Kentucky Trivia for a Snow Day
Fun Kentucky trivia to occupy your kids on a snow day!
Happy Thursday, y'all! We've got beautiful, crisp skies here in Louisville and it's a lovely January day!
Since we're all looking for some things to do while staying inside, here's a Kentucky trivia game to keep your kids occupied. Visit the Kentucky Tourism Kids' Page to download Kentucky-themed coloring sheets and word searches. Click here to download a copy of the HerKentucky Trivia Game and Answers.
10 Kentucky Trivia Questions
- "Kentucky" comes from an Iroquois word that means what?
- Kentucky was originally a part of what state?
- What is Kentucky’s official state beverage?
- What Kentucky county hosts an annual ham festival?
- Every Kentucky citizen is required by law to take a shower at least how often?
- In Kentucky, it is illegal to remarry the same person more than how many times?
- True or false: Dwarf, Monkey’s Eyebrow, Rabbit Hash, and Mousie are all real place names in Kentucky.
- What Kentucky city is built inside a meteor crater?
- True or false: A horse named Vagrant won the first Kentucky Derby.
- The first cheeseburger was served in what Kentucky city?
Answers
1. Meadowland
2. Virginia
3. Milk
4. Trigg County
5. Once a year
6. Three
7. True
8. Middlesboro
9. False. Aristides won the first Derby; Vagrant won the second.
10. Louisville
Here's to staying warm and learning a little bit about the Commonwealth!
Five Fun Facts about the Kentucky Cardinal
Celebrating the Commonwealth's state bird.
Happy National Bird Day, y'all! Now, that's not much of a holiday, but it does seem like a good time to celebrate Kentucky's state bird, the Cardinal.
Here are a few fun facts about the Cardinal.
1. Cardinals have a distinctive color.
Everyone knows that the males are red, while the females are a brownish-grey. In a very rare mutation called bilateral gynandromorphism, a bird presents the plumage of both sexes.
Image via The Huffington Post.
2. Their name derives from a clergyman's hat.
Cardinals were so named because the male's red crest resembles the mitre (headdress) of a Catholic Cardinal.
Common Cardinal Grosbeak, by John James Audubon.
3. They are grosbeaks, which means they have large, seed-eating beaks.
Only here in Louisville do they have teeth.
4. The Cardinal became the Kentucky State Bird in 1926.
A Senate resolution was passed on February 26, 1926; the House of Representatives concurred.
5. A Kentucky Cardinal, published in 1894, was an important story by James Lane Allen, Kentucky's "First Important Novelist."
The Lexington-born, Transylvania-educated James Lane Allen contributed to Harper's Magazine and the Atlantic Monthly. Like many Southern writers of his era, Allen's writing meant to mimic the local vernacular. A Kentucky Cardinal dealt with metaphors of bird species for human traits and referenced great naturalists from Audubon to Thoreau to Transylvania's own Constantine Rafinesque.
Here's to our beautiful state bird!
The HerKentucky Guide to the PGA Championship, Part 2: What to Expect
What to expect when you attend the 2014 PGA Championhip at Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club.
If you've been within a hundred mile radius of Louisville this week, then you've heard something about the PGA Championship! Wednesday, we brought you the HerKentucky Guide to Picking the Perfect Outfit. Today, we have a few tips on what to expect.
Parking
Parking for the PGA Championship is a bit tricky. If you drive a Mercedes, you can park in a special lot provided by corporate sponsor Mercedes-Benz. If you aren't buying a new Benz for the event (trust me, I threw the idea out at my house, but it didn't fly...), then there are several options. You can park at Cardinal Stadium or Churchill Downs to catch a shuttle, or you can park at one of the designated lots (passes must be pre-purchased; they are not available the day of the event!) near the course.
Bob and I parked in Lot B, which was, for all intents and purposes, a field in the Distillery Bend area of the Parklands of Floyds Fork.
There were carts to take us to our shuttle bus.
When you arrive at Valhalla, it is decked out like a fabulous, golf-themed Disney World! There are exhibition tents, just in case you need to buy an Omega watch or Samsung phone to get the day started.
Some of Kentucky's larger employers, including Brown-Forman, Lexmark, and the state government, have reserved clubhouses. Wanamaker Club ticketholders are also able to enjoy the comforts of seating and air conditioning!
The course itself is stunning! I took a moment to enjoy this stream between Holes 2 and 3.
If you aren't a golf fan, it's pretty easy to catch on to what's happening. Leaderboards and tee positions are well-marked. And, trust me, there are plenty of fellow spectators who'll want to bloviate about the event!
I'm sure it goes without saying to HerKentucky readers, but please observe the etiquette of golf. Keep your cell phones on silent and in your pocket. Keep your conversation levels to a minimum. And, keep your opinions about golfers' personal lives to yourselves! (We spent two holes hearing how much a fellow spectator "just loves" Adam Scott and, while Mr. Scott is, indeed, quite handsome, that foolishness got old in a hurry!)
Most of all, enjoy your day at the course! It's a great showcase for Louisville, and a fun time!
Daniel Boone's Expedition
A history of Daniel Boone's Expedition.
If you were once a Kentucky school kid, then you remember at least one anecdote about Daniel Boone from grade school. It probably has to do with carving "D. Boon Kilt a Bar" on a tree. (His father, Squire Boone, is believed to have said of his own children's education, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting.") As much as it pains this editrix to say, I suppose spelling isn't the most important skill one needs for the trailblazing life of a frontiersman.
What is important to the Commonwealth of Kentucky is that, on March 10, 1775, the soldier and explorer Daniel Boone, working for Judge Richard Henderson of the Transylvania Company, undertook an expedition that would lead to the settling of Kentucky. Exploring the new Transylvania Colony, Boone foraged a trail known as the Wilderness Road into central Kentucky. There he founded Boone's Station (later Boonesborough) as the capital city of Transylvania County, in an area near the modern-day town of Athens in Madison County. He later said of first spotting the area:
We viewed Kentucke situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of stars of the American hemisphere.
from Life & Times of Col. Daniel Boone by Cecil B. Hartley
Boone's adventures have become the stuff of legend. The kidnapping of his daughter Jemima, along with two other young women, was the basis for Last of the Mohicans. Boone himself was robbed, kidnapped, and attacked many times along the way.
The Abduction of Daniel Boone's Daughter by the Indians by Charles Wimar
In his later days, Boone was a statesman and businessman, and emerged as a symbol of frontier life and the establishment of Kentucky.Two hundred thirty-nine years later, we still remember Daniel Boone as the trailblazer who faced unknown circumstances, violence, and physical hardship to found our beautiful Commonwealth.
Welcome, Y'all!
HerKentucky is a collective of six women bloggers who love our beautiful, diverse Commonwealth. As we began planning our blog, we found that each of our experiences and tastes were shaped by the Kentucky regions where we'd lived. We talked about the geography and customs of our hometowns, and how Kentucky symbols held various roles in our culture -- horses symbolize the racing lifestyle to some of us, and are farm animals to others. In some of our hometowns, bourbon is a way of life; in others, it's forbidden. As we talked, we realized that, for each of us, "my Kentucky" means something different...
And so we --Cristina, Emily, (a.k.a. Skinny Emmie), Heather, Hunter,Megan, and Sarah-- welcome you to HerKentucky!
We look forward to sharing our experiences and starting a dialogue about Kentucky with all of you.
Cheers!