April 26 - Barn Burner

Many things characterize Kentucky and especially the Lexington area. Among them are: thoroughbreds, bluegrass, bourbon and barns. Today found us immersed in the latter, but with a twist. The barns capturing most of our attention were those sporting barn "quilts." Ah yes, you heard us correctly, barn quilts. Think of them more like quaint Coats of Arms.

We became fascinated by the tradition of adorning your stodgy old barn with a quilt pattern during our first visit to Kentucky back in 2011. While the Kentuckians didn't initiate the tradition, they are avid participants. I don't recall exactly, but I believe a woman in Ohio, perhaps, produced the first creation. It became popular and soon many others followed her example. As the story goes, all the quilt designs are unique and, thus, like the European Coats of Arms.

We began our day en route to the Zilpo Recreation Area. You know...it's the one just southeast of Salt Lick, Kentucky in the Daniel Boone National Forest surrounded by Cave Run Lake. There...I thought you'd remember. It was my plan to photograph some local wild life kinda like Wildlife Willie does with his big, long one. Well, all along the way we kept seeing the barn quilts instead of Grizzly bears or the endangered Double-breasted Mattress Thrasher. Fortunately, my camera is flexible so I switched it from wildlife mode to barn quilt mode. Whew! After that, the rest is history.

Today's sightings were rather unique and totally unrehearsed. It seems that things like "Bourbon Trails", "Horse Farm Trails", "Bluebonnet Trails" and the like are misnomers. They're really not trails or tours at all. They're simply references to interesting things in the area. YOU, then...must do your own research, chart your own course, and blaze your own trail. I can't tell you how many times we've set out to view barns on the Barn Quilt Tour only to find ourselves drenched in despair. The laugh was always on us. Like so many things in life, they always show up when you're least expecting them. Today, however, was our day - yea!

So, strictly for your benefit, we've saved you the trouble of heading out for Zilpo Recreation Area. Instead, we're bringing Ziplo (and the surrounding area) right to your door step.

NOTE: Of course, if you like neither barns nor quilt patterns then you'll probably not enjoy the remainder of this blog post. Just sayin'...

Click the pic for larger image

Frenchburg - apparently the home of French Fries, French Chef's and French Kissing - OH!

Nightie-nite

Sleep tight

and

Don't let the bedbugs bite!

Be forewarned...