Finally, COVID is over, healthcare has adjusted to the ability to care for COVID patients and those with other illnesses or injuries, and vaccines have been developed. Other than trips that were necessary and didn't include many stops or sightseeing, we chose to stay home. But, vaxxed and boosted, we were ready to see some new sights as well as revisiting a few.
We took off from Biloxi, Mississippi, and headed to my high school reunion in the major city (hah!) of Mt. Olivet, Kentucky. Mt. Olivet is one of the smallest incorporated towns in the state in both area and population. It is less than one square mile in area and consistently has less than 300 total population. It is the county seat of Robertson County, the smallest county in the state.
Robertson County's most notable feature is that it is home to Blue Licks State Park. They also have an awesome covered bridge over Johnson Creek.
The county maintains one school, which houses kindergarten through 12th grade. While I was there, the school was in a building donated by the Deming family and aptly called Deming. When I graduated, my classes were in most of the top two floors where Deming High School was housed. A new school building opened in January 2013. Thus was the end of Deming High School. The building burned down in July 2013 from arson. The new school is called Robertson County School
I pulled this photo from Facebook. I don't know who to credit.
Mine was one of the largest graduating classes in the history of the school. There was a discussion about whether we were the largest graduating class or just the largest starting class. We had a whopping 13 attend the reunion. We had to count, but we finally determined that we graduated 33. Unfortunately, a significant number of our initial 33 are no longer with us, having lost one to COVID last year. This is a screen grab of the graduating class from an online copy of our yearbook, taken in front of the school.
After the reunion, Bruce drove me around the area to see how things had changed. The new school is just like most other schools. Nothing unique about the architecture. The old school was razed and replaced with a Family Dollar.
There was a fence around the elevated corner in the middle of town (in front of the post office) so kids can't sit on the corner like we used to. (If you look closely, you may find this guy on the yearbook photo. He and I were voted "most unique" in our graduating class!) I also pulled this photo from Facebook and don't know who to credit.
I took this picture from in front of the bank, facing the other direction. Same corner in the center of town.
The old buildings that were once so stately had been neglected and were falling down, many of them with people still living in them. Over half of the population lives under the poverty line. Family farms don't pay like they used to when my grandfather was a farmer, and there is no other industry in the county. My first job in high school was as a part time receptionist at a real estate office on the first floor in this building. Because of the sun direction, I wasn't able to get a good shot of the interior. The ceiling was falling down along with the insulation above it. I'm sure the building wasn't safe to enter, though nothing was posted on it. It hadn't yet fallen down like many of the buildings along Main Street.
The house I grew up in had been well cared for, with new-ish siding and a garage added on. The absence of all the window air conditioners we had growing up makes me believe there is central heat and air inside now, too, but I didn't look for a unit.
They apparently put new doors on the barn by the street. Those doors were falling off when we lived there. We kept the horses in the barn in back and that barn didn't get used much. The outdoor ring between the barn and the house is now lush grass.
The indoor ring was still looking good. I couldn't tell what it was used for. I didn't do much snooping. Even though I graduated with the guy who owns the place now, they didn't appear to be home, and I hadn't asked to traipse around his property.
After checking out the changes in Mt. Olivet, we headed to Cynthiana, where I lived before we moved to Mt. Olivet. On the way there, we went past my grandparents' farm. The house had burned down long ago. I barely recognized it and wouldn't have if the semi-circular driveway and the old barn on the hill weren't still there. I wasn't sure I had the right place until we passed and I recognized some of the other landmarks.
The first house I remember living in still looked the same. I didn't get photos. The first farm Daddy bought wasn't even recognizable. I wasn't sure it was the same place until I recognized the neighbor's house from across the road. I learned later that the house had burned down.
The roller skating rink we always went to was still there, still in the same building, and still going by the same name - Charley's Roller Rink. Inside, it was still the same, too. Only the faces had changed. In the back, there was a little space sectioned off, which was where Pepsi (the owner) allowed people to smoke. The rink is now smoke free, and that has a pool table in it. They even still hang the pom-poms from the same place on the ceiling! When I went in, there was a birthday party going on, so there are no pictures that include people.
By the time we got back to town, it was supper time. There really weren't many places to eat out in Mt. Olivet or Cynthiana, and since Granny Mitchell's in Mt. Olivet and Pine Villa in Cynthiana are both closed down and long gone, the only option for comfort food from childhood was Biancke's. We had eaten at Jerry's in Paris the night we got in. This is not pronounced as you would think. This is Kentucky, where things are pronounced as they are spelled. In this area, there is a town called Buena Vista (pronounced Byuna Vista) and Versailles (pronounced Ver-sails) and Biancke's (pronounced Bye-Aink-eez). Even though they pronounce the name funny, they do still make an excellent Kentucky Hot Brown.
By the time we finished eating, it was getting dark, so we headed back to Paris (Kentucky) where the closest place to stay was. I took a picture of the Kentucky version of the Eiffel Tower before we headed to our Airbnb.
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