Part 7: Bardstown, Day 2

It was a full day! Bardstown is small, but mighty! There is a lot to do in this one-light town. 

We got up early on Wednesday to cram it all in!

Civil War Museum and Women’s Civil War Museum

Wow! The Civil War Museum was impressive. They had a ton of artifacts, exhibited well. Plus a lot of explanations. We took our time, and we still could've spent a lot more time there.

I decided that my memories of the museum would be of the hats. So, here for your viewing pleasure, are Civil War hats. And below that, a few other artifacts and interesting things.

Note the original hat box, too!

Note the surgeon's tools

Not hats.

Two brothers fought on different sides. Growing up and learning about the Civil War, I never understood how that could happen. Living in these times, I understand now.

Little drummer boys. The youngest enlisted "man" in the Union Army: 9½ years old!

A video played of a reunion of the last living soldiers in 1915

The Women's Civil War Museum 

Great collection here, too! 

The walk from the main Civil War Museum to the Women's museum was lovely.

More hats.

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We learned about many courageous women who helped the war effort, from doctors and nurses to spies and soldiers. There were many spies, some of whom dressed like men to infiltrate the other side. And more than one woman dressed like a man in order to go to battle.

The caption reads:

Elizabeth Von Lew spied for the Union Army from a magnificent mansion on Grace Street in Richmond, the Confederate capital. The daughter of a successful hardware merchant, Van Lew was educated in Philadelphia, where she required strong antislavery views. When her father died, she and her mother freed all the family slaves. So uncommon was her behavior that her neighbors called her Crazy Betsy. 

Van Lew reported to the Union generals on conditions in the Confederate capital, and turned her home into a hideout for escapees from Confederate prisons. She had a secret room in her house, reachable only by a hidden staircase. She once kept 100 men there after they dug their way out of Richmond's Libby Prison. She also visited prisons, with the excuse of donated food, and collected valuable information from the inmates.

Van Lew relied on help from hired black servants to carry coded messages out of town, and she sometimes hid notes inside an empty eggshell in a basket of produce. In one of her bolder moves, she managed to install one of her former slaves as a servant in the home of Jefferson Davis to spy on the Confederate president. After the war, General Ulysses S Grant rewarded Van Lew for her services by appointing her post mistress of the Richmond. Although she was shunned by all her neighbors, she remained in Richmond until she died in 1900.

More great women:

The woman who pointed me to Bardstown? Her mother likely made this dress for the Stephen Foster production the town puts on every summer.

We enjoyed some lunch at the oldest continuously operating Tavern in the US, the Talbott Tavern, opened in 1779 (see date on sign above our heads).

Just a pretty house in town.

After lunch, we made our way to the Preservation Distillery. This time, Trish joined me for a tour and tasting, even though she's not a fan of bourbon. What a trooper!

                 

Char, the supervising cat

About to get a taste of the alcohol that is comes out of the distiller and before it goes into charred oak barrels. Otherwise known as moonshine.

While Trish went to a meeting in the van, I enjoyed an Old Fashioned.

We had time for a late-afternoon drive out to Barnheim forest for a walk among the giants. You may remember while I was in Austin, Anne took me to visit Malin the troll. Thomas Danbo, the artist, installed a troll family (Little Elina, Little Nis, and Momma Loumari) in the beautiful park just outside Bardstown. 

Little Nis

Momma Loumari

Little Elina

                 

The redbuds were blooming all through the South. Stunning!

I luv cute critters!

Finally took Poppy back to the RR Museum for the night. I took this picture after walking to the gas station to buy some ice. The refrigerator had stopped working! Weirdly, the next day it suddenly started up again and has been fine since. Whew!