Confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

    Fort Defiance State Park near Cairo, Illinois is at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and is the end of our journey along the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, PA.

   
Confluence at Fort Defiance                                          Crossing the Mississippi River 

The Lewis and Clark expedition spent several days here to practice surveying and exploring the area before departing on the Mississippi River and into the unknown and unmapped territory of the Louisiana Purchase. The 3^rd Principal Meridian begins here at the mouth of the Ohio and was crucial to the expedition’s astronomical observation.

Question: What is a “principal meridian” and why were they important to the expansion of the United States?

East through Kentucky

If you are interested in learning about Ohio Valley history the Louisville Frazier History Museum is a must visit, especially on a rainy day. The exhibits include Corps of Discovery artifacts, Teddy Roosevelts “Big Stick”, and the “Pearl”. 
In 1999, Tori Murden became the first woman and first American to ROW solo across the Atlantic Ocean in the “Pearl”. 

Question: What are other achievements of this adventurous woman?

 
The “Pearl”

 
Land Between The Lakes

Homeplace 1850’s Farm

 “Indian” corn dominated southern agriculture, stored on the cob for winter use for people and livestock. In the smoke house, dry salt curing preserved meat while the smoking process flavored it. In the tobacco barn, farmers “fired” and “cured” this crop by building smoldering fire in the floor-trenches. By the 1860s tobacco was a major cash crop.

 
Tobacco is still a cash crop

Corps of Discovery Boats

 The keel boat, constructed in Pittsburgh, PA, was sent back to St Louis in 1805 with trip diaries and collected specimens requested by Thomas Jefferson. The remainder of the Corps then continued west using canoes and pirogues. 

Question: What is a pirogue?

A second boat, constructed at Harpers Ferry, was a collapsible watercraft to be built on an iron frame from materials obtainable from the wilderness—hides for the boat’s skin, pitch for sealing it, and wood and bark for interior components. Whenever needed, the frame could be broken down, carried overland, and reassembled. 

See: http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/600  for details about construction of the Iron Frame Boat

    
Iron frame boat                                                                 Keelboat

The Spirit of Kentucky

 “All Bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is Bourbon” 

What is Bourbon? 

Although each distillery has its own special combination of grains for creating their brand of bourbon, to qualify as Bourbon it must be:

Why limestone-filtered spring water?

It is rich in minerals and extremely porous and has a high pH which aids the fermentation process.

     
                     Distilling bourbon                                         A history of Kentucky Bourbon distillers

 Historic distilleries

Kentucky Caverns 

Although the largest cavern system in Kentucky is in Mammoth Cave National Park, we choose to visit Carter Caves State Park because of its caves and wooded nature trails with natural bridges, arches and cliffs. From our campsite we easily accessed the moderately strenuous 4 mile 3 Bridges Trail. The “bridges” are formed in the sandstone bluffs by eroded stone arches

    
Carter Caves trail                                                                    Natural bridge

Hill Falls trail

The Cascade Cave passageways were formed by water enlarging a gap between horizontal layers of limestone.  Water is still present in both an underground stream and waterfalls.

    
Cascade Cave tour                                                         Underground waterfalls

Meandering “Country Roads”

West Virginia lives up to it motto with two lane roads that wander both north, south, east and west no matter what direction you might wish to travel. Among these roads is the Highlands Scenic Highway that climbs to 4500 feet through forests that were just starting to change to fall colors. 

With no shortage of winding roads and trails along its 53 mile length, New River Gorge National Park is our nation’s newest national park. The portion of the New River within the park has remained largely unsettled due to the dangerous rapids and steep gorge walls. The gorge rim does however, provide several moderate hiking trails.

    
New River Gorge                                          Endless Wall trail

New River Gorge trail

The Cranberry Glades Botanical Area protects the largest area of bogs in West Virginia.

Bogs are acidic wetlands more commonly found in the northern areas of this country and in Canada. The ground in a bog is spongy and consists largely of partially-decayed plant material known as peat. Because of its unique conditions, some unusual plants grow in bogs, including carnivorous or insect-eating plants.

    
         Cranberry Glade                                                  Carnivorous Pitcher Plant

It is now time to end this journey and return home to NJ.