Day 18: Still House Hollow Farm, KY to Berea, KY (17 miles, 814 total)

Anne Katherine and I got a great night's sleep at the Snowden's. They have super comfy beds there and it really makes a difference to sleep somewhere where you feel at home. We slept in a bit (7:30) and awoke to the smell of breakfast. Jamie was preparing bacon, eggs, bagels, fresh fruit, hot tea, and juice. It was wonderful!

After breakfast, we reluctantly packed up and got ready for the day's ride. We thanked Jamie (Hiram had gone fishing), left her some money to pay for the cleaning of the room we used, and were on the road by 9.

The ride to Berea was fairly easy with gentle rolling hills and light traffic. It was nice to have an easy day as compared to our past few days. I did have to spray another dog today, but the story is quite similar to the others... Pack of three dogs looking like trouble... blah blah blah.

We arrived in Berea just before noon. Berea is home to Berea College and is known for its handmade crafts and woodworking. In the old downtown district, there is the historic Boone Tavern hotel that was been around since the early 1900's or so.

We stopped in the visitor's center to learn about our hotel options and the location of the laundrymat. It turns out that the Boone Tavern hotel is the only thing near anything interesting. About five miles down the road (near the interstate) are the typical motel chains. Since we were practically on their doorstep and would ultimately prefer to be in the historic portion of town, we stepped into the Boone Tavern to ask about rates. Well, Anne Katherine must have spoken to the right woman because she ended up offering us a $110 a night room for 69 bucks. That is a bit out of our usual hotel price range, but we decided to go for it; besides we are supposed to be resting today, right?

Anyway, the room is awesome. There is huge four-poster king-size bed, a sitting room, a plush bathroom and the usual continental breakfast (one of the perks of any hotel). We are really glad we decided to stay here tonight. Since we are here for more than just a night's sleep, it is great to have a nice place to relax.

So the first thing we did when we got in our room was shower, and build our pile of laundry. We had to get creative with what to wear to the laundrymat since everthing was dirty. The frontdesk told us that the laundrymat was a mile away, but we know better than to trust a non-bicyclist with mileage so we took the bikes.

The laundrymat was uneventful except that I had a chance to indulge in a bit of culture. Across the street was a Sonic, so I decided that since I've never been there, I needed to try a Sonic burger. It turns out that this place has car-hops on skates delivering food to cars. It was sort of in American Grafitti style, except it wasn't a woman in a mini-skirt on skates. It was a dude in jeans on rollerblades. I ordered by walking up to a box, pushing the button and yelling at it. "A double bacon cheese burger, onion rings and a coke please," I yelled. The response I got back was delayed and sounded a bit like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon. I assumed they got it right. Minutes later the dude on the blades showed up with my food and did a triple-cow-tow. Well, not really, but he did bring the food. The final report, a decent burger for fast food standards, and the onion rings were of high quality.

Speaking of culture, I have also been making an effort to try all sorts of regional soft drinks. The other day I had my first Mello Yellow which strikes me as a corporate reaction to Mountain Dew. A few days later I tried a Sun Drop which strikes me as a corporate response to Mello Yellow. Brilliant. Still, of all these new sodas, the Ale-81 is the best by far.

After we finished the laundry and a nap, we took a walk through town. We walked down to "old town" which is home to all sorts of stores featuring handmade items. The furniture and woodworking stores were by far the most interesting to me.

Dinner was next in order. We had heard that this local Itallian place was good and decently priced. I was looking forward to some pizza and beer. It turns out that this city is "dry" so that desired combo had to be without one crucial item. I really don't understand the idea of a dry county or city in this day and age. It seems to me that the end result is just a displacement of revenue to other cities or counties. But being from Southern California, I really don't know much about the "dry" idea.

In the lobby they have the coolest old-fashioned wooden game. It is called "skittles" and the goal is to knock down small wooden pins with a wooden top. The top is spun by pulling a string wrapped around it and points are earned depending on which pins are knocked down. It is tough to describe, but I'll post a photo later. It is surprising how addicting and fun the game is for how simple it is.

Well as far as riding goes, we should be all clear of the coal trucks and the dogs should be thining out. Additionally, the trash on the roadside that we saw for miles and miles near the VA-KY border has reduced as well. Another bonus, we got a view westward today and the terrain looks much tamer that anything we have seen in almost two weeks. I just hope it will actually be as tame as it looks.

Well, we have made a mess of this hotel room with all this laundry drying. It will take us a while to pack up, so we best get on it.

Until tomorrow,
Jeff