A Little Caching, A Little Sightseeing & Lots of Rain 5/1/2009

Mom and I went into Frankfort this morning to see what we didn't get a chance to see yesterday and do a few caches. It Poured rain all night and we didn't think it was ever going to stop but about 8:30 it let up and finally stopped and the skies did brighten up a little. We drove into the downtown area and parked the car and walked up and down the streets we missed yesterday. We also walked up and down a couple of the downtown streets with businesses on them and again it is a terrible shame that these small town USA streets are littered with empty stores of stores that are being remodeled. Hopefully some day they will all be filled and doing a good amount of business. Some of the historic places we saw were Macklin House, First Methodist Church, Morehead House, Swigert-Taylor-Bradley House, Church of the Ascension, The Milam House, Emily Thomas Tubman House, Crittenden House, Franklin County Courthouse, Frankfort Union Station, State Arsenal, Emma Gay Cromwell House, Frankfort Barracks, Jesse Zeigler-Frank Lloyd Wright House and the First Church of Christian Scientist.
The first cache we did was a virtual cache that had to do with William Goebel (January 4, 1856 – February 3, 1900) who was an American politician who served as Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in. Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to be assassinated while in office.
A skilled politician, Goebel was well able to broker deals with fellow lawmakers, and equally able and willing to break the deals if a better deal came along. His tendency to use the state's political machinery to advance his personal agenda earned him the nicknames "Boss Bill", "the Kenton King", "Kenton Czar", "King William I", and "William the Conqueror".
Goebel's abrasive personality made him many political enemies, but his championing of populist causes, like railroad regulation, also won him many friends. This conflict of opinions came to a head in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1900. Goebel, a Democrat, divided his party with self-serving political tactics at a time when Kentucky Republicans were finally gaining strength, having elected the party's first governor four years previously. These dynamics led to a close contest between Goebel and William S. Taylor. In the politically chaotic climate that resulted, Goebel was assassinated. The identity of his assassin remains an unsolved mystery to this day. We had to visit the monument in his name, the place where he fell dead and the Frankfort History Museum to find out the answers to some questions.
Then we headed toward the Capitol Building but first had a cache outside the Rebecca Ruth Candy Co a store which sells Bourbon Balls. n 1919, two substitute school teachers in their mid-twenties, Ruth Hanly (Booe) and Rebecca Gooch, decided they were not really very good teachers. The young women had received high praise from family and friends for the gifts of chocolates they had given during Christmases past.
In the year 1919, few women ventured into business. Ruth and Rebecca had the unheard of belief that they could provide for themselves without the financial assistance of a husband. They decided to co-found a candy enterprise. Their head strong beliefs gained them much support as well as much ridicule. In fact, Ruth (like all women) did not get the right to vote in public elections until 1920 (a year after she opened her business).
The newly formed Rebecca Ruth? Candies was an instant success with the help of J.J. King, the owner of the Frankfort Hotel. Closed by prohibition, the girls rented the barroom of the hotel and began dipping chocolates on "Edna's Table".
Ruth and Rebecca had a goodly amount of imagination and an uncommon amount of nerve. It was not unusual for them to strike up a conversation on a street corner or in a silent movie house and loudly extol the virtue of a wonderful new candy called Rebecca Ruth? which they had "tried."
In 1924, Ruth married Douglas Booe (and was thereafter referred to as Mrs. "Boo") and moved to Northern Kentucky where she continued to make candies. In 1927, Ruth gave birth to a son they named John Charles. Eight months later (1927), Ruth's husband, Douglas, died an early death due to injuries received during World War I. Ruth, devastated and needing to provide for her new family, moved back to Frankfort.
In 1929, Rebecca decided to get married and sell her portion of the business to Ruth. Just as Ruth became sole owner, the Great Depression hit. Mail orders dropped off and candy was selling by the piece instead of by the box. Not one to be daunted by adversity, Ruth used the slack times to experiment in her kitchen. The most famous piece invented during this period was Ruth's Mint Kentucky Colonel.
In 1933, Mrs. Booe's house and factory located in Jett (a suburb of Frankfort) was destroyed by fire. Ruth lost her home, supplies, money, and equipment. Only the marble slab called "Edna's Table" survived. Ruth's determination was tempered by both fire and rejections as her loan request was turned down by every Frankfort bank. Finally, through the kindness of a hotel housekeeper with the unlikely name of Fanny Rump, she borrowed fifty dollars and started anew.
The idea of mixing candy and bourbon together was accidentally suggested by a dignitary, Eleanor Hume Offutt, at Frankfort's sesquicentennial celebration in 1936. Mrs. Booe worked on the recipe for two years before perfecting the still-secret process for blending bourbon and candy. The unique candy soon became popular and sales boomed until World War II.
During World War II, the government would not provide Ruth with rations for sugar, gas, or other supplies. Ruth's best customers and friends saved their personal sugar rations and coffee tins for use in making her candies.
In 1964, Mrs. Booe retired, passing the business to her only son, John Booe. Ruth lived to the age of 82, passing away in 1973. Ruth has been featured in Eugenia K. Potter's book, Kentucky Women (Big Tree Press), and picked as one of the "Top Ten Franklin Countians of the 20th Century" by the State Journal (December 30,1999).
Taking over the business in 1964, John Booe is noted for bringing the business into the modern age without sacrificing quality. John is further noted for developing the wholesale business and expanding the mail-order business. John also developed additional liquor-filled chocolates, including rum, scotch, cognac, and the Kentucky Irish Coffee. He expanded the factory and increased candy production.
In 1997, John sold the business to his son Charles Booe. Charles and John run the business together today. After finding the cache we were lured into the store just to look around but we couldn't just go in and just look so guess what we tried some bourbon balls and ended up buying some as they were delicious.
Then we headed up the hill to the Capitol Building and the Governor's Mansion. They were setting up for the annual Governor's Kentucky Derby Breakfast on Saturday so things were quite a mess and by the way you know Mom and I didn't even get invited to rub elbows with any of the big mucky mucks either at the breakfast. Also this is the first year they have charged for the breakfast as it has always been free and after the breakfast the governor has always arranged for his friends to be able to take the train to Louisville to the Derby but this year everyone was on their own. We did a virtual cache on the grounds where we had to go to the floral clock and get some information. Time never stands still around the state Capitol. Kentucky's floral clock measures off the minutes a foot and a half at a time, with giant hands weighing about a quarter of a ton apiece.
There are other flower clocks in the world -- one in Canada at Niagara Falls, some in Europe, and smaller ones in the United States. Kentucky's is unique because it keeps time over a pool of water instead of resting on a bank of earth. The face of the giant clock is 34 feet across. The planter that holds it weighs 100 tons. Dedicated in 1961, the floral clock was a project of the Commonwealth and the Garden Club of Kentucky.
It takes more than 10,000 plants to fill the clock. All are grown in the Commonwealth's own greenhouses near the capitol. Coins from the pool are used to benefit young people in Kentucky.
What makes the clock tick? Nothing, actually. The clock keeps perfect time silently. The hands move every 60 seconds, like this: the 20-foot minute hand makes a sudden, broad sweep, and the 15-foot hour hand shifts distinctly to keep pace with it. The works consist of six gears, an electric meter, and an infinitely accurate control mechanism that makes corrections every hour and even resets the clock in case the power fails. All this is enclosed in the stone pedestal on which the planter rests.
After we got what we needed for the cache we drove around the grounds for awhile and stopped at the mansion and took some pictures. We then drove around the neighborhood as that is where we saw a lot of the historical markers and homes. We then did our last cache of the day at Melodye Park. This expansive 9 acre public park was conceived by Louis Horwitz out of his love for the Kentucky River, his houseboat, flowers and was named after his daughter Melodye. Mr. Horwitz began his project in 1937 by acquiring properties along the Kentucky River in Frankfort and planting boxwood and flowers. This led to the designs of more formal gardens including reflecting pools, goldfish ponds and picket fences. Animal houses were built for pheasants, foxes, rabbits, etc. Stone walls, terraces, and stone kitchen were built overlooking the bathhouses. For additional recreation Chinese pavilions were constructed for movies and concerts."
"Despite Mr. Horwitz's construction of flood walls, his efforts were lost in the flooding of the 1950's and today there is nothing left but 9 acres of overgrown brush and trees.
After finishing this cache we drove back into downtown and parked at the Dargon Restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant is a local pub place that is extremely nice and quaint inside and out. It looks like a typical English pub inside and has a 2 tiered deck out back with tables and chairs. We had calamari, wings and Mom had a local stew and it all was great. I also had a locally brewed draft wheat beer that was exceptionally good also. Then it was back to the RV to get Muffy & Raggs and a stop at the store to pick up sandwich meat and rolls for dinner. We got back and I cleaned the car out and Mom did our logs and by then it was dinner time. We ate and called it a day. Well until next we love you all. Mom & Dad