Berea, Kentucky

Berea Info Center

We reviewed the map of places we've been, and discovered that Kentucky formed a big hole east of the Mississippi River. So Consuelo planned a visit to the Blue Grass state. We made online reservations at a campground called, "Oh! Kentucky", in Berea and close to I-75. As with many of our places to stay moving north, we're here "off-season", so most of the campers are long term residents of the park.

One of the "Show of Hands"

Berea lists itself as the "Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky", and that was the principle draw for Consuelo. Berea College offers programs which preserve and folk art traditions, such as Skittle board games and dulcimer making. Numerous artisans dot the landscape. We even saw two bead stores within 100 feet of each other, definitely a rarity.

In 2003, the Berea Arts Council established a sculpture display around town made up of 12 giant sized hands with wrists, each decorated by local artists, calling it "Show of Hands". Three of these are now on the lawn in front of the visitor's center. We're looking for the rest.

Eagle flag at visitor's center

We found some nice antique stores downtown, and an authentic flea market which had the quality of a big garage sale. A local cafe downtown made great sandwiches for us one day.