North America Travel

Horse Racing Culture

Louisville, Kentucky

by Roy A. Barnes

Kentucky and the city of Louisville are to horses what North Carolina is to NASCAR. I got a chance to see some of the inner workings of Churchill Downs while meeting some very famous world class athletic celebrities of the four-footed kind, then relaxed at a horse racing-themed bar.

See World Class Athletes Up Close and Personal

“Only horses don’t have grandmothers like we do.”
“Oh don’t they just!”
– From the 1967 Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.

And boy does it matter, too, about the grandmothers of the horses! Many people think that it’s the stallions that make or break whether a potential horse will be a champion racer. But in order for a filly to be able to even have the chance to breed with one of the high quality stallions, she has to have come from quality lines, too. I learned this from my visit to the 2,000 acre complex of Three Chimneys Horse Farm which is a little over an hour’s drive from downtown Louisville in settings that can truly be described as picturesque and pastoral. This farm is home to numerous champions, including Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup winners.

The philosophy of ownership is that the fans really count in the sport of horse racing so they’ve made the place accessible to them. Guests can meet, greet, and pose with some quality horses like the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winner Big Brown and Dynaformer (father of deceased Kentucky Derby winner and fan favorite Barbaro). Dynaformer’s offspring have won more than 75 million dollars from racing. The Queen of England, movie stars, and politicians have visited this horse farm, but hey, even us commoners can partake in something that the rich and famous have frequented. I was told by our tour guide Jen that most horse farms aren’t really accessible to the public. Three Chimneys also does their best to implement “green”, eco-friendly practices wherever possible in their operations.

Accessible Celebrities!

I got to visit Smarty Jones (the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who’s currently residing in Pennsylvania). He came up to his stable door. How I wanted to pet him, but I was told that he has a tendency to bite, so I couldn’t. He was let out by one of the staff so I could pose with him, though for legal reasons involving the horses’ images, visitors can only show their photos offline to others.

I also got to see where the horses are allowed to run around. The stallions were alone in each of their paddocks because of their aggressive nature, including Sky Mesa, who saw us from afar and came up to the fence wanting to be petted, longing for some affection! But again, I was told by Jen not to. It seems that Sky Mesa likes to put on an act, and may bite your arm once you let your guard down!

In case you’re wondering how much the stud fee is for Dynaformer, it’s currently $150,000, and the breeding is very controlled and videotaped. For Big Brown, the stud fee is $40,000. The stallions can only breed at most 110 times during the breeding season because the ownership doesn’t want the market over-saturated. Beeding season takes place from February through mid-June, and not every filly can breed just because money is offered. Three Chimney’s Pedigree Specialist screens out many potential mates.

Captivated by History and Tradition

The Kentucky Derby is the longest consecutive running sporting event in America. Since 1875, 136 of these annual horse races have been run at Churchill Downs through 2010. Seeing it on TV all these years didn’t prepare me for the draw it would have on me while visiting. I stayed there some four hours, and could’ve spent much more easily as I took three tours and visited the on site museum. It’s one of the few places in the world that I felt glued to because of the ambience, the tradition, and incredible history that makes up the 160 acre complex. I am not usually a fan of guided tours, but I found their guides to be quite engaging.

I arrived early one autumn morning for the hour long Barn and Backside Van Tour, which offers visitors the chance to see the race horses train on the fabled track from the opposite side of the grandstands near the stables, which house more than 1,400 race horses as well as dorms for the employees. This guided tour provides some history and other many interesting facts about the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs. In 1937, it only cost 50 cents to watch the race in the infield, yet today to be able to hang out there, it will put you back some $40, even though your chances of seeing any of the race are virtually nil. Each year, some 100,000 people converge there to hang out and say they were a part of history.

Next, I took the 30 minute Historic Guided Walking Tour (which is included with the museum admission price), which allowed guests to go into the main grandstand and take photos of the winner’s circle across the track if we wanted to.

I was about to go into the museum when I heard a 90 minute Behind The Scenes Tour was about to happen. I felt led to take it, and I’m glad I did! Fans get to see such places as the clubhouse and locker room for the male jockeys, as well as find out about how these athletes must all be the same weight for the Kentucky Derby (126 pounds, but 121 if they ride a filly). It’s done by adding extra padding until the weight is reached. I also found out that jockeys wear several pairs of goggles around their eyes, so if one pair gets wet or soiled, they can de-layer for a clean one. We also got to go to the press area, Millionaires’ Row seating, and the track announcer’s booth. Believe me, this 90 minutes goes by too fast!

As for the Kentucky Derby Museum, one can easily spend many hours in this area admiring and learning about horse racing from the two floors of exhibits, including film footage of most of the past Kentucky Derbys. I watched the 1977 Kentucky Derby in the “Time Machine” exhibit. That particular race was the first one I remember watching as a kid, as I saw my favorite race horse of all time Seattle Slew overcome a bad start to win, and then go on to win the Triple Crown, the second to last horse to do so.

I learned at the “Winner’s Stable” exhibit that Seattle Slew was bought for a mere $17,500, and this interactive exhibit lets you pick up a phone receiver to hear commentary on him as well as other great Derby champions who have their own sections.

One exhibit not to miss here is the 360 degree theatre presentation called “The Greatest Race” (viewers constantly are turning around in the theater), which highlights the last Kentucky Derby run as well as goes behind the scenes of Derby Day.

Horse-Themed Bourbon Experience

After a day of admiring racing horses, a great place to relax for a drink is the Old Seelbach Bar in downtown Louisville. The Seelbach Bar has many pictures of race horses hanging on its early 1900’s restored walls, including some Kentucky Derby winners. Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald sipped bourbon here? The hotel itself was a setting for his novel The Great Gatsby, a place where the fictional hometown girl Daisy Buchanan may have actually gotten drunk because of her forthcoming sham wedding to Tom Buchanan!

We really got fast and friendly service one late Sunday afternoon in a rather dark setting with few people surrounding us. One of my friends commented on how she really liked dark settings for bars as I was drinking a bourbon cocktail called an Old Fashioned that was made with Maker’s Mark bourbon, a cherry, and some slices of oranges. I was told by the bartender that the Old Fashioned was invented in Louisville.

The bartender gladly gave me extra syrup so my drink was rather fiery in scent and strong in taste, but really sweet, too! I even sampled one of their house specials, a drink that really went down smoothly and had a distinctly fruity taste, for it contained Old Forrester Bourbon, triple sec, Angostura and Reychaud Bitters, plus some Korbel Champagne.

Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries Tour from Louisville

If You Go:

Three Chimneys Horse Farm (about 75 minutes drive from downtown Louisville, Kentucky): 1981 Old Frankfurt Pike, Versailles, Kentucky 40383. Phone: 859-873-7053. Tours by appointment only (currently $10). Website: www.threechimneys.com

Kentucky Derby Museum/Churchill Downs Tours: 704 Central Ave., Louisville, Kentucky 40208. 502-637-1111. Website: www.derbymuseum.org

Old Seelbach Bar at the Seelbach Hilton: 500 Fourth St., Louisville, Kentucky 40202. Phone: 1-800-333-3399. Website: www.seelbachhilton.com

Louisville Tourism Information: www.gotolouisville.com

About the author:
Roy Barnes writes from southeastern Wyoming and is a frequent contributor to Travel Thru History. Note: The writer attended a press trip sponsored by the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, but what he wrote are his own impressions without any scrutiny from the sponsor.

All photos are by Roy Barnes.

Bowers Museum: Treasures in the Sands of Time

Santa Ana, California

by Debra Young

Sometimes you don’t have to go far to find yourself in another time, almost in another world. Last July, I viewed the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California and stepped 3800 years into the past to the days of life along the Silk Road. Yak, horse and camel caravans carried silk, salt, silver, gold, jade, lapis lazuli, brass, copper, medicines, wool, and more to the caravanserai, the market towns and trade cities with fabulously exotic names — Lanzhou, Koko-Nor, Charklick, Khotan, Yarkana, Yangi-hissar, Kashgar, Aksu, Kucha, Lop Nor. I was reminded that our world exists through many incarnations, the rise and fall of cultures and civilizations and people.

The Silk Road was not a single route, but many, a web of roads running from the Caspian Sea in the west to Chang’an, the Tang capital of eighth-century China, in the east, traversing the vast regions of Central Asia, looping over mountains and skirting deserts. On these routes journeyed merchants, monks, mercenaries, armies, and later, when the Silk Road had become an historical legend, explorers and archaeologists, drawn by stories of ruins and lost kingdoms buried in the sands. Among those lost places along the Silk Road are the cities and towns of the Tarim Basin, a region of the arid and inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in northwestern China, where once abided a Bronze Age people of European origin whose mummified bodies and the beautifully crafted objects of their daily lives have been nearly perfectly preserved by the arid conditions of the desert environment.

The Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit presented a hundred and fifty objects excavated from tombs of the Tarim Basin mummies along with two remarkable mummies–“The Beauty of Xiaohe” and that of a baby. A third mummy, too fragile for the rigors of travel, known as Yingpan Man, believed to be a rich Sogdian trader, was represented by a layout of his funeral mask, white with a golden diadem, and his sumptuous clothing, an elaborately patterned red and gold wool caftan, dark brown pants in an ornately embroidered diamond pattern, and gold-ornamented boots. Considering his sumptuous burial clothing, Yingpan Man was held in high regard and was no doubt a man who loved and could well afford the finest things in life.

The gem of the exhibit was “The Beauty of Xiaohe,” a well-preserved mummy of a Caucasian woman, serenely at rest through the centuries in her boat-shaped coffin, wrapped in a wool coat, fur boots on her feet, her brown hair showing from beneath the rounded brim of her fur hat, lashes fringing her sunken eyes, every inch of her a marvel preserved by the desert sands.

As I contemplated each artifact of the ancient past, those colorful silk brocades and damasks imprinted with elegant floral designs, a pair of shoes made for a girl, cream yellow with tiny writing woven in a delicate arabesque bestowing blessings on the wearer, horse blankets of ornately worked wool, meticulously decorated game boxes, gold jewelry embedded with rubies, agates, and lapis lazuli, I imagined the hands that might have held these things at one time, the voices that might have spoken of them in the extinct Tocharian language of the Tarim Basin people, and I considered the importance we now give to these artifacts, the ordinary objects of daily life long ago because they connect us in an unbroken thread of lives lived through time.

Among the treasures on display was a suit made as a gift for a Sogdian merchant’s young grandson, described by Susan Whitfield in “Life Along the Silk Road,” as being “a traditional Sogdian suit…a short jacket with narrow sleeves, a mandarin collar and front, central fastenings, flared slightly from the waist. The outer silk woven in blue, yellow, green, red and white with a pattern of paired facing ducks inside roundels, a typical Sogdian pattern, and a brown Chinese damask with a large-scale floral pattern for the jacket lining and trousers.” The merchant also ordered a pair of matching boots. Imagine his grandson’s delight when Grandfather returned home from his long journey bearing such finery.

I was touched by the mummy of the baby, gauged to be less than ten months old, swaddled in wool tied with red and blue cords, small flat blue stones over his eyes, and buried with a baby bottle made of a goat’s bladder. There was a fabulous gold mask of a man’s face rimmed with rubies, and excavated from the tomb of a noble couple was a figurine of a lovely dancer made of wood, silk, and clay. Her arms were made from cancelled pawn tickets. Old papers were often recycled as material for burial objects. One item that I found quite intriguing was a pair of delicately pierced eye covers, similar to sunglasses, used to shield the eyes of the dead.

There was food. Yes there was, preserved as if freeze-dried. The harsh cold of the Taklamakan Desert in winter and the heat and aridity of its summers had perfectly dehydrated pale pastries, tiny purse-sized dumplings and braided fried dough twists.

The Bowers Museum organized and debuted the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition, the historic, landmark tour of the artifacts from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region encompassing the Tarim Basin in the vast northwestern reaches of China. From the Bowers Museum the exhibition traveled to the Houston Museum of Natural History and then to Philadelphia’s Penn Museum where the tour ended, and the exhibition’s artifacts returned home to China.

Some people see museums as boring places, warehouses for the collection of things from the past, things that might’ve been junk in its own time, dead things, dust catchers, mildly interesting perhaps but having no relevancy to our times. Museums preserve the living past, exhibits like the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition show us that life is eternal in its way, the artifacts of the past resonate with life and symbolize that old saying “Life goes on.” Indeed it does. Past and future meld in the present. Museums are not simply warehouses of things from the past, preserving the dead and what used to be, they are gateways through time, bringing the past to the present. To visit the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition was a spiritual journey into the vast country of past lives.

If You Go:

Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Tel: (714) 567-3600

About the author:
Debra Young lives and writes in Long Beach, California, grew up traveling in Europe and the US, and has obsessive interests in ancient history, art, and literature. She’s published fiction and non-fiction, and invites you to visit her at her blog Pendrifter at dayya.wordpress.com.

Image credits:
Desert camel caravan: by pixelRaw from Pixabay
Zhang Qian: Unknown author / Public domain
Tang dynasty city film and television base: Sherbet / CC BY

Stars and Strawberries in Dayton, Tennessee

by Melanie Harless

Over twenty years ago, I drove over an hour each day to work as a librarian at Rhea County High School, which is located about ten miles from Dayton, Tennessee. As it was such a long drive to and from work, I never really visited Dayton, even though I knew it was a famous place that had even had a movie made about it many years ago. I decided recently that it was time to go to Dayton as a tourist and found it to be a unique little town that is preserving its historical heritage. I turned off Tennessee Highway 27 in Rhea County at the entrance arches and lampposts marking Dayton as a Historic Main Street Community, one of twenty-two such designated communities in the state of Tennessee. Just inside the entrance is the Chamber of Commerce. I stopped there and found a pamphlet with a walking tour of a six block downtown district with historical places marked with Appalachian Quilt Trail Stars.

The Columbian Star is number one on the trail and is the most impressive place on the tour, the Rhea County Courthouse at 1475 Market Street. The Courthouse was built in 1891 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Still operated as a courthouse, it also houses the Scopes Trial and Rhea Heritage Museums with exhibits, photos, and news clippings of the famous trial. Dayton won its place in history when William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow argued the question of evolution and creation in the Scopes Evolution Trial which took place at the courthouse in July 1925. We’ve all heard about the trial and may have seen the movie, “Inherit the Wind,” that was made about it, therefore, it is interesting to tour the museum and think about that hot summer many years ago and the debate about the origin of man which continues even today.

One artifact found in the Scopes Museum is the original table from Robinson’s Drug Store at which the decision was made on May 15, 1925 by a small group headed by Earle Robinson, “The Hustling Druggist,” and George Rappleyea, Superintendent of Dayton Coal & Iron Company, on a plan that appears to have been a publicity stunt. They “conspired” with John Thomas Scopes, a young science teacher at Rhea County High School, to provide a court test case of the statute passed in March 1925 by the Tennessee Legislature making it unlawful for a public school teacher to teach any theory denying the Biblical story of divine creation “and to teach instead that man descended from a lower order of animals.” The interest and resulting world-wide publicity surprised even the planners. Press coverage of “The Monkey Trial” perhaps exceeded any event up to that time. A new device called radio was used to report the heated debate between the famous lawyers in one of the hottest Tennessee summers on record.

The second star on the tour is at 1435 Market Street. It was the second location of Robinson Drugstore. Built in the early 1900’s, it is currently home to The Gathering Place, appropriately named, as Robinson’s being a favorite gathering place for local citizens in the 1920’s seems to have been key to the whole Scopes trial. The Gathering Place is now an antique and gift store.

I had a cup of potato bacon soup and a hot apple dumpling with vanilla ice cream for lunch at Jacob Myers Deli on the corner of 1st and Market. They also have sandwiches, an espresso bar, and other soups and desserts. On the same block as Jacob Myers, I found the Bright Star Quilt designating a building that was originally a hardware store, now home to ArtCrafters. Reporters covering the Scopes Trial stayed upstairs in that building. There are nine star quilt blocks on the tour, and with plenty of free parking, one can drive instead of walking.

May is the month that strawberries ripen and strawberries are another aspect of Dayton’s history. The town has been celebrating every May since 1947 with the Tennessee Strawberry Festival. The event is named in honor of the county’s reputation as the “Strawberry Capital of the World” in the early 1900s when the plentiful fruit was sent across the country in rail cars. At its peak, over four million quarts of the fruit were produced each year. Unfortunately, the berry boom had died by the forties, but that was when the Dayton Lions Club sponsored the first one-day strawberry festival as a community booster and tourist attraction. While having its ups and downs, the festival has continued and grown to a multi-day celebration every May.

The strawberry is far from Rhea County’s top crop, but the Dayton festival has preserved its heritage as the place for strawberries. Most of the berries for the event are furnished by Tidwell’s Berry Farm, the only large scale berry farm in the county. According to a Herald-News story, Ray Tidwell started his tiny farm near Spring City in 1983 growing corn and soybeans, but the farm flopped. An agriculture extension agent suggested he grow strawberries. At the time, there were only three acres of berries growing in the county. Doubting it would work, Tidwell gambled on the berries and it paid off. He now harvests 16 acres, each yielding about 20,000 pounds of strawberries. Tidwell doesn’t ship his berries across the country, but has turned his name into a popular regional brand. About 80 percent of his crop is sold from a shed at the farm on Hwy. 27, about 14 miles north of Dayton. If you can’t make it to the festival, you can still drive to Dayton during strawberry season to follow the town’s history with the Appalachian Quilt Block Stars and stop at Tidwell’s to buy fresh strawberries on your way home.

Chef’s Table Tour in Downtown Knoxville

If You Go:

The City of Dayton is the county seat of Rhea County, Tennessee, which is located in East Tennessee. It is 30 miles north of Chattanooga, 50 miles southwest of Knoxville, 154 miles southeast of Nashville, and 151 miles north of Atlanta.

The Scopes Trial and Rhea Heritage Museum is open Monday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm. Admission is free.

About the author:
Melanie Harless began writing after retirement in 2006. She writes a column on regional travel for a local news-magazine. In addition to travel writing, she writes creative non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She has been published in anthologies and online and print magazines and newspapers. This is her second contribution to Travel Thru History.

All photos are by Melanie Harless.

Knocking on Wisconsin’s Door

Door County, Wisconsin

by Liz Bruckner

As I stand in the middle of Country Ovens in Door County, Wisconsin, surrounded by every kind of cherry-infused food imaginable, it takes all of my restraint not to perform a one-handed sweep that will send each package of chocolate-covered cherries into my bag. For someone who came to the fair state expecting to see not much more than hoards of cheese and Packers jerseys a-plenty, already this is so much more than what I had in mind.

Before my flight and subsequent drive to Door County, I admittedly didn’t know much about the area. Upon arrival, I quickly learn that a dozen tiny, charming towns populate the county, that’s located just 45 miles northeast of Green Bay. The area received its name from the French, when it was dubbed Porte de Mortes (or “Door to Death”), because of the treacherous strait between the peninsula and the islands off its northern end, which today is the resting place of countless sunken ships. More recently acclaimed as the Cape Cod of the Midwest, in warmer months it’s a go-to destination for golfers the world over as there are 11 gorgeous courses to choose from. Door County also boasts multiple white sand beaches that line Lake Michigan for tourists to laze about on, while in the winter, ski hills, cross-country trails, hiking paths and ice-fishing huts make it the perfect getaway with nary a billboard or chain store in sight. And let’s not forget the cherries.

To be clear, the versions found in Door County orchards aren’t the run-of-the-mill variety. Here the Montmorency red tart cherry reigns supreme, and in Country Ovens, a family-owned and operated business established in 1987, they’re utilized in every form imaginable – from cherry salsa, cherry fudge and cherry BBQ sauce to cherry wine, cherry jam and cherry ketchup. The area prides itself on its cherry orchards, and has since the early 19th century. Ideal growing conditions make it the perfect environment for the fruit to sprout, and with approximately 2,200 acres of cherry orchard fields, approximately 12 million pounds of them are produced each year.

With my sweet tooth satisfied, I make my way to the Harbor Fish Market and Grille in Bailey’s Harbor for dinner. Known as a hot spot for in-the-know vacationers, I quickly see why the restaurant has such acclaim after I inhale my spectacular five-course meal. I then waddle back to the car and head to The White Lace Inn in Sturgeon Bay, my not-so-humble abode for the next two days. The bed-and-breakfast Main House is a beautifully restored 1880s Victorian home that’s gorgeous inside and out, which becomes all the more apparent when the owner, who took ownership of the property in 1982, shows me to my room in Hadley House – one of the four homes that comprise the inn. There, an enormous room, laden with perfectly-preserved antiques, two roaring fireplaces, heated floors and a whirlpool big enough to sleep in awaits. I happily settle in and call it a night.

The next morning, after a fantastic breakfast, I take in the sights in Sturgeon Bay, settled in 1835 and the largest city in Door County by a long shot. There are shops a plenty with kitschy goods, plus lots of old buildings and beautiful bridges to admire since it’s an old industrial town. I make a point of stopping in at Door County Confectionery and buy a pound of the best Peanut Butter Fudge my taste buds have ever been privy to.

Next, I drive to Peninsula State Park, one of five of Door County’s parks, and home of Eagle Bluff Lighthouse – one of 10 in the area – which was constructed in 1868 after President Andrew Johnson ordered it be built. I learn from a park ranger that the Door Peninsula was first settled 11,000 years ago, that it was home to a game farm in 1920s and ‘30s, and that that following WWII, a small group of German prisoners-of-war placed to work at the park and in nearby orchards gained acclaim for their hard work, and for singing as they constructed buildings, cut wood and picked cherries.

No trip to Door County would be complete without taking in a fish boil, so I visit the White Gull Inn in Fish Creek – built in 1896 by a German-born doctor who established it and many surrounding buildings with the style of European health spas in mind – for an experience only available here. When I arrive, people are already gathered around the boiling spot where they’re waiting for the boil master to weave a yarn about the 100-year-old tradition of boiling white fish and potatoes over an open fire, which began when lumberjacks and fishermen adopted it as an economical way to feed themselves and their families. After roughly 15 minutes of the historical run-through, the boil master douses the fire with kerosene, causing the water and oil from the fish to boil over. After the spectators make way for him to head indoors with dinner, we pile into the restaurant for our own plateful of white fish, potatoes, coleslaw and – what else? – Door County cherry pie for dessert.

On my last day, I head back to Fish Creek for a morning at Hands On Art Studio, a repurposed barn that’s now a do-it-yourself destination offering would-be artists the opportunity to work with fuse, blow and paint glass, metal sculpture, tile mosaics, throw and paint ceramics, jewellery and more. Though the business is a very young 12 years old, it’s unlike any art studio I’ve visited, and after trying my hand at plate design in the fused glass studio, I arrange to pick up my creation the next day.

Before the day is done, I walk the shorelines of Lake Michigan at Whitefish Dunes State Park, located in Sturgeon Bay. With miles and miles of dunes that have been formed into ridges by many a mighty wind, this could easily be the most beautiful park I’ve ever seen. The big dunes are the main draw – the tallest, Old Baldy, measures in at 93 feet high – but I’m warned to stay off since the grasses holding the dunes together are delicate and the lightest step could cause the sand structures to crumble. Plank-and-rope boardwalks lead the way to numerous beautiful walking trails, and a quick drive leads me to Cave Point County Park, where I spend my last hour in Door County. I walk out onto the rock overlooking a steep cliff, admiring the sweeping waves that have helped craft the limestone caves below, and feel so thankful to have had the opportunity to visit such a beautiful dot on the map that just a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know existed.

Door County Kayak Tour

If You Go:

Transportation: Door County is approximately 45 miles northeast of Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, so you’ll need to use the Door County – Green Bay Shuttle (920-746-0500), Door County Trolley (920-868-1100), or a rental car to get there.

Where to Stay: The White Lace Inn, 16 N. 5th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, www.whitelaceinn.com

Where to Eat: Harbor Fish Market & Grille, Bailey’s Harbor, www.harborsfishmarket-grille.com
Door County Candy, 24 N. 3rd Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, doorcountycandy.com
White Gull Inn, 4225 Main Street, Fish Creek, www.whitegullinn.com

Where to Play: Country Ovens, 229 E Main Street, Forestville, www.countryovens.com
Peninsula State Park, 9462 Shore Rd., Fish Creek, dnr.wi.gov
Hands On Art Studio, 3655 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek, www.handsonartstudio.com
Whitefish Dunes State Park, 3275 Clarks Lane Road, Sturgeon Bay, www.dnr.state.wi.us

County Website: www.DoorCounty.com

About the author:
Liz is freelance journalist who’s writing experience lies mainly in parenting, beauty, health and profile features for many of Canada’s top magazines, websites and newspapers. Though the bulk of her traveling has been through Europe, she has lofty goals of visiting Canada and the U.S., one little town at a time. She lives in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Photos credited to: DoorCounty.com/Door County Visitor Bureau and Liz Bruckner.

A Mountain Adventure: Hot Rocks

British Columbia and Alberta, Canada

by Glen Cowley

There are not enough “a’s” in “aaaaaaaaah” to impart the soothing sensation of slow immersion into a mountain hung hot springs pool.

The Kootenay Rockies of British Columbia 800 kilometre Hot Springs Circle Tour affords travelers a week-long, hot-springs-per-day experience. From the luxurious to the rustic are offerings of international acclaim.

Day One

We slipped off the Trans-Canada Highway onto Highway 23, just west of Revelstoke, and were soon at the tiny Shelter Bay ferry terminal for the free, 25 minute jaunt across the Arrow Lakes to Galena Bay. 15 minutes later we were twisting down the drive to Halcyon Hot Springs lodge.

Saddled beside the Arrow lakes, under the shadow of the Monashee Mountains, the new lodge, dated 1998, rises upon the memory of the original; which began life in 1894 under the hand of Captain Sanderson, a river steam boat captain whose remains are buried on site. The rich history of the old lodge, from halcyon days to fiery demise in 1955, are recounted in a book available on loan at the front desk. Few original buildings survived the fire and flooding caused by the damming of the Columbia; save for the poignant presence of the 1945-built chapel where owner Dr. Frederick Burnham buried wife Anna and sister in law, Elizabeth. Dr. Burnham himself perished 10 years later in the lodge’s flaming end.

Present day lodge amenities, from chalets to rooms to fine dining and soothing pools, did not disappoint. A serene wilderness surrounds this warm luxury like a single heavenly star. Heavens, free of city glare, as clear as nature created them.

A dip in the 100 degree warm pool contrasted sharply with the steamy intensity of the hot pool at 107 degrees. A quick 55 degree cold pool plunge had me thinking Vienna Boys Choir. We settled in the warm pool, lazing at length and drinking in the mountain-lake vista. Above us restaurant patrons dined at the Kingfisher restaurant, soft music perfumed the air and the sun slowly set, lavender hued, behind the Monashees. Patio lights lent calming luster to the three upper pools.

Day Two

After a quick morning dip we regained the highway for the short drive to Nakusp, passing the gravel road to St. Leon Hot Springs; a rather daunting wild hot springs side trip for more daring souls.

Nakusp’s community-owned pools nestle within a secluded, wooded river valley 12 paved miles off the highway just north of town. Accommodations include six chalets and campsites strung close by a circular pool complex surrounded by steamed plexiglas walls. Services include a small novelty store and basic restaurant facilities. If less imposing than Halcyon it is no less charming and friendly. The circular pool has an apportioned hot pool cooking at 105 degrees and soothing warm pool at 98 degrees.

Day Three

The journey to Ainsworth wound through narrow valleys which brought us to historic mining town New Denver and its well kept edifices recalling heady days near the turn of the 20th century. We grabbed a quick picnic near the shores of Slocan Lake under the towering Valhalla Mountain Range and close by the local museum housed within the old Bank of Montreal building dating from 1893. Cruising through wooded walls on winding road we passed crumbling ruins of old mining sites on the way to equally historic Kaslo. Here the carefully restored stern wheeler S.S. Moyie sits upon shore as a museum; its last 1957 run but a memory. Immense Kootenay Lake exploded into view; its horizon fading far, far to the south. Like New Denver Kaslo has cherished and cared for its historic buildings and architectural aficionados could easily spend a holiday weekend just exploring the two old towns’ offerings.

Another 20 minutes south landed us in cliff-faced Ainsworth, clocking 2 hours driving time from Nakusp. The Ainsworth Hot Springs Hotel, restaurant and pool dominates the old town; a pale reflection of the busy lake port that began life in 1882 at the start of the Kootenay mining boom. The fine-dining restaurant overlooks the pools and the renowned circular hot pool caves, originally carved out of the rock by early miners. They are a unique attraction complimenting the large warm pool, comfy hot pool and the bone chilling cold dip pool. Busy year round, the pools are within reach of nearby Nelson and reflect popularity with a broad demographic.

The panoramic splendor of mountain and lake dimmed to the warming comfort of night lit pools and a feeling of serenity wafted over us as the evening drew dark. Food and lodging options are limited at Ainsworth but Kaslo, Balfour and even Nelson are close enough to consider their facilities.

Day Four

A long travel day began well as we caught the 8:30 am ferry, the Osprey 2000, pulling out from Balfour on its 35 minute scenic free ride across Kootenay Lake. The large capacity ferry is equipped with a coffee/snack bar and extensive viewing venues.

From Kootenay Bay we cruised to Creston then west for the headwaters of the Columbia River. This time we we not making for a resort. This time we taking a wee side trip off the beaten track. Lussier Hot Springs is a bumpy 18 kilometres off the main highway just shy of the headwaters of the Columbia River at Columbia Lake. At points the road narrowed along the steep sided valley with the river rushing far below but this is a well traveled route despite its heart fluttering exposure. When we reached the parking lot just inside Top of the World Provincial Park it was a teem with cars, trucks and motor homes.

A winding dirt track led sharply down to the dancing Lussier River where rustic boulder-framed pools were awash with bathers. German and French accents wafted upwards as people of all ages scrambled about and lounged in the gravel-bottomed pools. The hot pool stood around 105 degrees as we eased in. Personal sized nooks and crannies housed singular soakers. Friendly chatter warbled like a flock of song birds. Lussier is unlike its more developed kin, a little harder to get to, a lot closer to the wilderness and thus its unique attraction. A bit of adventure increased its allure.

A short drive got us to Fairmont Hot Springs and a fine B&B. Fairmont provides a host of accommodations and is the ideal setting for a couple nights to take in area hot springs.

Day Five

Fairmont’s hot springs fame has seeped through time with singular acclaim as the Smoking Waters of First Nations legend. On a hill overlooking the pools at the lodge, natural hot waters seep and stream over a calcified knoll, its sulphurous aroma wafting close to the ground and housing a few warm, bathtub-size pools carved within for those inclined to experience a more natural setting. A series of stone rooms with bathtub pools recall the early years of commercial exploitation.

The lodge pools were the biggest of all we had experienced and are enjoyed by people of all ages. This is Alberta’s playground, in particular Calgary’s.

Day Six

Radium Hot Springs hides behind the cloistered red walls of Sinclair Canyon in Kootenay National Park on highway 93 to Alberta. Known to the white man since the days of the fur trade when Hudson Bay Company governor Sir George Simpson enjoyed the waters; its history is ancient and carries an aura of being B.C. hot springs royalty. Long has it been associated with the world famous magnificence of the Rocky Mountain National Parks of Canada.

Its appeal is year round and nearby Radium Hot Springs is chock full of accommodations hinged upon the soothing allure of its waters. Expansive facilities include a large warm pool and small hot pool but also a full sized pool; making this as much a family destination as that of Fairmont. Here you are within the bowels of the mountains. If fortune favours, you may witness deft-footed mountain sheep on the overlooking rock face cavorting indifferent to the human presence below.

Day Seven

This was a long drive day to Golden then on through the rugged Selkirks, but hardly boring. Topping the Rogers Pass under the towering gaze of Mt Tupper and the wrinkled rock face beneath Illicilliwaet Glacier we fell away into insignificance amid the immensity of an alpine world.

Canyon Hot Springs was our last stop and perhaps the least formative of them all. Yet this unassuming resort with a few chalets, campgrounds and its simple hot and warm pools had a comfortable family appeal. Just off the Trans Canada, under the shadow of imposing peaks, it is a soothing break from the busy traffic rush.

As the mountains faded into our rear view mirror the next day we cruised on as relaxed as meditative monks; our senses peacefully assailed amid the powerful beauty of nature.

If You Go:

Hot Rocks – Traveling the shoulder seasons (May/June and September/October) when fewer tourists are sharing the winding roads and scenic settings allows you time and circumstance to leisurely drink in the experience. You can check ferry schedules and road construction using the BC Ministry of Transportation site. Water socks are handy for walking about the rocks at Lussier Hot Springs.

♦ Hot Springs in BC – provides information on all of the Kootenay hot springs in one handy site.
♦ www.th.gov.bc.ca/highwaytravellers.htm – provides updated information on ferry schedules, road construction and conditions.
♦ www.kootenays-bc.com – provides information on accommodations and activities in the Kootenays
♦ www.bcgasprices.com – provides an updated breakdown of best gas prices in B.C.

About the author:
Since 1994 Glen Cowley has parlayed his interest in sports, travel and history into both books and articles. The author of two books on hockey and over fifty published articles (including sports, biographies and travel) he continues to explore perspectives in time and place wherever his travels take him. From the varied landscapes of British Columbia to Eastern Canada and the USA, the British Isles, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Greece and France he has found ample fodder for features.
See Glen Cowley’s website at: http://www.windandice.shawwebspace.ca

All photos are by Glen Cowley.