The Girl Who Traveled
Kentucky
This is a story is based on my life growing up.
By: Amanda Lindsey
Amanda was born in Paducah, Kentucky on April 18, 2000; she was a happy girl who
was cheerful, smart minded, and curious. Little did she know that she would spend the next
ten years of her life traveling across Kentucky, meeting and making friends along the way?
She only lived in Paducah for the first fifteen
months of her life, but her mom told her about all
the funny things that happened to her. Like being
a week overdue when the Quilt Festival was in
full swing that April. Her mom and grandma
walked and walked the entire weekend looking
at all the beautiful quilts, just hoping she would
get here. She came on Tuesday just after
midnight, when she was ready to arrive. Once
when she was old enough her mom took her to
Noble Park to see the statue of Chief Puduke.
They often visited the ducks at the lake, and
Amanda’s favorite activity was to swing in the baby swing. While in Paducah she also had
her first taste of barbeque on the waterfront at the Barbeque Festival and a Boat Sinker at
Patti’s Restaurant. She still loves to visit and eat a Boat Sinker.
Then she moved to Hopkinsville when she was fifteen months
old and lived there till she was five. Shortly after her family
moved to Hopkinsville, a wonderful thing happened she became a
big sister. Her new brother, Jackson was born in March. It felt
great being a big sister she liked to help take care of him and
when he was older they went on adventures together. For
example, her brother and Amanda used to think there was a
dragon living in the top room of the Jefferson Davis Monument,
because a red light would blink out of the windows at the top of
the “castle”. Every time they drove by on Sixty-Eight- Eighty they
would look for the dragon’s fire breath coming out of the tower.
When she was in kindergarten Amanda went on her first amazing
school field trip at the Land Between the Lakes. She remembered seeing endangered
animals and buffalo roaming on a grazing field. When she would play outside it was
common to see bunnies, birds, helicopters from Fort Campbell. Because she lived in the
southern part of Christian County they would routinely fly over and Amanda and Jackson
would wave to the pilots as they passed over. Summers were a great time for day trips to
area attractions. One place they loved to visit each summer was the Mennonite farms. Her
mother would always get huge hanging flower pots to hang on their front porch by the
white rocking chairs and then they would travel down the gravel lane to get preserves,
bread and cookies. Other times they would go to buy vegetables, but Jackson and Amanda
would talk their mom into buying cookies too. Even though Amana moved five years ago
she stills remembers the many times her mother would pass the horses with black little
box buggies, packed with kids in the back of it.
At the end of kindergarten Amanda moved with her family to Richmond, Kentucky.
She attended a brand new school, so everyone was a new face in a new building, Glenn
Marshal Elementary. It was so neat for her to be in the first grade and everything was new.
She thought it was fun being the first one to use everything. That fall her class went to the
Kentucky Horse Museum. She got to see the oldest race horse alive. It was funny when
people said to watch out, because that horse will bite your fingers. She guessed he was old
and grumpy and probably a sore loser. She also went to the Spoon Bread Festival. They
have it every year in Berea, Kentucky. Amanda and her family had so much fun! She made
some hand cookies that she painted with icing with her brother, Jackson. Then they went
on rides and watched people weave baskets, and make yarn.
One day her mom took her to a pottery store named
ByBee, it’s the oldest running pottery west of the
Appalachian Mountains. It looked like an old, worn-out, dusty
building. When they went in, you had to step up into the
building because the clay dust on the floor had built up over
time on the floor. When they looked up from the dirt floor,
they could see slender, tall, dusty, wooden, shelves filled with
beautiful, bright, pottery. There were so many pretty colors it
was hard to take in all of the items for sale. In the back they
got to see the four Kentuckians doing their magic with
Kentucky clay. Two were forming the shapes on spinning
wheels and then setting their finished pieces on shelves to dry.
They let Amanda and Jackson try. Soon they passed a huge,
black, metal thing, which they were later told was the oven. It fires the clay for two days
and the workers are gone while it is on, because it is so hot that it would be unbearable.
Then they went to the dipping room. Two men were dipping the air-dried clay pieces by
hand into large vats of liquid made up of Kentucky minerals. Amanda found out how they
make the gorgeous pieces out of the dark, watery, liquid. Her mom let her and her brother
pick out a clay shaped owl to buy with the dishes her mom selected. Amanda still has her
pink, clay, owl from ByBee to remind her of Richmond.
The next year, she was seven and moved to Bowling Green. Her Grandparents live there,
so she had visited there often and would go to church with her grandparents. She had a
friend from church that she knew went to her new school, so that was great! She felt right
at home. Her parents went to college at Western, so the whole family went to most of the
home games. Amanda would have to pull Jackson off of the blow ups to head across to the
football field to watch the game. She gave Big Red, probably one hundred hugs over the
next two years. While living in Bowling Green Amanda played softball and was involved in
Girl Scouts. One time while on a Girl Scout outing they went to the Lost River Cave, and to a
butterfly habitat. The troop members released butterflies into the habitat. Amanda loved
it, butterflies were everywhere. She didn’t want to leave to take the tour through the cave.
Now Amanda lives in Owensboro, Kentucky. Like the other places in Kentucky that
Amanda has lived in, she is making new friends and becoming involved in school and
community events. While living in Owensboro Amanda has learned to play the fiddle and
played at Romp, a Blue-grass celebration. Also while living in Owensboro, she has visited
River Park Center, the Science Museum, and the Botanical Gardens.
She has taken advantage of the cities walking trail and a theater
workshop that allows students to perform plays throughout the year. Amanda is still new
to the city and there’s so much to do, so she looks forward to what lies ahead.