One of the things we did while vacationing at the farm this summer was right down the road from our place.
Right outside of Harrodsburg is a 3000 acre historic site called
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.
It was one of the western locations of shakers who came from the New York area.
It was in operation from the early 1800's until 1923 when the last active member died leaving the property to a local merchant.
The town's restoration was begun in the 1961.
Many of the original buildings have been fully restored and are open to the public for tours.
I was very taken with the craftsmanship and quality of everything these people made.
I was somewhat familiar with the shaker style of furniture, but had no idea of the whole history behind the name.
Yep, celibacy was the law of the day!
A bit weird if I may say so.
After a couple hours of walking around on a very hot day looking at the sights in Shaker Village, we drove a mile or so down the bluffs to the Kentucky River where the Shakers had a riverboat landing to ship their products on down the river to sell in cities along the way.
We enjoyed a very hot paddle boat ride aboard the Dixie Belle up the Kentucky River.
The scenery was great.
The narration along the way was interesting.
The thermometer was reading a bit too warm though.
We all would have enjoyed it more had it not been so blazing hot out.
We passed under High Bridge which was built in 1877 and is still used by a limited number of trains today.
It was a fun trip for the kids.
This is the landing itself where we started and ended our trip. The bluffs are so high here it had the feeling as if you were at the bottom of the world being here.
I hope someday to go back and explore the many buildings we missed this trip.
I would love to learn more of the history of the shakers and their way of life.
If nothing else, I'd love to go again to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
If you want to see for yourself what the area has to offer you can click on the link here and go to their website
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