Country Living in Fountain Run, KY

After I got back from the hotel in Knoxville (and it was a pretty crappy motel - America's Best Value), the serenity of Southern Kentucky was incredible. My work from home also improved as I was able to work outside on the porch during nicer days.

My cat had no issues adjusting to the newly gained quiet environment compared to our previous apartment in downtown Knoxville. He loved looking out of the windows listening to birds and playing in a much larger space than we had before.

I was getting excited about living in the Amish country as well. I searched on the map and found at least one store Habegger's Amish Market that was currently open selling Amish goods. Other stores were still closed as produce was not in the season, but I could wait. The very first week I headed to the Amish store located about 30 minutes away from my house rental. They sold incredible pastries, so I bought a banana bread and two fried mini-pies filled with cherry and walnuts. They also sold everything at reasonable prices. I enjoyed the store very much as they had different sorts of flour that I could use for my sourdough bread. 

I also found that this area was filled with different caves. The first weekend I decided to go to do a cave boat tour in Lost River Cave which turned out to be pretty amazing. It was more of a commercial tour with hints of history, but it's been a while since I've been in a cave, so I enjoyed it. I also scheduled two other tours in Mammoth Cave National Park later in April. Both tours had to be reserved in advance through the Recreation website. The first week was full of relaxation and settling in.

During the second week I started to get bored. It was almost impossible to walk in the neighborhood because many houses had loose dogs that would bark at you viciously. I didn't want to take a chance. The main road where the house was located on did not have much traffic, but the issue with loose dogs was on both sides of the house where neighbors just didn't care about their animals. I found that to be the truth in several rural areas in southern Kentucky. It appeared that people treated animals like animals instead of their pets. The horses next door, as I found out later from my host, were completely unattended just roaming around on their own eating grass and getting water from the stream in the back. The owner only came to take care of them once a month.

Another issue that came up in the first two weeks is the Internet connection. The speeds were incredible, but occasionally the Internet would just drop. The solution was to use an ethernet cord that I bought anticipating this could be an issue while living in Airbnb. I had no other problems with the Internet at this rental. 

I decided to venture out and explore Nashville during the second weekend. I dropped off my recycling at the local center in Nashville as there was no recycling available in southern Kentucky. I might be generalizing here, but in the nearby proximity of Fountain Run no city recycled. I went to explore Henry Hollow trail in Nashville and then headed downtown where I was bluntly introduced to Nashville drinking scene. Nashville, being the self-claimed Bachelorette party city, was a true representation of "having fun". People were drinking starting at 9:00 AM. The party buses, tractor tours (no idea what they were touring besides the local bars), and just rolling party carts with bartenders inside and the party sitting in a circle either pedaling or doing nothing were a nuisance to the city. In fact, this has become such an issue that locals are now raising concerns. It was a sensory overload for me spending half an hour just watching that, although I must admit had I been one of the drinking participants, I would have probably had a different opinion.

I also explored Nashville farmers market, which was an overpriced gigantic mall of vendors selling a variety of goods from $8 soaps to strawberries and lettuce for the price I would not even see at Whole Foods.. I picked up some groceries at the Asian store instead and discovered a Russian food store - Aleksey's Market - where I would pick up food regularly. Weekends were definitely a highlight!

Winding Stairs Loop and Cummins Falls

I use Alltrails app to find local hikes that are worth exploring. One of the hikes was Winding Stairs Loop located near the statelines of Tennessee and Kentucky. I headed there on a Sunday morning. Google maps did not have the road towards the trailhead mapped, so initially I ended up in a parking lot of an apartment complex. I used Alltrails app to navigate towards the non-mapped road, which ended up in a paved parking lot at the trailhead.

It was a bit chilly in the morning, but was warming up pretty quickly. I was initially planning to hike two trails in the park, but since they were pretty similar, I chose the Winding Stairs. 

Since my car was only the second car in the parking lot, I had the park almost to myself. The sounds of birds and flowing water were meditative, to say the least. The video below shows how different water can sound. I found this fascinating. 

I decided to explore the stairs first leading towards the bottom of the small canyon. The rock looked almost unreal. It felt like jungles for some reason. 

View from top of the stairs

View at the bottom of the stairs

The trail continued uphill where there was a nice view of the landscape. The trees still don't have enough foliage to make it a great view, but it was a really good view even without it.

Wildflowers were everywhere. Some areas were just carpeted with various species - white, blue, yellow flowers - just a lovely landscape!

I was used to an earlier wildflower season in California, so I felt like I was missing out on seeing the flowers, but this hike gave me some hope. 

I had to cross the creek twice, but it was nice and low, so it was accomplished without any difficulties. The trail regained its elevation, and I was on the other side of the waterfall and back to the stairs. The hike was completed, but I felt like I wanted to do some more exploring today and headed to Cummins Falls an hour away.

I realized later that I debated whether this hike was worth doing or not because it had water crossing which I was not intending to do. By the time I got there, it was too late and I decided to at least see the waterfall and get to the water.

It really was beautiful. The reviewers also said that it is even more amazing up close, but it would require crossing the water that looked deep enough to be up to the waist, which I was not prepared for. Regardless, I enjoyed the hike.

One thing I don't enjoy in these "red" states is the gun shots that can be heard in so many areas, especially parks. Not sure if someone is hunting or just shooting targets, but I am against guns in general. We should not be killing animals altogether, especially for sport.

Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival 2022 + More

It started out as a lousy morning. Rain that was supposed to have gone away by now was still sprinkling; the sky was cloudy with what looked like no glimpse of hope for a "partly-sunny day" that my weather app stated. With rain and cloudy sky came lower temperatures. It was only 37 degrees in the morning. I was still determined to go to Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival. I left around 7.15 am, stopped at the recycling facility and headed to parking lot F or E where the parking fee was only $10 for the whole day during the festival.

The cloudy sky was no longer cloudy as the sun started to shine. It was still pretty cold. I crossed Woodland Street bridge and saw the festival right in front of Nashville Metropolitan Courthouse. Multiple booths were set up selling a variety of items, including food. I saw a crowd of people deliberately walking somewhere. Initially, I thought it was some sort of a politically-driven crowd as a few people carried signs with politicians' names. I then remembered that at 9.30 am there was a Cherry blossom walk. 

The crowd was pretty long as we started to walk on Cumberland River Greenway. I have no idea why they chose this "walk" because there were barely any trees there. What I heard was construction on both side of the pathway, but the way back was rather peaceful as we turned on to Magdeburg Greenway leading to Germantown area of Nashville, a beautiful residential area with !!cherry trees!!!

Somehow the crowd got smaller as some people went elsewhere. I truly enjoyed my walk of 3.6 miles, according to Google.

I went back to the festival and bought kettle corn. There were some performances of Japanese music and culture, but I didn't stay long because it was getting cold again.

I decided to use this time to walk around Nashville and get some coffee. I stopped at Drug Store Coffee located inside a nice hotel and ordered a $7 oat cappuccino (these drinks are getting way too expensive!). 

I warmed up and found my next destination, D'Andrews Bakery & Cafe - an amazing bakery where I got my Filbert and some doughy deliciousness (Filbert is still safe in my fridge, if you wondered). 

I walked through an interesting alley, I am pretty sure that was part of Printers Alley with restaurants and bars on both side.

I was starting to get hungry and stumbled upon Fifth+Broadway, a combination of restaurants, shopping in a plaza setting. Restaurants are not fast food, they are real places selling good food. I stopped at Horu Sushi Kitchen to get a $9 Philly roll (my cappuccino was almost as expensive). The roll was pretty decent for the mall type of setting. I wanted to see what the view looked like from the rooftop bar, but it was closed to public, I guess a private event.

I left the restaurant section and saw a Sephora store. How do you not stop by there, especially when you have a remaining gift card in the wallet?

I then headed back to the main area with all the bars to give it another chance. Nope, this crowd is still not for me. I sat on the boardwalk by the river and had some popcorn. I took more pictures of random cherry trees and decided to go back to my car.

A car with partying ladies

I checked out the local Whole Foods, stopped at a Walmart to pick up items on my list and debated if I should go back (it was. 1.40 pm) or do something else. I saw on the map that I was right next to Radnor Lake, which was on my "To go to" list. I figured if I just walked around the lake for an hour I could get back before 5 pm.

The stop turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. The weather got nice and warm, and I was able to just have my sweater on without a vest. I LOVED this urban park. It didn't feel urban at all. Very well maintained, but some trails are deep in the woods with few people to encounter.

I walked the perimeter along Ganier Ridge and South Cove Trail, roughly a 5 mile loop with some decent elevation gain. It was nature at its best in the middle of the city.

Dozens of turtles

After a bit of cardio and incredible views, I was back in my car, this time driving home. Just two hours later I was back in the middle of nowhere enjoying the memories of my day. I later looked at the prices of homes in that area. $1.5M was the cheapest one. In Nashville!!! Here is to winning a lottery...

Mammoth Cave National Park - Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail

Mammoth Cave National Park is one of those terrific places that I wanted to visit. It was on my "go-to" places when I knew it was only an hour away from my vacation spot. I booked two tours of the cave for two different dates that are yet to come, but decided to get a better feel of the park today.

One of the longest routes, around 5 miles round trip, was Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail. It goes around the perimeter of the busiest area of the park (the park itself is much larger than that area) and hits the major viewing points with great vista.

I arrived in the morning around 10 am. The parking lot was still relatively available, but at the visitor center where I used the restroom there were many people waiting for their cave tours. Lots of kids (my nightmare...) and families since most of the trails are easy.

I started out solo and for the first mile did not see a human soul, just amazing birds and several squirrels. There are very few bears in the park that are rarely seen. It gave me a sense of security and sadness at the same time as bears disappeared from the park at some point due to development, but reappeared just recently in very small numbers.

It is still early April, so the trees are just starting to bud, and the first flowers peek through the ground.

As I continued downhill, vegetation at lower levels was more advanced in their "coming to life" journey.

The first outlook is probably pretty impossible during the summer months when the trees are full of leaves. Now I could see Green River right below me.

As I continued the hike, the trail lost more elevation and I was able to approach the river. Indeed, it had this strange green color.

Panoramic shot of the river close up

The trail soon had a fork towards where river flows out of the cave. 

After another mile or so the trail seemed to have connected to a paved trail leading towards a wooden boardwalk featuring areas with small ponds of water coming out of the cave. The cave itself is pretty mystical still to this date as divers tried to explore it. Water comes from all different areas and at this point is not completely trackable (although they tried with a dye).

The trail started to climb and offered this amazing lookout. This probably would look even better a month or so from now!

I finished the hike near the cave entrance packed with people thinking in just a few weeks I would be one of them. Looking forward to coming back!

Nashville, TN

I have never been to Nashville before, so this is my first visit. I drafted an agenda to visit a few spots downtown, but first I wanted to go on a hike. 

Henry Hollow Loop Trail is just half an hour from downtown and is a short 2.5 mile trail. It was very peaceful and quiet until the last mile when more people started to arrive.

The first mile goes along the stream. Although the water was very shallow for the most part, the sound it made was tranquil.

As in Kentucky, nature is just waking up here from a long winter nap.

Little sweet Betsy is the name of this plant that is lonesome in the middle of the sleeping woods. 

The hike took about an hour, so after a brief drop off of my recycling at the local facility (the city where my Airbnb is located does not recycle, so I have to collect it and bring elsewhere), I headed downtown.

Parking, while not difficult, is not cheap. Nashville has quite a few lots. When you arrive, you scan the QR code bringing you to a webpage where you register your car, enter the credit card number (one time set up) and have access to the rates. When you drive out, it supposed to register the time and charge you based on the appropriate rates. In one parking lot it worked, but in the other one when I drove out, the system still had me parked there for another half an hour. Luckily, when you click the contact option, there is a choice to state the issue ("I drove out") and it resolves it (in my case for 30 min it did not charge me anything). Not a flawless system, but I see the convenience of it. The rates go from $5 an hour to $25-50 for the day. There are parking meters, but they somehow take coins only (that's how I got rid of my heavy dimes!).

I parked on the street downtown, had an amazing $6 cup of oat milk cappuccino at Crema Coffee Roasters and to check out John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.

On the way to the bridge I passed dozens of tractor-driven buses filled with drunk females partying at 11 am in the morning wearing pink hats. I also saw a bunch of "brides-to-be" as Nashville is considered one of those places where you want to have a bachelorette party. Bars with live music had open doors and windows and were filled with people. This was a sight to see!

The bridge offered fantastic views of the city, even in this gloomy weather.

My meter was expiring, and I had no more coins left (imagine putting $2.25 an hour in dimes?). I decided I had enough of this downtown experience (do people live there?) and headed to a more peaceful part of the town exploring a few grocery stores. Unfortunately, they did not impress me one bit. A "health" food store lacked healthy items or variety, for that matter, and charged California prices on everything. I bought a few cans of kombucha which turned out to be with hemp oil later, and stopped by Alexey's Market where I bought a couple of things including sunflower seeds and some pastry. The owner is from Ukraine, so we exchanged a few words about the devastation of the war. 

I also visited an Asian store, but was disappointed with its variety, although it was a large store. I later went to Trader Joes to buy some missing items on my list and a book store, well, just to smell the books, before heading home.

It was a good first trip. Next week I am planning to return for the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival!