Come Sail Away On Kentucky Lake

by J.T. Crawford

Come Sail Away

Kentucky Lake is one of the premier destinations for those who practice the art of sailing. We recently joined avid sailor Adrienne Asbell for an afternoon among the wind and waves, getting an inside view of this ancient pastime. Maybe it was the photos of boats gliding through azure waters near the Great Barrier Reef just off the coast of Australia. Or perhaps it was the alluring lyrics of Christopher Cross as he sang, “Sailing—takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be. Just a dream and the wind to carry me, and soon I will be free.” Or perhaps it was the TV show Gilligan’s Island. “Yeah, but I guess that didn’t end well,” laughs Adrienne Asbell as she recounts the influences that caused her to fall in love with sailing. “But I did have a huge crush on the professor.” No matter what led her here, it is a pristine day, and she is right where she wants to be—commanding her sailboat

Calypso through Kentucky Lake. “Since I was a little kid, I said I was going to get a sailboat,” she says. About ten years ago,

Adrienne found herself driving a regular route by a house where a sailboat was just sitting in the yard. “I finally stopped and asked if they would sell it. And I ended up buying it.”

Adrienne

Asbell

Even though Adrienne had dreams of sailing, she didn’t know the first thing about actually doing it. But she had a boat. And she found a community. “All the folks on my pier were avid sailors,” she says, “and there were a couple of other newbies. We had a mentor, and we all just learned together. Every weekend we’d go out and learn.” At first, she took it slow, only using the mainsail. Over time, she learned the lingo, the parts of the boat, and the actions needed to be successful. Then she began to practice the art of sailing, something Adrienne says is never mastered but continually learned. While sailing is more demanding than motorized boating, Adrienne has discovered an experience unlike any other. “I will admit it could be a little more intense at times than I had imagined,” she laughs, “but on those perfect days, it’s not like anything else.” She finds it to be a great escape—one of the few things that completely draws her mind away from the complications of life.

Sailing Club

Sailing requires attention and thoughtfulness. Adrienne generally avoids extremely windy and/or gusty days. If she does decide to brave those elements, she will ask someone else to crew on her boat, or she may crew with someone else. And through the Kentucky Lake Sailing Club, she’s able to enjoy multiple facets of sailing. The group holds group sails, raft-up events, overnight stays, and races. “Racing helps keep your skills sharp,” she says. “You get all points of sail when you race,” explains Adrienne. “The wind will be at your back, and it’ll seem super flat and quiet. You’ll round a buoy, and the wind will be at your side. Then, you’ll be heeled over (tilted at an angle) all the way. Then you may have the wind coming right at you. You have to tack back and forth then because you can’t obviously go directly into the wind. You have to be able to fill the sails. That can be exhausting.” For a more relaxing outing, Adrienne enjoys a leisurely cruise around the lake before rafting up with friends. She often anchors and stays on her boat overnight, which comes with sleeping quarters. Andy Howard, Commodore with the Kentucky Lake Sail Club, says days like those are what it’s all about. “We have racers, some who have boats and may not sail a whole lot but like to hang out at the marina, and some who love to cruise and just get out and enjoy the water,” says Andy. “But everyone comes together, and you make fast friends.” The club, which has been around for nearly four decades, calls Kentucky Lake home. “It is probably the best sailing lake in the central U.S.,” says Andy. It offers the space and depth needed to sail. On nice days, you can see a large number of sailboats on the north end of the lake, and if you’ve been to Grand Rivers, you’ve probably been struck by the beauty of all the sailboats docked in the marina at Lighthouse Landing. “It really takes your mind off stuff,” says Andy. “And you can sit back and sail or you can really work it. It’s incredibly peaceful. You enjoy it without the sound of an engine.” Most sailboats do have small engines, but they are generally only used for entering and exiting marinas and moving short distances. “In fact, last year, I used three gallons of fuel,” laughs Andy.

More than just radio

Art

community

music

For sailors like Andy and Adrienne, it’s such simplicity that anchors them to love the art of sailing. It immerses sailors in the most basic yet grand elements of nature—water, sky, and air—becoming one with the motion of the world. The result is an elevation of awareness to something beyond one’s self. This is Adrienne’s happy place. “There’s really nothing like it,” she says. “And yeah, it’s all I wanted it to be when I thought about it years ago.”

Kentucky Lake Sailing Club

Andy and Adrienne invite anyone who is interested in sailing to contact the group and get involved. You don’t even have to have a boat! Getting into sailing is more accessible than you might think. Visit the KENTUCKY LAKE SAILING CLUB on Facebook or go to their website at klsc.clubexpress.com.

National Covaerage

in Garden & Gun Magazine!

The Paducah Visitors Bureau

gains continual national attention for the community. They work every day to get high-powered publications like Garden & Gun to feature Paducah! We all reap the benefits.

For info on Paducah’s pizzaz visit paducah.travel! Visit @PaducahCreativeCity on Facebook to read the article!

by JT CRAWFORD

Bill Monroe’s Musical Heritage Lives On At The Rosine Barn Jamboree

63

WEST KENTUCKY WANDERINGS

venerable wind strums through the heart of Kentucky as we weave our

way through the panorama of Ohio County. There, the land rises and falls in a gentle, tumbling fashion, as the hand of the breeze sweeps across the native grasses, swaying the strings of the earth, striking chords that only the heart can hear. We are in search of the ancient spirits of the Commonwealth—those elements that are rooted in the primordial building blocks of who we are. Here, land and time summon the past to write a new song that soothes the Kentucky soul. Perhaps it all began near Jerusalem Ridge above the town of Rosine, Kentucky when a century ago, an 11-year-old Bill Monroe struggled to make sense of a harsh life, expressing himself through music. The youngest of eight children, he’d been relegated to playing the mandolin as the older kids had already claimed more desirable instruments.

When Bill was ten, his mom died. His dad would die six years later, and one by one, all of his siblings moved away. As a teen, Bill tried to hold the homeplace together by himself. Life was overwhelming. But Bill Monroe found solace in his music. And he continued to learn from his fiddle-playing uncle. Bill was fascinated by Uncle Pen’s sense of rhythm. Taking that and combining it with his penchant for writing songs about his home, Bill codified an entire genre of music—bluegrass.

Highway 62, which rolls out of Beaver Dam toward Rosine, is a grand passageway into another space and time. Just before Rosine, we pull off onto a gravel road that takes us up to Jerusalem Ridge. There, we find the original homeplace of Bill Monroe. Restored in 2001, the house is furnished how Bill would have probably remembered it, even housing some of the original family artifacts.

The area surrounding is mostly a quite woodland. One can almost imagine a very young Bill with his parents and siblings on the long porch of the house, the family playing their instruments as Bill mastered the mandolin. The sounds of bluegrass still ring out in the hills every fall with the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration at the homeplace.

We tour the house with the guide, learning about Bill, his family, and the land that inspired a style of music that is uniquely Kentucky. The reverberations that began there continue to ripple throughout the world today.

After leaving the Monroe homeplace, we find our way back to Highway 62 and head toward Rosine. There, one can find the Bill Monroe Museum and his final resting place in the Rosine Cemetery. In

Above: The crossroads of the Bill Monroe Homeplace, Bill Monroe’s final resting place and the front porch of Slick Back BBQ. Opposite Page, a Slick Back BBQ meal and The Bill Monroe Homeplace.

WEST KENTUCKY WANDERINGS

Rosine, Highway 62 is called the Blue Moon of Kentucky Highway, named after one of Monroe’s most famous songs. We stop at Slick Back BBQ, a restaurant located in the old Woosley’s General Store.

The building, constructed in 1933, is largely original. From the porch swing to the nearly 90-year-old wood planks that make up the restaurant’s floor, one is invited to take a step back in time and engage in another Kentucky tradition: barbecue.

We indulge in generous portions of smoked pulled pork, brisket, smashed potatoes, slaw, baked beans, and griddle corn cakes. The walls are decorated with Rosine’s past. Near our table hangs a poster advertising the next Ohio County Bologna Eating Contest. Locals come and go for lunch. “Ya got any frog legs today?” one lady asks upon entering the door. “Nope,” replies the waitress. “They quit jumpin’.”

The old Woosley’s General Store, and now Slick Back BBQ, play a huge part in bridging Ohio County’s past to the present. After lunch, we head next door to the Rosine Barn Jamboree. The barn is a time-worn structure, probably older than the old general store. It’s no doubt that these two buildings would have been part of a young Bill Monroe’s landscape. And Bill was far from the only person crafting music in this part of Kentucky. A musicality has swirled about this part of Kentucky for decades. Even after he’d moved away and become a star, residents of this part of the state still created music; playing and singing whenever they got the chance.

In the back of the old barn, in a makeshift office, we meet Terry Flener, President of the Rosine Association, overseers of the Barn Jamboree. “Years ago, Hoyt and Eleanor Bratcher ran the store,” he says. “Hoyt played mandolin, and he started inviting friends to come over to the store on Friday evenings to pick. People found out about it, and some would come to listen, and others would come to play. It kept growing. In ’92, the Bratchers approached the Woosley family about using the barn, which used to be a blacksmith shop. It gave them more space to play. Word got out, and before long, you could drive by on any Friday night, and the parking lot was full.”

Musicians knew Rosine was the place to pick. Hoyt and Eleanor provided a sign-up sheet for all those who wanted to play, and anyone on the sheet was guaranteed a slot. “It might take all night, but they kept the barn open to make sure everyone got to play,” says Terry. “A few times, the sun was rising when the last band was playing.”

In the late 90s, the Rosine Association was formed to help manage and care for the Rosine Barn Jamboree. The board kept the Friday night tradition alive with open mic early in the evening and scheduled acts to round out the night. Bill Monroe, who always called Ohio County home, played at the barn three times. “He would come to the bluegrass festival at his homeplace and come over and play here sometimes,” adds Terry. “One time, we had a band from Russia show up, and one of the things they wanted to do was come play at the Rosine barn. Bill found out about it and came over to see if he could play with them. Of course, they loved that. The last time he played here was the year he died, 1996. He played with the US Navy Bluegrass Band.” That year, Bill stood behind the mic for a moment as someone traced around his feet. Today, you can stand in the painted footprints of the father of bluegrass. “The saying is that you haven’t played bluegrass until you’ve been in the footsteps of Bill Monroe,” says Terry.

Hoyt Bratcher played mandolin, and he started inviting friends to come over to the store on Friday evenings to pick. People found out about it, and it kept growing.”—TERRY FLENER “

WEST KENTUCKY WANDERINGS

The sun begins to ease its way from the afternoon sky as the crowd starts to gather. Across the gravel lot and through the low current of smoke flowing from the barbecue pit, musicians begin to emerge, seemingly emanating from another dimension’s time and space. Some are carrying guitars, some mandolins, some banjos. A few haul their big string bass instruments. The open mic folks make their way onto the stage, pencil drawings of Bill Monroe looking over their shoulders and out into the crowd.

The night is not strictly bluegrass. Classic country songs, some country rock, and a smattering of blues are a staple. One can hear everything from “Rock of Ages” to “Here I Am, Drunk Again.” The crowd claps, sings along, and cheers with each song. They fan themselves as a cooler evening breeze flows through the barn’s open doors. Occasionally, an audience member utilizes one of the community flyswatters hanging from a post.

After open mic, the scheduled bands take the stage, and before long, dark has settled on Rosine, the barn emanating a glow into the night. The crowd has grown, spilling out the door to the lawn. People tap their feet, some dance, some sing along, and aspiring musicians hang out on the periphery of the entire scene, picking along quietly on their instruments. Even over at the old Woosley Store, a trio of musicians play and sing on the porch.

“Bill started it all right here,” says Terry, “the feel, the sound. Bluegrass tells stories. It’s often about family and about home. It has so much meaning. And when you add the musicianship on the different instruments, it really touches you.” And this keeps people coming back, Friday after Friday. There is a longing for a connection to our musical heritage played live and in person.

Later, we pull away from the Rosine Barn Jamboree and glide off into the darkness of a Kentucky night. We’ve discovered the current that flows from Kentucky’s musical past and into today. Windows down and the smell of summer in the air, we sing along with Bill Monroe:

“Back in the day of my childhood In the evening when everything was still I used to listen to the foxes And my dad in them old Kentucky hills

High in the hills of old Kentucky Stands a fond spot in my memory I'm on my way back to the old home That light in the window I want to see”

THE ROSINE BARN JAMBOREE IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC EVERY FRIDAY AT 6 PM, APRIL THROUGH MID-DECEMBER

Attorneys at Law

Rooted in tradition. Prepared for the future.

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