12. June 2025
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Six US States And Nashville (Day 10 – 8th June 2025) – Back in Evansville

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Some 300 miles ahead of me on that Sunday was already some sort of farewell ride – only the flights back home laid ahead of me after that day. Nonetheless, I had a really interesting day with some nice stops, majorly influenced by a US President. Enjoy the tenth episode of my Six US States and Nashville trip report.

 

Meeting the Beaver Again

As I said in the Day 9 report, I was really curious about the Spark by Hilton Lexington Hamburg, as it was my first stay in that Hilton brand overall. The breakfast was nice but – in contrast to the Hampton Inn stays I typically have in the United States – did not contain any warm items. Nonetheless, I really liked my stay there and headed South, more or less into the opposite direction of the last section of the drive before.

My first stop was some 30 miles South of Lexington, in the very outskirts of Richmond KY. You could also say that the interstate exit of the I-75 felt being out of nowhere. Nonetheless, there was already congestion on the exit lane. The rational (or irrational) reason was, of course, the beaver. Buc-ees has a road stop there. I did not get the t-shirt I found at other places (but not in my size), but ended up with some merchandise and a lovely turkey sandwich. Nonetheless, I felt that my body would be happy once I am back in good, cold Germany. The warmth and humidity was absolutely not my kind of thing. Again and again on that day, there were intense, but short showers, which did not make the weather more bearable.

 

Running into Carly Pearce

On Sunday, I just did not make it (timewise) to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The really nice place in the Renfro Valley of Mt Vernon was absolutely worth the detour. The key artist there was likely Loretta Lynn. However, I also ran into an inductee into the Hall of Fame who is very familiar to me, Carly Pearce. I featured her February 2025 show in Cologne and even had her in a Spotlight interview in September 2022. Very nice staff there as well – bad luck that a smaller part of the exhibition was not available due to upgrade work.

Even though I planned my trip with a lot of usage of Google Maps beforehand, I tend to underestimate distances in the United States. My next stop was about 120 miles away. The drive took me through rural Kentucky, majorly along the US-150. There are a lot of Civil War battlefields along the route, which I passed on my road trip. I had to skip the Kentucky Railway Museum, as they had a Thomas & Friends day and the place was packed. Thus I passed New Haven KY and reached the area around Hodgenville.

 

Chasing Abraham Lincoln’s Childhood

I almost missed the Knob Creek Farm. The place is driven by the National Park Service. Abraham Lincoln spent parts of his boyhood there before moving on. A renovated version of the original farm building as well as the Lincoln cabin is still available and absolutely worth a visit.

South of the city, there is the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. The original cabin is nowadays protected by some sort of temple, which has been built around it.

 

Hodgenville – The Abraham Lincoln City

Hodgenville is proud of his world-famous son. Lincoln is everywhere. Even the radio station is called Abe. Furthermore, the city is a real beauty, so that I really loved to explore it.

The central square of town (called Lincoln Square, you guessed it…) features two Abraham Lincoln statues. The major one is a version of Abraham Lincoln as you know it. It reminded me of the statue at Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.. Opposite to that, though, is a version of young Abe, holding a book and looking at his later himself. A really nice scenery.

 

Learning more about Mr Lincoln

I had to rush, as the Lincoln Museum in town was about to close at 16:30. I still had some 50 minutes until closing – this place definitely deserves more time. On the lower level, the life of Abraham Lincoln is majorly illustrated in the style of a wax museum, while the upper floor holds some additional exhibits and also deals with the influence Lincoln still has until today. A really great place.

I was absolutely exhausted now. The more I felt happy that there is a lovely cafe at the square as well. A well-deserved ice cream and some sweet delights gave me at least some energy to continue Westbound.

 

Evansville Calling

Time permitting, there would have been some interesting sights on the road. The Christmas town Santa Claus in Indiana and another place at which Lincoln spent parts of his boyhood. Furthermore, Owensboro in Kentucky holds the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I skipped them, also time permitting and just had a brief stop for some shopping at the Evansville Target, where I also grabbed a quick bite.

After refueling the car, it was time to somehow go back where the trip started. I had my second night of that trip at the Hampton Inn Evansville Airport . Preparing the website, altering my luggage so that it is ready for the flights and relaxing before going back was on the schedule now. Overall, this trip was about 1,610 miles of driving, that’s quite a bit. Therefore, I had a lot of amazing memories with me – but also felt that it is time to recover now.

 

My Song of the Day: Luke Combs – When It Rains It Pours

This trip is about music. Thus I felt present one song each day which somehow accompanied me every day. And I added a playlist of these songs – and some more – on my Spotify account as well:

No song could describe the weather on that final day better than When It Rains It Pours by Luke Combs. Overall, I was really lucky and did expect much more rain and thunderstorms. Nonetheless, if there was rain it was intense. Running into her on that day, Carly Pearce’s Country Music Made Me Do It felt like an obvious choice for that day as well. Lee Brice’s I Drive Your Truck is one of the most impressing country music stories ever told to me. Apart from that, when I felt that I struggled to stay awake while driving, I typically switched to hard rock and metal. What would be a better way than having two absolute legends of the genre, Doro and Lemmy, joining forces. Together, they do Doro’s Love Me Forever.

Here is the full playlist, which will grow day by day:

 

Six US States And Nashville – Daily Episodes

Here is an overview of the daily postings. I will link them once they

There will be no Day 12 report, as this would only cover the flight back to Germany.

 

Postings about Road Trips

Here are all road trips on Flyctory.com

 

Flyctory.com in Washington D.C.

Here are all postings about Washington D.C. and surroundings:

 

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