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May 17, 2008
We woke early and headed out about 7:30 going north to Elizabethtown or as the locales call it "E-town". We set out GPS to find the location of the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia. It did not take nearly as long to get there as we thought it would. We discovered that the museum would not open until 10:00 and so we decided to visit the historic downtown. I was excited to find signs outside the courthouse (Hardin County) about one of my great grandfathers, John Hardin.
We walked around a bit and then after stopping in a Walgreen's, we decided to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel so Pat could get his supply of Necco wafers. We got 10 rolls along with a book I found a book called "1000 places to see before you die". It looks like it will be a fun book to go through to see how many more places we have to go.
By the time we finished the Coca-Cola museum was just opening. It was wonderful. We really learned a lot and this place has the largest supply of memorabilia in the world.
The Schmidt Museum exhibits, selected from what is recognized as the world's largest privately owned collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia. There are over 10,000 square feet of exhibits featuring thousands of antiques and artifacts dating back to Coca-Cola's very beginnings in 1886. There was jewelry, bottles, toys, a hug Santa display, calendars, bottling equipment, vending machines, neon and outdoor signs, antique delivery trucks and the only complete collection of Coca-Cola serving trays known to exist. There was even a vending machine that dispenses 6 packs. We did not ever know that there was a Coca-Cola gum that was made for a short period of time. At the conclusion of the tour there was a gift shop and of course I ended up buying a Christmas tree ornament and I also found two of the Coca-Cola paper weights with a 1975 and a 1976 silver coin encased. For a nickel we could also buy a Coke or cherry Coke.
Our next stop was "My Old Kentucky Home" state park. This was a house, Federal Hill owned by the Rowan family. Their cousin Stephen Collins Foster used this house when writing his famous ballad and consequently the State song of Kentucky. We saw a film and took a tour of the house. Today, this Georgian-style mansion is as endearing to visitors as it was in 1852.
www.parks.ky.gov
We then decided to head to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. On the way we first encountered his boyhood home. There was a ranger there to tell us bout the house ad the area. We traveled about 10 miles further and came to the famous log cabin birthplace. They have constructed a mini replica of the Lincoln Memorial covering the fragile log cabin. Here again there was a film to watch.
We finally started our trek home and stopped at a rest stop in order to make our calls to Jennifer and Danny.
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