I’ve been wanting to go back to Shakertown for a long time…and it had been put off several times until this week! After several days of rescheduling it even during the week, we finally picked a day to go. While we didn’t have time to tour Shakertown, we did have to go take a boat ride down the Kentucky River.
After about a 25 mile drive west of Lexington to Harrodsburg, we bought our tickets and then drove down this tiny tiny road to the boat dock. There were quite a few people out for the ride. We learned that due to high waters, the boat ride had been cancelled earlier in the week. We were glad we had rescheduled, for we wouldn’t have gotten to do what we set to do!
After everyone settled in on the boat, our tour guide headed us down the river. He spoke about High Bridge, a very very high bridge that is used for railroads. We learned that the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge designed the first High Bridge, which was built in 1877. A second one had to be built in order to hold the weight of newer, larger trains. He also told us about High Bridge Park, which used to be a big destination for people to come for shows, gambling, and the like back in the 1930s. People used to be able to take a train from Cincinnati and spend the day here for $1.
The rest of our ride then took us down the Kentucky River and the Palisades, a very tall cliff following along the river. We also passed the confluence of the Dix River. A few miles from this confluence is a hydroelectric dam and Herrington Lake. The dam is so large making the lake very deep. This is makes the water in the Dix River really cold.
We then went up a little further and our guide spoke about the flooding that has happened and all the wildlife seen here. We even saw some houses that had been swept up along a cliff! our guide said you could often see deer, coyote, turtles (which is all we saw), bobcats, and even wild goats!
Lastly, our guide told us about their escapade down the river when the flood swept the boat away and even over a dam! They ended up having to drive the boat back since it had crossed the dam.
I managed to snap this shot as we pulled into the harbor next to Shakertown. All in all a very fun trip and it would go highly recommended by me. The captain was very knowledgable of the area and had several stories to keep the audience occupied. I really enjoyed the scenery and getting to do something different in the Lexington area. I really appreciate Katrina’s interest in going here and I am very glad it finally worked out that we could go this time around. I would really like to go back and visit the Shakertown community during another visit.
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