Gribblenation

While sitting on the front porch at the motor lodge's check-in, a young couple pulls in.  With a quick look at the car and the night's roster of guests, owner Keith Stone immediately knows who is checking in and welcomes them to Wigwam Village, No. 2 . The guests are headed to Mammoth Cave from Illinois and Montreal, Canada.  They made their reservations out of curiosity - to do something unique.  Stone welcomes them and introduces them to his two cats, Andy Rooney and Vetra. After giving a general overview of the grounds and guidelines, Stone asks if the couple wishes to learn more about the Wigwam Village's history.  They do, and Stone discusses some of the history.  Frank Redford opened the first Wigwam Village in 1935.  That first village - with six teepee rooms - opened a few miles up the highway in Horse Cave.  He'd open the larger village in Cave City two years later. The iconic teepee design of Frank Redford's Wigwam Villages. Redford would pat...

Many American towns and cities typically sprouted up along a railroad, a river, river crossings, a stop along a trading path, or a stagecoach trail.  Horse Cave, Kentucky is different.  Horse Cave is built above a cave and surrounds a three-story-deep sinkhole that leads into Hidden River Cave. The town was settled and laid out by Major Albert Anderson.  Anderson asked that it be named 'Horse Cave' - it is suggested that in the mid-19th century, the word 'Horse' and 'Hoss' was used to name large-sized things.  Other explanations include that Native Americans used the cave to corral horses or after a nearby horse trough. The name Horse Cave was not always popular - attempts to rename the town to 'Caverna' in the 1860s were unsuccessful.  The cave's owners - the family of Dr. George A. Thomas - did not like the name 'Horse Cave' and renamed the geological formation Hidden River Cave. The home of Dr. George A. Thomas - former owner of Hidden Riv...

Located no more than one half mile apart and sandwiched between Interstate 65, US 31W, and US 41 in Goodlettsville, Tennessee are two stone arch bridges that were once a part of the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike.  The bridges were most likely built in the late 1830s and for decades carried numerous stagecoaches between the cities. The two bridges are located off of the fittingly called Old Stone Bridge Road and cross two different creeks, Manskers and Slaters.  With the nearby railroad, Dixie Highway, and Interstate, examples from a number of eras in our nation's transportation history can be found within less than one square mile. The first bridge is known as the Old Stone Bridge and can be found immediately off of US 31W/41.  The two arch bridge is approximately 90 feet long and crosses Manskers Creek. About a quarter mile up the road is the second stone bridge - known as the Turnpike Bridge.  This bridge is at the end of Old Stone Bridge Road and ac...