The Hardin County Historical Museum is a solid stop if you're interested in local history and want…read morea deeper look into the heritage of Hardin County. The museum does a nice job of presenting regional artifacts, photographs, and exhibits that highlight everyday life and historical development in the area. Some displays feel more traditional and straightforward rather than highly interactive, but that also gives it an old-school museum feel.

This marker is on the roundabout that surrounds the Hardin County Courthouse and points out the…read morehistory of the town and the county. The marker reads, "Formed from Nelson County by first Legislature, 1792. Named for Col. John Hardin, veteran of Dunmore's War, 1774, Am. Rev., Gen. Clark's Wabash Exped., 1787 and Maumee Indian campaign, 1780. Murdered by Ohio Indians while U.S. peace envoy to them in 1792. In 1780 Elizabethtown settled by Samuel Haycraft, Thomas Helm and Andrew Hynes, for whose wife town named." It is marker number 960 and was erected in 1966 by the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department of Highways. The court house was built in 1933 in Georgian Revival style. It has a three-story brick central section with a slightly projecting entrance pavilion, which has a shallow portico. The courthouse replaced an 1873 courthouse which was damaged in 1932 by a fire. There is parking along the square and nearby. [Review 20202 overall - 235 in Kentucky - 1179 of 2023.]

I didn't go inside the Historic State Theater Complex in Elizabethtown, but I spent some time…read moreexploring the exterior and surrounding area. The building has a classic, old school theater charm with a well-preserved marquee and architectural details that give a sense of its history. The area around the theater is easy to walk and has a small-town feel, which makes it nice to stop by for photos or a quick look. Even from the outside, you can tell it's a community landmark that's been part of Elizabethtown for decades.

Was a beautiful theater! The radio station on a acoustic jam and it was great!!! Got to see my…read morefriend Benton Blount play there! Was so good!

On our way up from Knoxville TN to Louisville KY, we made sure to swing by here to see Abraham…read moreLincoln's birthplace! It was thunder storming and lightning abound when we arrived but cleared up during our stroll through the memorial and the visitor center. There is a longer path to the side of the visitor center where it's all covered by trees so we didn't get rained on. Inside the memorial is the replica of the log cabin where he was born. That closes at 4:30pm, whereas the visitor center closes at 5:00pm. I made sure to stop at the sinking springs next to the memorial for the watering hole where Abe took his first drink of water. It felt very cold in that area compared to the humid weather surrounding it. Very cool. So glad we made a stop here on our roadtrip!

Honestly? Abe deserves better, but it just doesn't seem like there's enough material to work with…read morehere, which may not necessarily be anyone's fault. My top-tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality and I came by here last Thursday in the late morning at my request. I love presidential shizzle - one of my earliest memories is getting a book of the presidents and learning all of them in order, and instead of going to Disney World (don't get me started), my parents took me to a number of presidential homesteads and birthplaces when I was in elementary school, mostly the heavy hitters in VA and the Adams one in Braintree, MA. And I've legitimately celebrated President's Day by dragging some of my chums to Grant's Tomb at 9AM to listen to a reenactment of the 1873 State of the Union. So I came into this with some nerdy, executive branch street cred. Part of it was definitely the mediocre rainy weather, but I just wasn't that impressed. I want to emphasize that there might not have been anything the National Park Service could have done once they got involved, because the biggest issue here is that the actual birthplace doesn't really exist anymore. I'm sure they got the land/property lines correct, but the log cabin that we all naturally associate with Abe? Gone, so you have to settle for a recreation, and that recreated cabin isn't given its own space outside - it's housed in the Memorial Building, which makes that experience more claustrophobic than it should be, since the cabin takes up about 70% of the room. There may be excellent reasons why it had to remain indoors, but I found that decision pretty curious. And bottom line - it's hard to have a national park based on a birthplace that's largely abstract and not something you can see with your own eyes. The Visitors Center was relatively small but pleasant. I haven't stopped to think about it until now, but I'm guessing that the vast majority of Lincoln exhibits are at his home in Springfield, IL, which I know DOES physically exist. Again, they just didn't have as much to play around with here so they're relying more on fancy/tasteful Lincoln quotes on their walls versus, say, a glass case featuring his top hat. When a sizeable chunk of your Visitors Center is taken up by a gift shop and little movie theater showing a 15-minute video about Lincoln, you're pretty much broadcasting the fact that you don't have a lot of standalone items to display, which is a shame. The biggest selling point is the Memorial Building, notwithstanding the replica cabin situation inside. It's built up on a hill with 56 steps for each year of Abe's life, and bares a pretty strong resemblance to the more notable Presidential memorials in DC. I thought it was cool that several Presidents have stopped by, now knowing that this is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but it's also just an hour outside Lexington so it was also disappointing to learn that no Presidents have visited since Eisenhower. They can't fit in a 15-minute photo op over the course of four to eight years? Come on. It's Abe. The NPS rangers (right word?) were very nice. I'd be curious what the pecking order of historic sites is for the NPS but I have to think this isn't at the very tippy top. Regardless, lots of smiles and at least one of them went out of their way to ask us if we had any questions and to (unprompted) pull out a map to orient us before we left the Visitors Center to explore the grounds a bit. If you're in the area, sure, pay your respects to the beginning of Honest Abe's story. But if you have more time/bandwidth, I think the play is to jump ahead in the timeline and get yourself up to Illinois.

Road to Bethlehem- a drive thru experience is a unique and vastly different annual holiday event…read moreheld at the bullitt county fairgrounds off the clermont exit. This is more of a religious event. This free event has You pull in with your vehicle and drive up to individual stations where they have people dressed up and they act out parts of Jesus Christ journey from birth to his death. The place features cool set designs and costumes. There are multiple drive up stations and at each station the actors deliver there lines and interact with the patrons of the vehicle and usually wish you a merry Christmas on the way to the next station. The event is only held one weekend of the holiday season and props to the actors as it has to be cold as it all done outside in the weather elements during a 6pm-8pm night time frame. Also there are several cars that come through and they have to repeat there lines for each individual car. Our favorite part was probably the part where they give you two "gold coins" at the beginning and warn you of Roman guards who block your path to Bethlehem and urge you to use the gold coins for safe passage. The actors and our kids had a lot of fun with that part. Being that this is an individual per car live play experience this Does take some time to go through. We arrived right at 6pm to a line that back up just to the entrance of the fairgrounds and it took 90 min to go through. So be patient. It's a long wait but when you factor in what this is it's very understandable. Plus it's a free event. So hopefully people don't harp on the long waits and appreciates the volunteers. Another important note or disclaimer to consider is while yes this is a holiday event, It is very much a religious event only. So if one was just looking for lights and Santa clauses they would not enjoy this. This whole production is strictly the story of Jesus. So if you aren't religious or if you just don't particularly like religious shows or history then this will not be for you. Overall very unique and different holiday event. I could see some of the younger kids may get bored or frustrated. My kids enjoyed it and appreciated what it took for the workers to make this free event happen. Is this something I'll comeback to every year? Probably not unless they switched up the show. But it's probably worth revisiting every few years. Once again I can't give enough props to the several volunteers who bare the cold and stretch there vocal cords on the weekend this event takes place.

FREE TO GO INTO THE BUILDING, LADY THERE IS VERY INFORMATIVE. THEY DO ACCEPT DONATIONS…read more Once Tony and I turned the door knob to this massive red brick five story building, not only did I feel like I was stepping back in time, I immediately fell in love! Everything was just stunning. I realize it's a museum, actually 2 museums now but I am mainly looking past all the memorabilia and looking at the built in cabinets, shelving, Windows, fireplaces and woodwork details...just imagining what it looked like when it was built...shiny new in 1819. Spalding Hall is steeped with history. It is a federal brick building constructed in 1819 as St Joseph College and Seminary for men. During Civil War, it was a hospital caring for both Confederates and Union Soldiers. Later the Sisters of Charity converted it into an Orphanage for boys. Then the Xaverian Brothers established St Joseph Preparatory School, which became a International Boys Prep School from 1911 to 1968. First floor open to the public for museum, upper levels are office's and rental halls for weddings, receptions, etc. There is a parking lot.

I took my hubby to this museum while visiting Elizabethtown and he was like a giddy school boy…read morelooking at and reading about all the cars. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. And the number of cars you get to look at is worth the visit. This is a nice "free" museum. If you like old cars- this is a must do while you're in Elizabethtown.

This is a very nice museum. There are plenty of cars and you can spend a lot of time reminiscing. I…read morespent several hours there taking photos to keep the memories alive. I gave it four stars instead of five because it is not the biggest I've been in. I must say that all the cars are in pristine condition. They are well cared for and even the engine components have been painted and polished. I'd been there last in 2007 and owed it to myself to come back and spend more time. I'm very glad I did. One activity that you can take in to really enjoy the place is to investigate the biographies of the cars by scanning the 2D bar code on each vehicle's windshield. Cars are spaced nicely apart so you can get a good view of the cars from different angles and it accommodates photography very nicely. Clientele present on my visit was very respectful when I was there. Since it is far away, I don't think I will go back. By the way, my review should carry some credibility as I am a retired automotive engineer and volunteer at another car museum. If you are in the area, go there.

I am so museumed out after being at 2 civil war battlefields in the past few days. Anyway, I walked…read morethrough with my cadet son and spouse. I saw some other cadets were able to climb on a tank and asked if my son could and he was able to. Yes! Cool photo opportunity!

Wonderful collection of military history and leadership and of course their namesake General George…read morePatton. Highlighting the deep military hit of the Patton family.

We were in Kentucky for a quick road trip and decided to stop at the Kentucky Railway Museum as a…read moreway to beat the heat. Located in New Haven, the old station houses both a gift shop and small museum. Many of the artifacts are from the old L&N line that made stops here. The museum also has a large model railroad but was slightly disappointed by the fact only one train was running in it. They also offer train rides, depending on the day and time of week. We were lucky enough that on this particular Tuesday they were operating. We took a hour long ride, heading south to Gethsemane and back again. The ride was smooth and cool but was generally very slow. We never felt the full power of the engine move us down to the track as we were hoping too. It's a nice ride but possibly not as exciting if you are a true train enthusiast.

We joined the grandkids for The Santa Express. Perhaps our expectations were out of line. We had…read morehoped for a Christmas decorated train chugging through some nifty Christmas lights. The exterior of the train was old, faded paint. The interior had a strand of lights extending the length of each car. And the luggage racks had lots of wrapped boxes. There was no one to lead Christmas carols. No one to give us any history of the woods & fields we chugged through. (one "conductor" told us there was a field where a decisive civil was battle took place). Late on the ride back, Frosty, Santa & Mrs Claus walked the aisles. Some Elves gave the kids a commemorative button. I saw folks dozing off. We were all ready for the ride to end. And we were pleasantly surprised to arrive to "snow". I think the Santa Express has a lot of room to grow. One other thing, don't expect to post much. Cell signal was non-existent.