Antiquing in La Grange, Kentucky

Downtown Shopping District, La Grange, KY

Despite the threat of rain on the air, Wonderful Wife and I journeyed up the twisting, turning US-421 to explore what the burg of La Grange, in Oldham County, had to offer in the way of antique shopping. Founded in 1827 and named after the home of the Marquis de Lafayette (he was quite the rock star in these parts), La Grange is the seat of Oldham County and boasts a rather unusual downtown shopping district. The beautifully restored and well-maintained buildings that line Main Street house a variety of specialty boutiques, art galleries, and eateries, but what sets La Grange apart from similar towns is the active railway line that runs through the center of it all. The tracks still see quite a bit of rail traffic, but we weren't fortunate enough to experience a train passage during our visit. We did, however, enjoy a nice stroll as we ventured from shop to shop in search of an exciting find.

Heirloom Antiques, La Grange

My pre-travel internet sleuthing turned up two antique shops in town, both located on Main Street in the heart of the shopping district. The first on our list, Heirlooms Antiques, is a nice-sized establishment of mid-ranged pieces. Wonderful Wife spied a set of reasonably priced owl earrings in a cabinet but - and we should know better by now - chose to see what else La Grange had to offer before making  her decision. You know you this story ends, of course. Those earrings are, as far as we know, still sitting snugly in that cabinet.

Absolutely Fabulous!, La Grange

And so we moved on to the next shop on my antique radar - Absolutely Fabulous! (the exclamation point is actually a part of the name, and is not a result of my extreme excitement). Occupying the corner of Main Street and Walnut Ave, Absolutely Fabulous! boasts 4,000 square feet of adventure. I was a bit let down, however, to discover that back in March the proprietors had chosen to make the switch from antiques to gifts and accessories. Wonderful Wife did manage to find herself a purse, but as far as antiques go the shop was a bust.

The Treasured Child, La Grange

The remainder of the shops along Main Street were primarily of the "unique boutique" variety, though many did have a few vintage items in their inventories to compliment - or accessorize - the more trendy stock. One of these shops, a toy store called The Treasured Child, managed to catch Wonderful Wife's attention (and some of the contents of my wallet) and contribute to her successful shopping adventure.

For those of you who enjoy unique downtown shopping experiences, La Grange is quite the hidden gem just begging to be explored. Hopefully the town's one remaining antique store will stick around as I'm sure that we'll be back to check out some of the potentially interesting festivals scheduled for later in the year.

Oldham County History Center

Encompassing a city block in La Grange, Kentucky, immediately to the west of the Oldham County courthouse, the Oldham County History Center is an impressive collection of buildings and artifacts representing the rich heritage of the local area. Wonderful Wife and I stopped here after spending a nice, if cloudy, afternoon visiting the unique shops of the La Grange downtown business district.

The centerpiece of the complex is the Peyton Samuel Head Family Museum housed in the restored Victorian home once owned by the museum's namesake, a local banker in the early-20th century. His daughter Louise Head Duncan donated the house and adjacent property to the Oldham County Historical Society, who've since done a remarkable job restoring the structure and converting it into first-rate history museum.

Peyton Samuel Head Family Museum

The first floor contains an abundance of artifacts from the area's earliest inhabitants right on up through modern times. Special attention is given to the life and career of D.W. Griffith, who was born and raised in Crestwood (just about 10 miles west of La Grange down I-71). Annie Fellows Johnston, author of the Little Colonel series of books and a turn-of-the-20th-century resident of the Pewee Valley area, is also given special attention by the museum. All of the interpretive displays are of impressive design and each is presented in such a way as to maximize the limited space of the Victorian home. I was struck by the unexpected wealth of information and artifacts on display. Plan to spend upwards of an hour examining all of the interesting exhibits.

Printed word special exhibit

On our visit, the second floor of the museum was devoted to a special exhibit honoring the printed word. Extra space was devoted to the stories of Annie Johnston, with additional exhibits featuring various local history artifacts such as war-time letters and ephemera related to Louisville's Southern Exposition. Although the material was presented in a way that was quite "busy" (the museum staff once again packed a considerable amount of information into tight quarters), seeing it all was a treat.

Next to the museum is a restored 1840's house that is home to the society's administrative offices as well as what is, I am told, a rather extensive research library. I had no cause to look in on the library, but perhaps one of my research projects will one day lead me to examine what they have to offer.

Honestly speaking, I was not expecting much given what are often the limited resources available to local history museums. Needless to say, I was significantly impressed by the Oldham County History Center and certainly recommend a visit to any history-loving visitors to La Grange. There is no admission fee, though donations are accepted - and I would encourage you to help keep this little gem in operation.

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Antiquing in Corydon, Indiana

After spending a short while at the Corydon Battle Park, Wonderful Wife and I ventured into the town of Corydon itself for a bit of lunch and - we hoped - a successful antiquing excursion. Although there are a handful of independent eateries in Corydon to go along with the usual chain establishments, with most of the latter being located in a cluster around the I-64 interchange, none appeared to be gluten-free friendly. As a result, our lunch consisted of a hurried, mediocre meal at Wendy's.

Corydon isn't exactly an antiquing hotspot, but some pre-travel research turned up a couple of shops that looked promising. Our first stop was the Red Barn Antique Mall, located just west of downtown on Walnut Street (Indiana 62).

The Red Barn Antique mall in Corydon, Indiana

The Red Barn has great outside appeal and you can tell the owners have put a lot of effort into making their shop aesthetically pleasing. The interior is no less impressive with a great rustic theme that you'd expect to see in a renovated barn. Boasting three floors of dealer booths, there's plenty of inventory to keep browsers busy! Most items were of mid-range quality with a few higher-end pieces scattered about. Prices tended to hover a bit above normal, in my opinion, though I did see a few things marked very reasonable. Despite the mall's large inventory, Wonderful Wife and I left the Red Barn empty-handed.

When we antique, we typically target specific "wants" so that what little savings we have isn't squandered on potentially regrettable purchases. On this trip my radar was calibrated for pre-Vietnam-era military insignia (patches, DUIs, etc.) and souvenir pint glasses. I did find one grouping of World War II patches that was reasonably priced, but for reasons beyond my comprehension I didn't pull the trigger. Talk about regrettable non-purchases! Wonderful Wife tends to be a little less discriminating than me, though she also left without anything really catching her eye.

Next up for us was the downtown shopping district which, like many quaint old towns, centers on a town square. I really wish I had more pictures to share, since the square is home not only to shopping but the original Indiana state capital building. Next time, for sure. The first stop on our circuit of downtown Corydon was the Old Town Store on the corner of Mulberry and Chestnut streets (how Midwestern are those street names, right?). The store - situated in an old service station - boasts more than 3,000 sq. ft. of antiques, collectibles, and the all-important mantiques. The prices here were by and large very reasonable, but as with the Red Barn we left empty-handed.

The next two stores that we visited - Little Texas Consignments and A Place In Time - were also busts. The inventory of both shops was more of the flea-market variety. By now, it seemed that our chances of having a successful antiquing excursion were slim to none.

So Dear 2 My Heart Vintage Jewelry in Corydon, Indiana

As it would turn out, the last shop on our list - So Dear 2 My Heart - would salvage the trip. For Wonderful Wife, anyway. This particular shop specializes in vintage and antique jewelry, which is right up her alley, and sure enough she scored this largish owl necklace.

Although we didn't add much to our collections, antiquing in Corydon was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The town has plenty to offer for history lovers, making for a pretty well-rounded experience.

Battle of Corydon

On July 9th, 1863, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his more than 2,000 cavalrymen met less than 500 "home guards" of the Indiana Legion just south of the town of Corydon in Harrison County, Indiana. Needless to say, Morgan's men carried the day and continued to push deeper into Union territory in what would become known as the longest cavalry raid of the Civil War.

The town of Corydon holds a reenactment celebration each year to commemorate this event, which also happens to be the last battle fought on Indiana soil, but due to our travels to Gettysburg we missed the 150th anniversary festivities. Nevertheless, I was determined to visit the site of the battle and get in some antique shopping!

Although the forecast threatened rain and storms, fantastic weather accompanied our trip westward on I-64 through Louisville and across the Ohio River into the Hoosier State. Once in Indiana, I elected to slip off the interstate and take in the scenery along State Road 11. It's definitely an indirect route to Corydon, but allows for a hilly, curvy driving experience that easily dispels the "flat" Indiana stereotype - not to mention passing along the point where Morgan's Confederates crossed the Ohio at Morvin's Landing.

View toward Brandenburg, KY from Morvin's Landing Road

A day before the fight in Corydon, Morgan crossed the Ohio at this point by utilizing two captured steamboats. Men of the Indiana Legion attempted to oppose the crossing with musket fire and the rather ineffectual bombardment from one piece of artillery set atop a nearby ridge. A direct hit on the gun from one of the Confederate artillery pieces silenced the Federal cannon, killing its crew, and all opposition to the crossing faded away.

Brandenburg's Riverfront Park seen from Morvin's Landing

Even though the Matthew E. Welsh bridge spans the Ohio a short distance downstream from Morvin's Landing, standing on the muddy bank of the river one can still get a sense of connecting with the events of that hot July day in 1863. The town of Brandenburg, Kentucky, lies on the opposite shore and will most definitely be a stop for us on a future excursion.

Brandenburg homes overlooking the Ohio River

State Route 135, the old Mauckport-Corydon road, lies just to the west of Morvin's Landing and was the route used by the main thrust of Morgan's invaders. The road in service today has been greatly "modernized", but the old road runs parallel at several points and offers a bit of a glimpse into the original scenery passed by the Confederate troopers.  About 10 miles after joining Route 135 we turned off on Old SR 135 for the remainder of our trip to the battlefield site since the new road veers to the west of town.

Corydon Battle Park is a rather unassuming bit of land just outside the southern city limits on Old SR 135. You need a sharp eye to catch the entrance when approaching from the south, but a nice sized sign serves as an adequate guide when coming from the direction of Corydon. Fully wooded now, the five acres comprising the park was an open ridge where the small band of Union defenders positioned their artillery in the hopes of halting or delaying the Confederate invaders. The dense foliage thwarts any attempt to get a good feel for the terrain as it might have appeared to either the invaders or the defenders, unfortunately.

Replica Civil War cannon at Corydon Battle Park

A replica cannon stands near the access road, as does a recovered mooring post and anchor chain from the steamboat Alice Dean (sunk by Morgan after his cavalrymen reached the Indiana shore). A short, paved path takes visitors past a monument inscribed with the names of both the Union and Confederate men killed during the brief battle to a replica log cabin. The cabin was shuttered on our visit, but I from what I understand it serves as a sort of living history display on special occasions.

Anchor chain and mooring post from the Alice Dean

I also expected to see a monument dedicated to Jeremiah Nance, one of the men killed manning the artillery piece at Morvin's Landing. He was buried at a farm cemetery just east of Laconia, but his grave marker was moved to the Battle Park in 1986 when the cemetery ceased to exist. At the time of our visit, his marker, and the iron fence that had been surrounding it, were completely gone. There was nothing to explain its whereabouts, so for now the situation is a bit mysterious.

Missing grave marker of Jeremiah Nance

After a brief stay at the park we headed into Corydon for a bit of antiquing (the subject of a future post). The time available to us for exploration was severely limited due to having to be back home to take The Youngest to work. As a result, a number of spots that I had hoped to see had to be saved for our next visit to the area. Both Indiana Caverns and Squire Boone Caverns are in the immediate vicinity of Corydon, so there's at least one more trip on the horizon!

View some more photos in my Flickr album.

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Gettin' It Together

Judging by the woefully small number of posts on this blog, and the vast periods of time that exist between them, I'd have to declare this endeavor a failure. I hesitate to throw in the towel, though. I'd like to believe that the major factor in my having let this blog slip is simply a matter of spreading myself thin. There's a valid school of thought that blogs - successful ones - should be specialized in terms of content. A movie review blog should have only movie reviews, a gardening blog should only contain gardening-related posts, and so on. To that end, I've tried to dedicate a blog to each of my many varied interests and, as a result, all have suffered pretty much the same fate as Blades of Bluegrass. Instead of giving up blogging entirely, or continuing to fail at a number of specialized outlets, I'm going to throw caution to the wind and focus my wildly disparate interests in one place. I know I'm not running the risk of alienating any readers, since I have none, so there's nowhere to go but up! Right? Let's hope so.

As a little bit of fanfare to coincide with the resurgence of this little slice of the blogosphere, I've updated the background image to one that I took while Wonderful Wife and I toured the Gettysburg battlefield on horseback. I don't think that I will go back in time to blog about that mini-vacation, but if you're curious about the sites that we saw please visit my Flickr album.