Tag: Kentucky

Categories
Blogging Geography Travel

The Bluegrass State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m looking forward to my upcoming cruise on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The two rivers actually connect via the manmade 1.75-mile Barkley Canal in southwestern Kentucky. It was built by the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, and opened in 1966. Both rivers flow northward into the Ohio River about 25 to 30 miles north of the canal.

9 weeks ago in late-June I wrote about Kentucky in the build-up to my originally-scheduled cruise via American Cruise Lines. That cruise was unfortunately cancelled, and now I’m rebooked on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers cruise. Kentucky is the only common denominator between the two cruises. My originally-scheduled cruise would have started in Louisville and sailed upstream along the Ohio River to Pittsburgh.

My new cruise spends much of a day in Kentucky – sailing down the Tennessee (towards the Ohio), docking alongside Grand Rivers for about 8½ hours, traversing the Barkley Canal, and then sailing up the Cumberland (away from the Ohio) towards Nashville. I’ll write about the Grand Rivers and Nashville ports-of-call in a few weeks.

Incidentally – I’ve already booked my next cruise after that for the Summer of 2027, and it’s the same Ohio River cruise that I was supposed to be on this past July, but on a different ship. (American Cruise Lines runs 28 small ships with an active order of 10 new ships to be delivered through 2028.)

An extra day and night has been added to the Ohio River cruise itinerary. It starts in Louisville. I may actually opt to fly in a day early so that I can do some sightseeing in downtown Louisville for a full day prior to the cruise. There are a few museums that I’d like to check out including the Frazier Kentucky History Museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Both are about a 15-minute walk from the hotel that the cruise line uses.

Louisville – “Derby City” – is by far Kentucky’s largest city with a population of almost 650,000. It’s located in Kentucky’s most populous county – Jefferson – where about 800,000 residents call home. Over 1.6 million residents live in the Louisville metropolitan area including adjacent counties in southern Indiana.

Next #SundayScripture – I’m visiting Homestead Florida. Check it out here at revchrismday.com.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Chattanooga Tennessee. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Geography Travel

My Replacement Cruise

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. So let’s recap. After 24 cruises at sea via Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Disney – I declared that my 24TH cruise (and 16TH on Carnival) would be my final cruise ever. It was one of my greatest cruises ever on the newest and biggest ship I’d ever been on. (That was 3½ years ago in January 2023.)

Fast forward to 2025, and I was getting that cruise feeling again. Ads in print and on television for American Cruise Lines were increasingly intriguing to me. Research ensued, and during the final week of February 2026 I booked my cruise online on the Ohio River for nearly 5 months later during the latter portion of July 2026.

As I revealed in last week’s #TravelThursday (and to some museum friends a few weeks earlier) – that cruise was cancelled due to emergency drydock repairs that had to be made to the ship that I was booked on. (The ship was repaired within a week down in the Louisiana Bayou, and it resumed its regularly-scheduled voyages on the Ohio River starting with the immediate cruise after the one that I was booked on.)

I was given 3 options to proceed. One of the options was a definite no-go for me – a full refund of my cruise. Nope. I didn’t want my money back. I want to cruise a river. I want to see America. And I want to do so as soon as possible.

The other 2 options were enticing to me for different reasons. One of the options was to rebook on a 16-day / 15-night Grand Ohio Cruise for no additional charge. In other words – nearly double the cruise that I was originally booked on. It was a repositioning cruise at the end of the ship’s Ohio River season in late-August into early-September from Pittsburgh all the way to St. Louis. It would travel the entire length of the Ohio River downstream (981 miles), and then up the Mississippi River a bit (195 miles). YES PLEASE !

The caveat for that is that there must be a single balcony stateroom available on that cruise (which is what I booked for my original cruise). For a couple of days – there was one available. And then there wasn’t.

Oh well – it’s on to the last remaining option, and it’s a good one too. Choose any upcoming 9-day / 8-night cruise anywhere (among 28 ships and 50+ itineraries), and rebook for no additional charge – AND – get 30% off my next cruise after that. YES PLEASE !

I already knew which cruise I wanted to book. It would’ve been my Spring or Summer 2027 cruise that I would’ve booked during the original Ohio River cruise. It’s on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers through Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. It runs between Chattanooga and Nashville (both directions). I’ll be flying in to Chattanooga the day before the cruise. Ports-of-call are Decatur / Huntsville Alabama, Florence Alabama, Savannah Tennessee, Paducah / Grand Rivers Kentucky, and finally Nashville. I’ll be flying out of Nashville. Airfare is included, and American Cruise Lines books the flights based upon my requests.

Incidentally – I plan to use the 30% off my next cruise after that – on the Ohio River cruise in Summer 2027. Starting with next season – it becomes a 10-day / 9-night cruise with an additional port-of-call added. (I believe it’ll be Wheeling West Virginia.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Volunteer State” – Tennessee. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Football Geography Holidays Sports Television Travel Wrestling

The Hoosier State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Indiana. I have lots of neighbors and friends who are either from Indiana, or still live there during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn months as “snowbirds” who return to Sebring each winter season.

My first visit to Indiana was a drive-through way back at the end of October of 1985 as an 18-year-old. I had just graduated from Tech School at Chanute Air Force Base adjacent to Rantoul Illinois, and I was driving back to my teenage home in Fairfax County Virginia to visit my parents, brother, and cat. I entered Indiana via I-74, and I took that to the south leg of I-465. I picked-up I-70 on the east leg of the Indianapolis Beltway, and I took I-70 all the way into Maryland to I-270, I-495, and then home across the Potomac River.

When my brother and his family lived in the Cincinnati area from 2013 to 2019 – we drove through Indiana often whenever I visited. A 3-mile portion of I-275 around Cincinnati is in southeastern Indiana. Whenever my brother picked me up or took me to the airport in Northern Kentucky we went around the west side of I-275 – to include that 3-mile portion of Indiana.

But we also visited Indianapolis in consecutive Novembers. In 2014 me and my brother went to Lucas Oil Stadium to see our Washington Redskins (at the time) take on the Indianapolis Colts. The following year we went to Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now known as Gainbridge Fieldhouse) to see a Tuesday night taping of WWE Smackdown (broadcast on Thursday nights back then).

My last day in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky was the day after Thanksgiving of 2018 when my brother took me to the airport for my flight back home to Miami. (My brother and his family moved back to the Dallas Texas area in 2019.)

Soon I’ll be visiting Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky again as part of my Ohio River cruise. On the second day of the cruise we’ll be docking in Madison Indiana – a historic Ohio River town that was founded in 1809. I’ll be part of a small group taking a guided walking tour of the Madison Historic Landmark District.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Buckeye State” – Ohio. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography Nature Shopping Travel

The Bluegrass State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This post is all about the great state of Kentucky. My first visit to Kentucky occurred a few days before the 4TH Of July in 2005. My brother was living in Dublin Ohio (just outside of Columbus). I flew to Columbus, and then we embarked on a fun road-trip together that took us up to Windsor Ontario Canada (via Detroit). We then took I-75 all the way southward through Cincinnati and into Northern Kentucky. We spent the night at a hotel right next to the Ohio River off (and below) the Interstate. We drove around Covington and Newport and discovered the Newport On The Levee shopping, dining, and entertainment complex overlooking the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline. That was a fun first visit into Kentucky – 21 years ago.

My brother had no idea whatsoever that he would eventually live in the Cincinnati area, but that’s exactly what happened 8 years later in 2013. He moved from the Dallas Texas area to West Chester Township – a northern suburb of Cincinnati. My first trip to his new house was actually part of a 15-day / 13-state / 3,666-mile road-trip from November 16TH to 30TH of 2013. On the 6TH day I drove from the Wichita Falls Texas area to the Saint Louis Missouri area. The next day I drove I-270, I-255, I-55, I-70, I-465, I-74, I-275, and I-75 to my brother’s house. On the day after Thanksgiving (returning southward) I drove through the heart of Kentucky along I-75.

Fun Fact: My Saturn Ion 3 Sedan (my longest-running car ever) had a little over 100,000 miles on it when I started the road-trip. At the end of the road trip – a little over 104,000 miles.

I did one more road-trip to and from Southwestern Ohio through Kentucky while my brother lived there. That was in November 2017, and on my return trip southward I got to explore the Creation Museum along I-275, and Sanders Cafe & Museum – where Kentucky Fried Chicken started in Corbin.

Most of my trips to and from the Cincinnati area were through Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport (#CVG). I loved that airport.

My brother and his family moved back to the Dallas Texas area in 2019, and I must say that I miss visiting Ohio and Kentucky. I was actually planning my next road-trip to and from the Cincinnati area where I would explore more of Kentucky either on the way up or on the way down. I really wanted to check out Mammoth Cave National Park off I-65. I’m not ruling out a future trip to Kentucky to explore it as well as other areas in the state.

Soon I’ll be flying in to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (#SDF) for my Ohio River cruise. I’ll get to see a small portion of Louisville – the 7 miles from the airport to the hotel to the ship on the banks of the Ohio River. And then I’ll get to see Northern Kentucky for the first 4 days of the cruise on the starboard side of the ship.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll look back at past visits to “The Hoosier State” – Indiana. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp