Greetings friends. Still hungover from the Bahamas? Yeah, me too. Grab yourself a Bloody Mary and let's caving ... in Carter County!
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Carter County[/caption]
Carter County became our 88th county when it was founded in 1838 from parts of Greenup and Lawrence counties. Carter County is named for
William Grayson Carter, a sitting senator at the time of its creation. With the county seat being Grayson, you may have thought what I thought, Willy G had the county named for his last name with a city for his middle name. And like me, you'd be wrong. The city of Grayson is actually named for his uncle, Robert Grayson. And that's all I have to say about that.
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This is the only picture I could find of William G. Carter, from his Twitter profile.[/caption]
With having two great small towns like
Grayson and
Olive Hill just minutes apart, Carter County residents and visitors have the double the opportunity to enjoy events in both. We can hit the
Memory Days on Memorial Day weekend in Grayson for some food, fun and reflection then head over the fair grounds for
Carter County Thunder on 4th of July weekend. When the cold weather starts creeping in, we can enjoy some warm apple cider and hot chili at
Funtober Fest while carving us up our UK pumpkin. We can end the year caroling and sipping hot chocolate at
Hometown Holidays. Most importantly though, don't forget, the
Corn Maze opens September 21st! And as with all of our small Kentucky towns, there are some good eats to be had in Carter County. Over in Olive Hill you can check out Pure Pit BBQ or Walker's Family Restaurant before grabbing dessert at
Beyond Sweets. In Grayson we have reservations at Estep's Family Restaurant on West Main before losing our self respect by eating every delicious morsel inside
Mama Hazel's Bakery. Red velvet cake for everyone.
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Every corn maze reminds me of The Shining. Which is why I stay away. But you enjoy. www.cartercountyfair.org[/caption]
When talking Carter County, most folks will recognize the name due to one of the state's prettiest parks,
Carter Caves State Resort Park. The park is formed by the
Carter Cave system as well as the
Cascade Cave system. The park itself offers a large lodge/hotel as well as cottages that are available for rent. There is also a large campground for those of you that like to 'rough' it in your RVs that are bigger and nicer than my apartment. Once the wheels are down, there are enough activities to fill your entire week. If you're looking to do a little hiking, there are short trails like the
Natural Bridge Trail (0.5 mi.) and
Raven Bridge Trail (0.7 mi.) for starters as well as longer trails like
4Cs Carter Caves Cross Country Trail (8.3 mi) and the beast
Kiser Hollow Trail (9 mi.) for those of you looking to see the whole park. Not into all that walking? Have a horse do it for you. Guided horseback tours take you down trails around the park so you can enjoy the nature without the sweat. There's biking, fishing, canoeing, golf and even an 18 hole mini golf course. But you're not there to do that stuff.
You want to get your spelunking on. There are multiple cave tours available for all walks/crawls of life. For those of you not so down with small spaces, you can take the walking tours through the
X-Cave and see its Great Chandelier,
Cascade Cave's waterfalls and pools or
Saltpetre Cave's War of 1812 importance. As for those of you not as claustrophobic as me, there are also crawling tours through
Bat Cave (not that Bat Cave) as well as Saltpetre. No thank you.
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Cascade Cave[/caption]
There we are. Send the kids over to putt putt and let them know we're starting the grill at 6. Ya'll have a good weekend and we'll be back next week as we head back up north and check out
Kenton County!
Remember, if you want your county’s favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant, or cool town event featured, hit me up at [email protected] and we’ll get it on here!
Every corn maze reminds me of The Shining. Which is why I stay away. But you enjoy. www.cartercountyfair.org[/caption]
When talking Carter County, most folks will recognize the name due to one of the state's prettiest parks, Carter Caves State Resort Park. The park is formed by the Carter Cave system as well as the Cascade Cave system. The park itself offers a large lodge/hotel as well as cottages that are available for rent. There is also a large campground for those of you that like to 'rough' it in your RVs that are bigger and nicer than my apartment. Once the wheels are down, there are enough activities to fill your entire week. If you're looking to do a little hiking, there are short trails like the Natural Bridge Trail (0.5 mi.) and Raven Bridge Trail (0.7 mi.) for starters as well as longer trails like 4Cs Carter Caves Cross Country Trail (8.3 mi) and the beast Kiser Hollow Trail (9 mi.) for those of you looking to see the whole park. Not into all that walking? Have a horse do it for you. Guided horseback tours take you down trails around the park so you can enjoy the nature without the sweat. There's biking, fishing, canoeing, golf and even an 18 hole mini golf course. But you're not there to do that stuff. You want to get your spelunking on. There are multiple cave tours available for all walks/crawls of life. For those of you not so down with small spaces, you can take the walking tours through the X-Cave and see its Great Chandelier, Cascade Cave's waterfalls and pools or Saltpetre Cave's War of 1812 importance. As for those of you not as claustrophobic as me, there are also crawling tours through Bat Cave (not that Bat Cave) as well as Saltpetre. No thank you.
[caption id="attachment_162940" align="aligncenter" width="350"]
Cascade Cave[/caption]
There we are. Send the kids over to putt putt and let them know we're starting the grill at 6. Ya'll have a good weekend and we'll be back next week as we head back up north and check out Kenton County!
Remember, if you want your county’s favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant, or cool town event featured, hit me up at [email protected] and we’ll get it on here!
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