Southern Kentucky is a special place to live and play
By Christopher Harris CJ Magazine Editor
It takes a while to get to Lake Cumberland Resort III , but the view alone is worth the drive .
Owner Diana Pulliam took me to a remarkable overlook point , from which I could see the waters of the Big South Fork below , the trees of the Daniel Boone National Forest going on for miles and miles — according to Pulliam , one could see all the way to the state of Tennessee .
That reminded me of the trek Boone took through the wilderness that made him so well-known . Boone explored these “ Kentucky Wildlands ” as they ’ re now officially titled , was a job , a calling , a duty — that journey through the Cumberland Gap was perhaps the most significant step taken to bring our new nation west across this great continent we all call home .
It was a rough and dangerous mission , and we all owe Boone a debt of gratitude today for taking it on .
Because now we get to live here . To stay here . To play here .
We get to spend our summers on the waters of Lake Cumberland . We get to take out our boats and stay at places like Lake Cumberland Resort and Woodson Bend . We get to be part of the “ Ohio Navy ” — and eat their Cincinnati-style chili ( yum !).
We get to play golf on Burnside Island , or take a walk through Rocky Hollow Park on a warm Saturday afternoon .
We get to be Kentuckians in this wonderful , beautiful part of the world because those who came before us blazed the trail .
Who could want to be anywhere else ?
I ’ ve done my share of traveling . I ’ ve felt the Puerto Breeze against my face , staring out at the ocean from a stone fort . I ’ ve dined and gambled amid the glittering lights of Vegas . I ’ ve seen the eagle ’ s view of Montreal from up on the mountain , looked down on New York City from the Empire State Building , and have put my foot in the sand of beaches from Atlantic City to Daytona .
All amazing places , yes . But there ’ s something special about my home state . Something special about Kentucky . Something special about this Appalachian wilderness that has somehow remained in certain ways just as it was in the days of Boone despite the modern world moving on around it .
Looking out from that high point at the resort , you could see the region as Boone likely saw it . It was easy to put yourself in his shoes and see the future on the horizon — a future we now live in every day and enjoy .
I ’ m happy to be in Kentucky . It ’ s a great place to stay and make a home . And it ’ s a great place to come and play .
Stay & Play Lake Cumberland Region - Summer # 2 2022 5