Day 4: Corvettes and Trains | 1933 Harley-Davidson VL Cross-Country Ride | Riding Vintage

Day 4: Corvettes and Trains

Day 4 of the Riding Vintage cross-country ride carried the 1933 Harley-Davidson VL and 1934 Harley-Davidson VLD west across southern Kentucky, with museum stops in Bowling Green, dinner in Hopkinsville, and a KOA campsite near Lake Barkley.

The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was an unplanned Day 4 stop after a roadside sign and some frantic hand gesturing made the decision for us.

Day 4 Ride Stats

• Date: September 22, 2015
• Start: Russell Springs, Kentucky
• Finish: Kentucky Lakes / Prizer Point KOA, Lake Barkley area, Kentucky
• Distance: about 193 miles
• Route: Russell Springs to Bowling Green, Hopkinsville, and Kentucky Lakes / Prizer Point KOA on Lake Barkley
• Motorcycles: 1933 Harley-Davidson VL and 1934 Harley-Davidson VLD
• Gas added: 4.068 gallons total
• Oil added: 1.75 quarts total
• Roadside issues: none noted

Day 4 Ride Journal

After a good night’s sleep in Russell Springs, we headed west across southern Kentucky. Two hours later we reached Bowling Green, needing gas and a bite to eat. As we rolled into town we passed a sign for the National Corvette Museum and after some frantic hand gesturing, the decision was made to pull in for a tour.

You may remember that the National Corvette Museum was in the news last year after a sinkhole opened under the museum and sucked in eight classic cars. Just imagine showing up for work on a Monday morning and finding a massive hole in the middle of your building, filled with priceless automobiles. Sounds like the stuff of motorhead nightmares, but it made for a great exhibit! Obviously the hole has since been filled, but they did mark the location of the hole, so you could see just how big it was. All the cars were recovered and put back on display, most of which were left in their crushed state.

The Corvette Museum sinkhole exhibit marked the area where the floor opened and swallowed eight classic cars, many of which were recovered and displayed in their damaged condition.

After spending an hour looking at cars I could never afford, we rode across the street to Art’s Corvettes to look at his showroom of collector cars. Art’s was filled with classic muscle cars as well as Corvettes and the prices seemed fairly reasonable for fully restored machines. Luckily I squandered all my money on motorcycles, so there was no chance that I was getting talked into buying a new car.

Across the street from the museum, Art’s Corvettes had a showroom full of collector cars, classic muscle cars, and Corvettes that were tempting but safely outside the trip budget.

From Art’s we headed to downtown Bowling Green to check out the L&N Depot and Railpark. The museum was a little lackluster, but the tour of the rail cars more than made up for the ticket price. We showed up at just the right time to get a personal tour followed by a short photo session with the train. That engine looked pretty massive compared to a couple old Harleys...

The rail car tour at the L&N Depot and Railpark was the best part of the stop, and the train engine looked massive next to a couple of old Harleys.

After spending most of the afternoon at museums, there wasn’t much time left to lay down a lot of miles before dark and we still needed to eat dinner. We grabbed a bite at a famous burger joint called Ferrell’s Hamburgers in Hopkinsville which proudly displayed pictures of former President Bush eating at their lunch counter. Ironically, the Democratic headquarters were set up in the adjoining building.

Ferrell’s Hamburgers in Hopkinsville was the dinner stop, complete with photos of former President Bush at the lunch counter and Democratic headquarters next door.

For the second night in a row, we camped at a KOA campground. This one was located on Lake Barkley and was quite impressive. Along with all the usual KOA amenities, they also had a full service marina with 150 covered boat slips, two pools, rental boats, rental golf carts and tons of family-friendly activities. Camping wasn’t quite on the lake, but we could make out the water through the trees.

Kentucky Lakes / Prizer Point KOA on Lake Barkley was the second KOA night in a row, with the campground set back enough that the water was visible through the trees rather than directly beside the tent.

Even with all the stops, we put in about 193 miles, so not a bad day.

The Day 4 DeLorme map shows the accumulated route through this point, with the newest westward section running from Russell Springs through Bowling Green and Hopkinsville toward the Lake Barkley / Prizer Point area.

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