Shaker Vacation

Regan and I slipped away to Kentucky this weekend and discovered the simplicity of the Shakers. Tucked away in the rolling hills of Harrodsburg, KY is the historic Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. I don’t see eye to eye on the Shaker’s religious views, but I do love their simplicity and their industry. With their hands they cooked and canned, crafted and sewed, farmed and built amazing, lasting objects.

Our simple, restored room was located in the Old Stone Shop looking over the sheep pen. By day we spent our time exploring the nearby Bourbon Trail and in the evening we toured the grounds of the village, making friends with all the animals and taking in the landscape that hasn’t really changed since the last Shaker from the village died in the early 1900s.

The buildings in the village are lined with tall, paned windows letting light stream through all day. The ceilings are high, the floors wooden and the walls so bare that sounds ring easily through all the rooms. Everything that surrounded us this weekend was so crisp and clear I felt like I was operating on a level of alertness I don’t normally considering the media, technology and clutter that typically surround me in a day.

Escape doesn’t get much better than that.

More pictures of our Shaker adventures are over on my Flickr page. Next up — tales of our adventures on the Bourbon Trail.


Comments

2 responses to “Shaker Vacation”

  1. maryannk Avatar
    maryannk

    That is so lovely! Looks like the perfect getaway, I am jealous! Next on your list should be Mansfield, MO. Isn’t the south-midwest so underrated?!?

    1. Claire Avatar
      Claire

      It was the perfect getaway for sure. Also, I thought of you and the Tinsley House much of the time I was there 🙂

Leave a Reply