Southern Byways

Best Of… Kentucky Loves Colonel Sanders

by SP on July 18th, 2007

This month our theme is … Best of. I thought about everything that the south had to offer and it was hard to pin down one thing. And then I thought about something that I have always loved and people are instantly familiar with… 

I don’t think that there is a person alive who hasn’t eaten Kentucky Fried Chicken, and I certainly had my share during my university days, but have you ever tried it in a little town called Corbin?? You will see the turn off right from the I75! I haven’t been there in a while, but I particularly remember that the cafe is set up to be just what it was like in 1940s! I must look it up on our next trip down to make sure that it hasn’t changed!

Directions… From I-75 take exit 29, go south on 25 East for one mile, right on 25 West one-half mile.
Tour groups welcome
Open daily 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
*Souvenirs available… and if you don’t collect something, this might be the start of an interesting collection to pass down to future generations.

Did you know (and this stuff is interesting) at least to me ;)

• that Harland Sanders first served his chicken from a gas station during the depression.
• he was born on September 9, 1890.
• Harland learned to cook so that he could help his mother who was working full time. And this was all before he was ten years of age. It was at this time that he took his first full time job.
• His first restaurant consisted on one table and six chairs… from the gas station mentioned above.

More Colonel Sanders Trivia

But Colonel Sanders didn’t stop there. He’s the face behind Kentucky’s Chicken Festival. If you are in the London, Kentucky area from September 27 to the 30th, they are holding the 2007 Chicken Festival! You just can’t pass that up!! But, if you can’t make it, you can still watch. They have web cams set up! Now how cool would that be?? Here and here…

There is so much going on, but I must tell you one more thing. For you car enthusiast… there is a car show scheduled for the Festival.

“Again, the festival has been voted as one of the Kentucky Tourism Council’s “Top Ten” Events and the Southeast Tourism Society “Top 20″ Events. It has also been voted
“Best Festival In State” by Kentucky
Monthly Magazine.

Official Festival Hours are:
Thursday from 5:00 pm until 11:00 pm
Friday from 10:00 am until 12:00 am (Midnight)
Saturday from 10:00 am until 12:00 am (Midnight)
Sunday from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm”

*And then there is this… a skillet like none that you have probably seen. And here is one little detail that I thought that you might like… It Requires 300 gallons of cooking oil to fill. Can cook 600 quarters of chicken at one time. Now that is a lot of chicken!! ;)

For more information…

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POSTED IN: Southern Byways, Things to See in Kentucky