

We also visited the Civil War Museum and My Old Kentucky Home Dinner Train. As an interesting side note, we were seated on the train with a couple that live only about 20 miles away from us. Small world, indeed.

All in all, great trip. It's good that the Missus' health has improved to the point that she can travel. It was also a lovely wedding - nice to be able to gather with friends and family on such a memorable occasion.