Kentucky Lake Road Trip

A few weeks ago, we took our daughter to Governor's school, a summer program for talented high school students. On our way to UT Martin we passed Kentucky Lake. I was lucky enough to briefly get off the beaten path and take a few pictures of the su rrounding area. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to fish.

This is a picture looking south off highway 79. As you can see, Kentucky Lake is a very large lake. In fact, I wondered what is the distance that you lookout over water and see no land due to the curvature of the earth, so I looked it up. At a height of 6 feet, with no land on the horizon and only water, it is 3 miles (Note: the higher you are above the water, the further you can see). What's the reason for this useless fact? If you cross the Kentucky Dam and carefully lookout over the water, there's an area that you can only see water and sky like at the ocean. Now that's a big lake.

Here's a map of Kentucky Lake that I have painted (see more at www.LeoLakes.com). If you look you closely, you may find a tourist town named Grand Rivers, which is between Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River and Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River.

Grand Rivers is becoming a destination. It's sort of a mini vacation rivertown with little tourist shops, restaurants and even entertainment.

A great place to eat in Grand Rivers is Patti's an 1880's themed restaurant. It started in 1977 and has grown into the top tourist restaurant destination in Kentucky. Try thier specialty, pork chops, I have and they're great.

Patti's is a unique and interesting place with not only a restaurant, but many shops to discover. Check it out at: http://www.pattis-settlement.com/index.htm Also, near Grand Rivers is Green Turtle Bay Marina and Resort located on the waters of Lake Barkley. This is a great place to launch a boat or have a meal and explore.

Remember: Life is short, Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!