We went to Fort Boonesboro, Kentucky earlier this month (July, 2000). We were excited about seeing the fort and about learning more about Daniel Boone and his men and how they settled Kentucky hundreds of years ago. We read in the tourist book (Kentucky State Parks guide), and we also called the park office, and found out that they were having demonstrations of early settler life (including traditional settler garb), including blacksmith, gunsmith, etc.

When we got there, we found out that we came to Fort Boonesboro at the wrong time of the year for "real" demonstrations (which occur later in the Fall). We paid our admission and were taken to the orientation taping. After that, the only demonstrations we saw were:
- A lady spinning wool into yarn. She was very informative and friendly.
- A lady making dolls out of socks. This demonstration was OK.
- A man making candles. The man was wearing a polo shirt, overalls and a baseball cap.
- A gunsmith. He was working feverishly on a stock and did not give us any information on what he was doing...he just looked up and smiled and asked if we had any questions.
- A blacksmith. He was busy making dinner in a pot and working in his area with his back turned to everyone, such that we could not talk to him and ask questions.

Fort Boonesboro is probably a good place to go in the Fall, but not the rest of the year as far as we are concerned. In the summer, it wasn't worth the price of admission.



Recommended: No