Photos by John Nation
BOWLING GREEN BOUND
Situated between Mammoth Cave National Park to its north and Nashville to the south, Bowling Green often goes undetected by drivers on I-65. But southern Kentucky’s largest city, population 50,000, offers its own version of caverns and culture well suited for a short getaway weekend.
Friday Evening
After the two-hour ride to Exit 26 (Hwy. 234), head straight for Main Street and Fountain Square Park. This tiny nucleus of the city, with its fountain and quadrangle of green, is bordered by an interesting mix of tobacconists, clothing shops, antique dealers, bars and restaurants — perfect for a bit of leg-stretching. Recommended: the spinach and artichoke dip appetizer on sidewalk tables at 440 Main Restaurant & Bar (270-793-0450).
Chestnut Street, which runs along a historic district sprinkled with beautiful old homes, passes a romantic 1857 red-brick residence that’s been converted into an eatery serving Old World food with a new-school touch. Brickyard Cafe (1026 Chestnut St., 270-843-6431) is owned by immigrants from Yugoslavia — one a former Bosnian restaurateur, the other a baker trained in Croatia — and its Italian-Mediterranean menu shines with sure-handed work in the kitchen. We marveled at the eggplant Parmesan, a non-breaded delicacy with a slightly briny bl/files/storyimages/of imported Italian Romano and Parmesan cheeses. Don’t forget to ask for the baked-daily Italian flatbread.
Chain hotel accommodations appear to be the best bet for an evening’s rest.
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 | Boat tours into Lost River Cave, Brie puff pastry and porch dining at Brickyard Cafe, a view of Fountain Square Park and surprise finds at the Kentucky Museum. |
Saturday Morning
At Teresa’s (509 Gordon Ave., 270-782-6540) staffers wear T-shirts that announce "I’m not Teresa" and the proprietor of 17 years has her own that says "I’m the Queen Bee." Well, the Queen Bee serves breakfast from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. ("Closed Sundays to serve God and our families") with recipes made from scratch the way she learned them growing up in nearby Morgantown. Biscuits and a Western omelet (with fresh mushrooms and sausage as well as ham) were enough to keep us going all day long. Lunch is also offered.
The campus of Western Kentucky University presides over the town from on high (thus the Hilltoppers) and the school’s eminence is reinforced at the Kentucky Museum (270-745-2592). Less a studiously curated exhibition space and more a potpourri of artifacts from the region, it entertains with surprises — a landscape photo from a 19th-century church outing at a lake, elaborately printed flour sacks, Victorian hatboxes, even a 150-year-old milepost from the old Nashville-to-Louisville turnpike. The attitude seems to be: If it’s interesting, we’ll find a place for it. Its randomness is its charm.
Saturday Afternoon
Nostalgia for blue highway road trips will set in on a visit to Lost River Cave (2818 Nashville Road, 270-393-0077). The massive cave mouth swallows a stream of flowing water directly underneath US 31W southwest of downtown, and its unusual geography has attracted a good bit of history and lore. Guides will float stories about disappearing Civil War soldiers, Jesse James on the lam, a flooded-out mill, the nation’s first "air-conditioned" nightclub (on the cave’s floor) and a sordid recent past as Warren County’s top illegal dump site. The slightly kitchy, but still fascinating, tour provides relatively little time on a boat inside the cave, but it’s enough to appreciate how this natural wonder has drawn humans for as long as they’ve traveled through the area.
Dinner plans should take you back downtown for upscale dishes at the aforementioned 440 Main or dressed-up pub food at a favorite local haunt, Mariah’s 1818 (801 State St., 270-842-2466).
The Ride Back
Break up the return to Louisville with stops at nearby Smiths Grove and Glasgow to scout their antique districts or head a few miles up I-65 to Mammoth Cave and tours of the mother of all caverns.
— Bruce Allar
Setting Sail for Columbus
Adjacent Brown County grabs most of the autumnal attention, but Indiana’s Bartholomew County holds a municipal trump card: architecture-rich Columbus, whose front door — the phantasmagoric Second Street Bridge, completed in 1999 — leads you to imagine you’re entering a cousin of Disney World. And it is a Disney World of sorts for those interested in storied international architects — Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Cesar Pelli, Richard Meier, Harry Weese, Kevin Roche, Gunnar Birkerts, Paul Kennon, Norman Fletcher and many more — who turned an already well-preserved town of 40,000 people into a mecca for Modern-architecture fans.
Check-In
Optimally located in the heart of downtown, just across the street from another refurbished and redesigned 19th-century structure, the Columbus Visitors Center (800-468-6564; www.columbus.in.us), the Romanesque-style Columbus Inn features 29 rooms and five suites in what used to be the community’s city hall (445 Fifth St.; 812-378-4289; www.thecolumbusinn.com). The nice-sized rooms have solid-cherry sleigh beds with wonderfully thick white cotton coverlets and down pillows. Two-person rack rates start at $119 per night (the two-floor Sparrell Suite costs $270) and include a breakfast buffet.
Friday Evening
As you leave the inn for dinner, look back and take in its kind-of-spooky medieval architecture, an effect you’ll see echoed in a few of the Modern structures (including Harry Weese’s moat-worthy First Baptist Church, completed in 1965). Now, as darkness settles in, check out the stupendous, neon-lit Dale Chihuly chandelier in a ground-to-eve window of the Visitors Center. Then walk a block west on Fifth Street and behold the giant Henry Moore arch (1971) in front of the I.M. Pei-designed Cleo Rogers Memorial Library (1969). OK, now you can eat (if you made a reservation) at local institution Smith’s Row, a two-story restaurant with a New Orleans-style iron porch, snazzy interior, delicious freshly baked bread and a fantastic sweet-pepper pork porterhouse chop (418 Fourth St.; 812-373-9382). For those interested in a more adventurous menu, nearby Bistro 310 (Commons Mall; 812-376-7650) will fill the bill.
While walking off dinner, be sure to stroll over to Friendship Way, between Fourth and Fifth, and see the hypnotic multicolored light show installed in 1998 by neon sculptor Cork Marcheschi.
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 | Picture-perfect Irwin Home and Gardens (top left). St. Peter’s Lutheran Church (top right) and the Arvin Meritor Data Center (left); daytime and Knight time (middle) in Nashville. |
Saturday Morning
Long story short: After Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen designed the downtown’s First Christian Church in 1942, city philanthropist J. Irwin Miller — whose family owned mega-employer Cummins Engine Co. as well as a bank — decided to pay the architectural fees of any new public structure whose designer came from a list of architects he selected. Soon private-sector concerns caught the fever, resulting in more than 70 Modern-architecture marvels — churches, schools, fire stations, hospitals, museums, senior centers, government buildings, businesses and even the clubhouse of Otter Creek Golf Course, a 27-hole championship layout designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1964. The unusual Modern treasure trove (the American Institute of Architects grouped Columbus with Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Washington for architectural innovation) will take at least three or four hours to explore, especially if you include interiors, which I highly recommend. Buy the $2 tour map at the Visitors Center and set out on the morning bus tour (10 a.m., $10 adults) or on your own. Begin it, though, at the peaceful and gorgeous Irwin Home and Gardens on Fifth Street next to the Henry Moore sculpture. Tip: If you want to see inside churches (before noon), go to the church offices and ask for permission, which they’ll readily give.
Saturday Afternoon/Evening
Side trip time, a 20-mile jaunt to Gatlinburgish Nashville, Ind. No less a source than Gourmet magazine recommends lunch at Gnaw Bone Food & Fuel, a rough-around-the-edges place about three-quarters of the way there. What Gourmet (and the Today Show crew) went gaga over was the oven-mitt-size Gnaw Bone Tenderloin sandwich, a pounded, breaded and deep-fried meal in itself. I might pass that up and catch a bite at Nashville’s That Sandwich Place, a not-to-be-missed rowdy but sacred memorial to Hoosier hero Bobby Knight. Or order Lucie’s Pot Pie at the picturesque Artists Colony Inn, and come back for a surprisingly good dinner. Dessert? I have never seen a town with more homemade ice cream shops to choose from. If you happen to hit Nashville on Sept. 2, 3, 16 or 23, take in a 20-minute skit by the half-life-size characters of the Melchior Marionette Theatre ($4; 800-849-4853). Oh, and be sure to visit the old jail before heading back to Columbus. You won’t regret it.
Sunday morning
Want to take part in a truly Modern church service before heading home? Ask the Visitors Center for Sunday-service schedules for any of these architectural gems: St. Peter’s Lutheran, North Christian, St. Bartholomew Catholic, First Baptist, or the spot where Columbus’ Modern miracle began, First Christian.
— Jack Welch
Bluegrass Break
Now that the weather is once again bearable, take a short drive to central Kentucky and straight into the history of the Bluegrass.
Check-In
Surrounded by one of the state’s famous dry-stack rock fences, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill ($85-$225 per night, 800-734-5611, www.shakervillageky.org) offers a tranquil spot to sp/files/storyimages/your first afternoon — and night. Rooms, suites and houses are furnished with simple but comfortable (think Tempur-Pedic mattresses and feather pillows) replica furniture.
Friday Afternoon
Tour the village, replete with costumed workers full of interesting facts about the Shaker way of life. Two things to check out in September: a re-enactment of a Civil War encampment (the Shakers housed and fed members of both armies) and a Shaker chair-making workshop.
Friday Evening
Mosey on over to the Trustees’ Office dining room, where evening meals are served from 5:30-8:30 p.m. daily (reservations recommended). The decor of the dining room and dress of the servers keep with the Shaker tradition, but, thankfully, the tables are now coed. Choose from a nice selection of soups, salads and country entrees — fried chicken, country ham, baked rainbow trout — while bread, family-style vegetables and relish bowls are passed around.
Saturday Morning
Grab your bags (unless you want to make Shaker Village your full-stay base camp) and head south on KY 33 toward Danville. For breakfast, stop at the corner of 33 and KY 152 in Burgin. Inside the Village Inn (859-748-5943) — full of smiling regulars, some toting tomatoes from their own gardens to garnish their dishes — you can get a satisfying breakfast for two for under $10. Bring cash; no credit cards accepted.
On Main Street in Danville, check out the reconstructed buildings of Constitution Square and stand in the spot where the Kentucky Constitution was signed. At the /files/storyimages/of First Street, explore the Bellevue Cemetery’s centuries-old grave markers. The new Jones Visual Arts Center at Centre College (www.centre.edu) houses works by, and is the primary studio of, glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. For lunch, stop at the Fourth Street local gem Freddie’s (859-236-9884), whose name belies its Italian menu. The interior’s split personality will give you plenty to look at: One room resembles a Norman Rockwellian diner, the other a faux Italian villa. No credit cards.
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 | A Civil War re-enactment at Perryville. Shakertown and (clockwise) Penn’s store, the Itchy Dog, Harrodsburg’s Kentucky Fudge Company and the town’s downtown district. |
Saturday Afternoon
After lunch, take a detour on the way to Perryville by following US 127 south through Junction City to KY 37 west. Follow 37 for 15 or so miles and turn left at KY 243 to stop at Penn’s Store (www.pennsstore.com). The general store has been in the Penn family since 1850 and shows it; not much has changed in the past 150 years, inside or out. Sit a spell, inspect the outhouse visited by Chet Atkins, and then head north through Gravel Switch and meet up with KY 68 toward Perryville.
Sp/files/storyimages/what’s left of the afternoon on a walking tour of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site (859-332-8631, www.battleofperryville.com), where a Civil War bloodbath left more than 7,500 casualties in its wake. Then stop at the 19th-century mercantile district, Merchant’s Row (Buell Street), along the Chaplin River. The Itchy Dog (859-583-4302, open Saturday and by appointment only) is an antique store worthy of exploration, with everything from a Civil War-era coffin to rare books.
Saturday Evening
Follow US 127 north to Harrodsburg, the first English settlement in Kentucky. Check into one of many B&B’s or stay at the 90-year-old Beaumont Inn ($89-$185, 859-734-3381). Enjoy an evening of drinks (yeah, booze is allowed in Mercer County), upscale bar food and chatting with other travelers at the Inn’s newest attachment, the modern Old Owl Tavern.
Sunday Morning
Eat a calorie-laden country breakfast at the Beaumont Inn, the price of which is included in your stay. Visit the Old Fort Harrod State Park (859-734-3314), featuring a full-scale replica of Harrod’s Fort, costumed craftworkers, a pioneer cemetery and the Mansion Museum. Before leaving town, stop in at the Kentucky Fudge Company on South Main Street (www.kentuckyfudgecompany.com). Grab a light, cheap meal — the most expensive sandwich is a Reuben for $3.69 — and follow it with an ice cream cone. The interior is lined with glass cabinets displaying bits of Americana like old medicine bottles, RC Cola bottles and circa-1950 advertisements.
— Katie Brown
