Rabbit Hash

Last Saturday, my son Colin and I took a drive to a nearby town, Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.  It was a beautiful day, and Rabbit Hash is out in the country, on the Ohio River, so we went on a photo expedition.  Rabbit Hash is actually semi-famous for things other than its weird name.  One of these is the old general store, built in 1831 and supposedly one of the oldest continuously operating general stores in the country- or, something like that.

  I do very much enjoy this sign; the little guy with the coca-cola hat is just too cool, isn't he?

The Rabbit Hash story according to Wikipedia:

During the early 1800's the town, now known as "Rabbit Hash", was well known for a rabbit hash meal. Steamboats often stopped to order the famous hash as they traveled along the Ohio river. In 1831, amazingly enough, a pirate ship (no kidding) docked and entered the town where they proceeded to burn all of the buildings and kill every person. It is known that the next steamboat to stop for hash saw only a three foot sign with the words "rabbit hash" written - it was the only thing standing and was thought to be the name of the town.

I'm not sure if this is completely true, but it makes for a good story- and Rabbit Hash is famous for good stories of one kind or another.  They were even featured on the "CBS Sunday Morning" show, mostly due to the fact that their mayor is a dog.  Yes, you read that correctly- their mayor is literally a member of the canine species.  Here is a campaign photo of Lucy Lou, the third canine mayor of Rabbit Hash, elected by- well, anybody who has a dollar.

Let me clarify that.  The town is actually owned by the Rabbit Hash Historical Society, which needs money to maintain the wooden buildings.  So they decided to hold an election where each vote costs one dollar, you can vote as many times as you want, and you don't have to be a resident to vote.  (I believe there are approximately four residents, if you want to get technical.)

The first two mayors having gone to the big kennel in the sky, they held another election in 2008.  Lucy beat out several dogs, two cats, a pig, and a jackass (who prefers the more politically correct term "donkey") to become the new mayor.  I think she's doing a pretty good job.

I'm not sure why, but the town has become a motorcyclist mecca on the weekends.  Some people complain about all the noise, but I guess the influx of bikers keeps the store in business.

 

There are some  nice old log buildings, including a museum and art gallery.  Disappointingly, I saw no pigs there at all, crossing or otherwise.  We walked around, watched the bikers, and took pictures of funky old stuff, like this old stove and- thingamajig..

Colin, who is a part-time professional photographer, has a much better camera than I do, and I'm jealous.  He's going to be really aggravated with me when he sees this picture, so ha!

Of course I'm kidding, except for the part about Colin being a  great photographer.  He is, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom.  You can see his work here.

 

There are also a couple of antique stores, and an inn called The Old Hacienda".  I don't know if these old gas pumps work or not.

All in all, it was a beautiful day in Rabbit Hash, despite the overabundance of motorcycles and complete  lack of pigs in the pig crossing!

So if you ever pass through Boone County, Kentucky (and who doesn't, right?), stop and visit Rabbit Hash.