A trip back in time, the Shaker way
NEAR HARRODSBURG, KY.— I was part of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, more widely known as the Shakers, for a day and night. I wasn’t exactly a Shaker, but I spent some time learning about their life while living on their land and in their buildings.
Luckily I didn’t have to fully commit by giving up my worldly possessions and staying five feet away from the opposite sex.
Which in that time would mean no hanky-panky or procreation. That was the Shaker way. This 1,215 hectares of beautiful rolling hills with 34 preserved Shaker buildings and 65 kilometres of trails for hiking, cycling and horse back riding, make up what is left of this village that was once home to more than 500 Shakers back in the 1800s.
You’re never far from horses when in Kentucky, especially when I found myself leaving Louisville, the home of the Kentucky Derby, and heading to Lexington, the home of Keeneland, home of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup.
Derby weekend draws equine and racing fans to the first jewel in the Triple Crown.
The derby is a day of mint juleps and unique hats, along with being “the most exciting two minutes in sports.”
However, the horses I was spending time with at Pleasant Hill Shaker Village worked hard in a different way.
The Shires, Roz and Sadie, could be found pulling the plow or sharing the trips of the hayride with the Percherons, Blue and Ivy.
I’m pretty sure, though, that this Blue and Ivy came along far before Jay Z and Beyoncé named their daughter Blue Ivy.
But maybe they visited Pleasant Hill.
All these lovely horses, along with two quarter horses, Harper Lee and Atty, are part of the experience at Pleasant Hill, which is outside of Harrodsburg.
I’d heard of the group called the Shakers, but thought that they were like many other religious sects. That’s not true.
This group had a great sense of community and was extremely forward thinking. They were not ones to denounce modern technology and were quick to embrace it and work to make it better.
According to the National Park Service website: “The Shakers embraced new labour-saving technologies and invented metal pen nibs, the flat broom, a prototype washing machine called a wash mill, the circular saw (invented by a woman, Tabitha Babbit), waterproof and wrinklefree cloth, a metal chimney cap that blocked rain and improved on the plow.”
Still to this day, the three remaining Shakers in America are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, hold meetings over Skype and are tech savvy.
Not only were they forward thinking when it came to technology, they also believed in equality of race and sex, and freedom from prejudice. In some situations that’s even forward thinking today.
As a guest to Pleasant Hill, I was able to walk the roads they did, climb the female only stairs while watching males climb the opposite set and see all the work they did, some of which still being done today.
Dylan Kennedy, the farm manager, and his team are doing some of that work today.
Following the same principles, like the importance of crop rotation, Kennedy farms many of the vegetables used at the Trustee’s Table restaurant within the Shaker Village, where I was able to enjoy a seed-totable fresh meal.
The meal started with a relish bowl, corn bread sticks and the most delicious melt-in-your-mouth yeast rolls. These were the type you could ruin your dinner with, by eating too many.
Like a good Kentucky meal, my plate was filled with pieces of perfect fried chicken and slices of country ham.
Then the freshest of vegetables, from metres away in the garden, came to the table.
The green beans and salsify casserole were lovely, but never had I tasted anything as delicious as corn pudding.
This is an incredible coming together of the sweet corn and a smooth creamy custard, which combined into a casserole of perfection.
Thank goodness I found the recipe and will be able to attempt to make it myself.
This all finished off with a Shaker lemon pie. It was not like any lemon pie I had enjoyed before.
It had a flaky crust with a lemon filling. in which pieces of the lemon peel where included to add a unique texture to the pie.
As the sun set on a day of fresh air and sunshine, it was time to retire to my room in what was once the East Family Brethern’s Shop. Now a place where the modern (bathroom, air conditioning and TV) meets the old, Shaker furniture, of course, and wood under foot that could tell its own story.
As a city girl, being out in the country meant no city lights, so I headed out later in the evening to take in all the sky as it filled with stars.
Happy to see that they were not all the flashing lights of passing planes, I stared at the starry sky and enjoyed the silence of this Shaker village; almost transported back to a very different time and lifestyle. Anne-Marie Marais is a Toronto-based travel writer. Her trip was subsidized by Kentucky Tourism. Follow her on Twitter @LongLegsTravels and read more at LongLegsTravel.com