I leave the horrors of the Battle of Franklin behind me as I head towards Nashville on the freeway, then follow the signs and the GPS instructions for my next destination, one that has nothing to do with music or civil rights or the civil war. My next destination is to visit the museum of one of the most iconic brands in the world.
It’s a pleasant day, and the three-and-a-half hour road journey starts with a very congested freeway on the other side of Nashville, so I breathe with relief when finally, I am directed onto an arterial route, almost devoid of trucks, making a more relaxing and picturesque drive. Before long, I cross the state border out of Tennessee and enter Kentucky, the sixth state we have visited over the past eight days. Travelling through summery lush green rolling hills and pretty farm landscapes, not unlike that of Tennessee, is spectacular, and I now wish that I had more time just to be somewhere to absorb and enjoy my surroundings.
But I don’t. I am still short of time, which is OK. It is impossible to fit in a lot of activities and sites without these time constraints and I am quite happy that the planning done to date has generally worked in our favour. Of course, having good weather since the torrential downpour of day one, has helped. The schedule, however, does not leave much time for misadventures or meandering off the beaten track, which is something I like to do.
We pass through places with exotic names like Bowling Green. Who would actually name their town Bowling Green? There are some differing stories about the origins of the name, but according to the Encyclopedia of Kentucky, the name was derived from Bowling Green, Virginia, the place where early migrants first arrived. The other explanation is that it was named for the town’s founder, Robert Moore, who owned a personal ‘ball alley game’. It takes less time to drive through the town than it does to research its origins.
Our drive is rather uneventful, although roadworks are happening along several stretches of road, which add a few minutes here and a few minutes there to our drive. We arrive at our destination, and the epicentre of the roadworks as the whole outer end of town is currently under construction and our hotel is located in the middle of it. But we don’t check in just yet as there is something more important to see.
Past the roadworks, around a curve, and down a little wooded hill is our destination. The original site of the Harland Sanders Café and Museum. Built on the original site and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, the new museum and fast food joint celebrates the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Harland Sanders, who not only operated the restaurant between 1940 and 1956, but developed his secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices right here in this place.
In 1930 Sanders operated a service station across the road from this restaurant. He served meals in the back of the service station at his own dining table, which seated just six people. By 1940, he had acquired the property across the road, built a restaurant that seated 142 people and had opened a motel on the site. Business boomed as the restaurant was on the main north-south route through central Kentucky. When the new interstate 75 bypassed Corbin Kentucky, Sanders sold the café in 1956 and began selling franchises for KFC.
Still adorned with the old neon signage, some of which may have been blown out with a rifle in more recent times, we park the car and enter the new museum. The site still operates as a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive through and sit-down restaurant, but more interesting is the memorabilia contained in the museum.
I spend a delightful hour wandering through the exhibits and purchase an early dinner and a small recipe book, which does not include the recipe for the secret herb and spice blend. I sit at one of the tables dotted throughout the museum to sample the original recipe from the original restaurant and I am not really surprised to report that it tastes the same as every KFC across the world. One interesting thing to note is that Harland Sanders did not perfect his secret recipe until he was in his 60s, which should provide inspiration for many retirees and seniors who are wondering what to do with their twilight years.
And so, I can now say that I have eaten in the original KFC, the place where it all started.
Comments