Lexington

I had a rough start this morning. I struck out several times before finding a viable destination. Based on my experience in NC and VA with the Blue Ridge Parkway, I had the idea that the Bluegrass Parkway in KY would provide a similar experience. As it turns out, the Bluegrass Parkway is a high speed expressway with no possibility of stopping. You can exit to reach various towns and many distilleries, but it is not a viable option to stop for photos. Strike 1.

I decided to exit at Bardstown to reassess my options. Bardstown is known as the Bourbon capitol of the world, but on a Sunday morning I was looking for a coffee shop. The three I found were all closed. I had to settle for a Starbucks that was inside a Kroger’s supermarket. Strike 2.

While sitting in my car in the parking lot, I started looking up KY scenic byways. I did find a site that listed several, and decided to try to follow the directions to find and drive them. While I was in Bardstown, however, I thought I might as well stop off at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History. It was supposed to open at noon, both according to the website and the large sign out front. At 12:05, there was still no sign of life and mine was the only car in the parking lot. I gave up and headed out. Strike 3.

On the Kentucky Scenic Drives web site I found directions listed for several scenic by-ways. I finally figured out the the directions assumed you were starting in a specific place and led to the beginning of the particular scenic route. I wasted a bit of time getting to the origin, which turned out not to be necessary. Once on the first route, however, I started having a bit more luck . The roads are still narrow with no real pull-outs, but I was able to occasionally find a grass shoulder or corner of a driveway on which I could park for a few minutes. I first toured the Pisgah Pike scenic byway  then, once back in Lexington, took the Boone Creek scenic byway .

On my way back, I stopped at a large field with trees and hay bales. I was able to pull into the entrance and there were no signs warning me of trespassing. I had just gotten out of the car when a gentlemen came driving out of the field. I went to move my car so he could exit, but he motioned me over. He invited me on to the property and said I could feel free to take photos. Before I could do that, though, we started chatting and it turned out to be an interesting conversation. He immediately noticed my CA plates which led me to tell him about my trip. Note for later reference that of course I mentioned that I was from the Silicon Valley area of CA. Sim then explained to me that this parcel of land - Kettlespring springs - had been in his family for many generations. It was originally 600 acres, now reduced to about 450 acres. And he was looking to sell a few more. It truly is a beautiful piece of property.

Eventually we moved on to other topics and he broached what I now understand to be the standard opening salvo: I suspect we have different views. And yes, we definitely did. We had a spirted conversation about the usual topics. He was more willing than some others to find some agreement, but I also found that sometimes that agreement was repurposed as a weapon later in the conversation. Where we went round in circles for a while was the subject of COVID vaccines. Sim is convinced that the vaccines themselves are lethal, and that they are solely responsible for a 40% increase in deaths over the last few years. Checking the interwebs, I found that Census.gov lists a 19% increase in deaths between 2019-2020. They further say it was the largest increase in 100 years. They also attribute the increase to the pandemic.

Sim could not give me a reference for the 40% or for his assertion that they were all due to the vaccines (actually he could not give me references for most of what he asserted). My science background requires me to insist on data. Whatever the number is - whether indeed it is 19% or 40%, obviously there must be multiple contributors to the total. That threw him for a loop as the talking point required him to assume that the totality of the increase (however much it might be) was due to vaccines alone. I remain convinced that COVID deaths comprised a large proportion. However, at least according to the CDC, heart disease and cancer still outpaced COVID in age-adjusted death rates in 2020 and 2021. Interestingly, vaccine-related deaths did not make the list. I also have to note that of the 100s of friends, family and acquaintances who I know have received various different vaccines everyone is, thankfully, still very much alive.

Sim quoted a Dr. Francis Boyle who is a proponent of the theory that COVID began as a bioengineered weapon. The story I found differs from the version Sim told me in that it blames South Africa rather than the U.S. I think the important point is that Dr. Boyle is a Juris Doctor, in other words, a lawyer. He has no particular expertise to be making such claims and is deliberately misrepresenting his credentials.

When Sim could not provide me data or references to back up a point, he resorted to, ‘if it walks like a duck....” In my world that is called circular reasoning. I have an opinion, or perhaps I have someone else’s opinion, and I prefer to keep it regardless of lack of support or inconvenient facts.

 I wanted to end our conversation on a pleasant note, so I mentioned that, from what I could tell in my one day in the Lexington area, KY seemed to be thriving. I wondered if horses and bourbon were recession and disaster-proof. Sim’s opinion was that it was because KY is overwhelmingly conservative. It is certainly true that KY leans Republican, but a detailed map suggests that overwhelming may be an exaggeration; it may be more purple than he might like, or might like to admit.

Regardless, I was glad to have met and spoken to Sim. We did agree that basic human decency and kindness are ultimately more important that specific beliefs. We wished each other well and parted ways. 

Tomorrow I will head over to Red River Gorge.