SRIANEE DIAS- MY JOURNEY PART II

 The Journey Continues…Srianee Dias

We drove into Kentucky on smaller highways and some very curvy, hilly roads, enjoying the gorgeous countryside and lush, green horse farms.  Following the suggestions of some of the people we met in Ohio, we stayed in Bardstown, Kentucky, which is well known for its bourbon distilleries.  We decided against taking a tour of a distillery and instead made a spontaneous visit to the art studio of a well-known Kentucky artist, Jim Cantrell.  His watercolour paintings were outstanding, and he had been the official artist for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby several years ago. We spent some time talking to his wife who gave us invaluable information about other places in Kentucky worth visiting.  She mentioned an Artists’ Village in Berea, and so over a cappuccino at a nearby coffee shop, we mapped out our route to get there. 

On the way to our destination, we discovered two small, but very interesting liberal arts colleges founded by Presbyterian leaders in the 1800s.  In Danville, KY, we bumped into Grace, a student at Centre College, who walked with us to her campus, and said that she was a 5th generation legacy student at this college.  She had been studying Mandarin for 12 years! Berea College was also similar in size (approximately 1400 students) but offer full scholarships to all students who qualify.  Every student is expected to work on campus.  It was the first College in Southern US to become coeducational and racially integrated.  Marsha and I both felt that there was something very special about this place.  We were directed to the Danforth Chapel by a recent graduate who was busy welcoming students to a conference that morning.  The Chapel was closed, but we found a secluded garden and discovered the unique north wall of the Chapel where there were stones interspersed with the bricks, from different spiritual landmarks of the world.  There were stones from the Canterbury Cathedral, Abraham Lincoln’s tomb, a pyramid in Egypt, and even a stone from India given by Mahatma Gandhi. 

In the Artists’ Village in Berea we met yet another watercolour artist, who was also a calligrapher, who had begun his painting career after retiring from many years in the insurance industry.  He seemed to be very busy travelling, painting and teaching; illustrating the fact that after all there is a life after retirement! 

Next, we travelled on a long and winding (unpaved!) road to the “Tater Knob Pottery,” a family operation where they create one of a kind works of art.  It was tucked away in a remote area outside Berea. We made this effort at the suggestion of the artists we met in Berea, and we didn’t regret it.  The young potter, David, explained and demonstrated the process of making these products, starting with obtaining fine quality clay, processing it to remove gritty particles, and finally creating the numerous hand-painted dishes, pitchers, cups etc., which are all lead-free, and microwave and dishwasher safe.

Later he also shared his struggles with opioid addiction, and how he had lost several close friends to opioid overdoses.  We had read about the devastating tragedy of opioid addiction in these parts of the country, but now we were hearing about it first hand. 

Our original idea had been to drive all the way to Iowa, but since we were now slowing down our pace and lingering longer in the small towns, we made a decision to head south to Tennessee for a little bit and then northeastward back to Connecticut.

At the border of Tennessee and Virginia we drove through the sister cities of Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia. Apparently, the states are separated by the double yellow line in the middle of Main Street, where a brass plate demarcates the state line!

(Unfortunately, we found this out on Google after we had driven through!) Before leaving Bristol, Tennessee, we managed to spend some time in the welcome shade of Steel Creek Park, where we enjoyed a paddle boat ride in the small lake, which was very relaxing and fun.

Our overnight stop that evening was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the battle of Gettysburg took place in July, 1863, during the American Civil War. Four months later in November that year President Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address.  Since both of us had previously visited the battlefield and other tourist spots, we spent the next morning exploring the historic buildings and chatting with shopkeepers.  Many churches and private homes had been converted to hospitals at that time and were now identified with plaques, commemorating those historic sites. 

On our way to the Amish district in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, we stopped for lunch at the Peruvian restaurant I mentioned earlier. The owner had decorated the walls with a large mural documenting his arrival and life in the US.  I had never seen anything like that before.  He was obviously a grateful and proud immigrant. 

That afternoon and the next day were spent exploring the Amish areas in Lancaster on a bus tour.  The Amish people had left Switzerland and Southern Germany in the late 17th century where they were being persecuted for their beliefs which differed from the traditional teaching of the Christian churches at the time.  They have maintained their unique, simple lifestyle and religious practices while living among non-Amish people, whom they refer to as “The English”.  They embrace modern technology only on their own terms and refuse to be controlled by technology.  We did see a few younger people pulling out their mobile phones out of their pockets!  They use horse and buggies for their transportation and their electricity is battery powered or generated by propane tanks.  They rely on their “English” friends to drive them to distant places.

We learned that there are about 200 similar communities throughout the US and Canada. 

Our last day before driving back to Connecticut was spent exploring a few towns on the banks of the Hudson River in New York State, just a few hours north of New York City.  These are also charming, historic small towns, that had played a major role in the battles for independence from the British.  At the suggestion of one of the hotel staff we took a commuter train from New Hamburg to Cold Spring and met several friendly, kind people who were more than willing to direct us to interesting places.  They were not very different from the people we had met in Ohio, Kentucky and other places.

On our drive back to Connecticut we realized we had travelled by car, train, bus and boat (paddle boat) on this trip!  We had driven 2460 miles in 13 days, averaging about 190 miles/per day.  We drove through 12 states although we didn’t stay in everyone.

It was a very rewarding and “eye-opening” adventure!