For more information:
• Lovers Leap Vineyard and Winery, 129 Lovers Leap, Lawrenceburg, KY 40342, (502) 839-1299

Lovers Leap Vineyard

Since we’ve now been on the road long enough to need a libation, our next stop is at the Lovers Leap Vineyard and Winery in Anderson County. Though Kentucky is much better known as a producer of bourbon, wine is something of a growth industry, with about a dozen wineries now operating in the state. Jerry Holder shows us around this family-operated example.

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For more information:
• Abbey of Gethsemani, Trappist, KY 40051, (502) 549-3117

Abbey of Gethsemani

One of Kentucky’s most serenely lovely places is next on the itinerary as Dave visits the Abbey of Gethsemani. Here Trappist monks have worked and worshipped since 1848, supporting themselves and the abbey by making such items as cheese and bourbon fudge while seeking their individual paths to God.

The best known of their number was Thomas Merton, who lived and worked at Gethsemani for several decades while writing the books that made him a spiritual guide for millions around the world. The abbey still welcomes guests on spiritual retreat as well as those contemplating the monastic life.

Kentucky Life first visited the abbey in Program 105, and we went back again later when it ended up on historian Dr. Thomas Clark’s list of 11 Kentucky Treasures that every citizen should visit.

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For more information:
• Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia, 1030 N. Mulberry, Elizabethtown, KY 42701, (270) 234-1100

Hardin County: Schmidt Museum and Glendale

The Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia is not an “official” corporate endeavor, but that just makes its collection all the more impressive.

Located in the Elizabethtown Tourism Center, the museum houses the largest privately assembled collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia anywhere—including an entire hand-painted barn side that Bill and Jan Schmidt had disassembled and shipped in pieces from Georgia. Smaller items include beverage glasses, calendars, coolers, ads and posters, and even a hand axe emblazoned with the familiar red-and-white logo. The Schmidt family has been bottling Coke in Hardin County since 1901.

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Once you leave Hardin County on the westward trek, you pass into the Central time zone. And the next town on our itinerary seems to mark the transition to “slow time.” Glendale, often compared to the fictional Mayberry for its small-town friendliness, is an antiques lover’s dream, with many of the historical storefronts downtown having been converted to shops that collect and sell pieces of the past.

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For more information:
• Walter T. Kelley Co., 3107 Elizabethtown Road, P.O. Box 240, Clarkson, KY 42726-0240, (502) 242-2012

Walter T. Kelley Co.

If all that Coca-Cola doesn’t give you a buzz, our next segment is sure to. The Walter T. Kelley Company, located in the small Grayson County town of Clarkson, is known around the world as a maker of beekeeping equipment. The company also offers how-to publications for beginning apiarists. After touring the Kelley factory, Dave learns more about the business of keeping hives from local beekeeper Tamara Heskett and Phil Craft, Kentucky’s official state apiarist.

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