Road Tripping! Budget Tips for Travel Adventures
Today, I'm on the road! I’m traveling from the top to the bottom of my home state to get from Louisville, Kentucky to Bowling Green, Kentucky. But before we get to where we’re going, let’s take a minute and enjoy the ride!
You know how they say, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey? I’m excited to get to Bowling Green to check out the Corvettes and some other cool stuff they have there but first, I’m going to enjoy the journey. So, let’s talk about how to have fun on a road trip and how to make the most out of any journey you might want to take.
It's the Journey
Now, the trip from Louisville to Bowling Green is only about two hours or so and for me, it was just a little under 2 hours to get to the Corvette Museum, which was my first destination in Bowling Green. That’s not a difficult drive, so I decided to take my time with it and take the time to see some sites along the way.
Until you actually start looking, you might not even know what’s right near you that you can discover if you go on a short road trip. For example, I didn’t know that the world’s largest butter knife is actually just beyond Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The largest butter knife in the WORLD, y’all. Act like you don’t want to go see that.
Finding Roadside Attractions
There are some web sites you can use to discover fun attractions and little quirky things that might be a whole lot closer to you than you think. I really like a website called Only In Your State. You can find a lot of unique attractions listed here that you won’t find on other websites, which makes it a good resource if you want to see some stuff that’s a little less usual.
I also like Roadside America. You can look up specific states and cities and even look at maps to trace your road trip route and see what you can discover along the way. That’s how I discovered the Fork in the Road, which is very close to Bowling Green and which is just a whole lot of fun.
The world' s largest Butter Knife is just a minute away from the knife, because that actually makes perfect sense. The knife is actually part of an entire sculpture garden that’s full of various metal sculptures, which was pretty cool. I wouldn’t have discovered this if I hadn’t gone looking for unique attractions near Bowling Green.
So, I highly recommend that you at least take a look along your planned road trip route, just to get an idea of cool stuff that may be around the area. As long as you don’t have to detour too far to get to a cool spot, it’s definitely worth a few extra minutes to see something that's a little quirky and unique.
Yes it’s silly. But isn’t getting a little silly the whole point of a road trip? I say, go ahead and embrace all the fun and quirkiness of a road trip.
A Piece of Road Trip History
That’s why the first place I stopped along my route was Wigwam Village. This is one of the most unique attractions in Kentucky and now that the other villages are mostly all gone, it’s one of the most unique attractions in the entire United States.
Officially, this is Wigwam Village Number Two. It was built in 1937 and for several decades, it was one of many roadside hotels back when that actually first started being a thing.
This particular Wigwam Village was built to provide a stop for travelers going to Cave City, Kentucky, which is where you can find Mammoth Cave and many different attractions associated with it.
Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in the entire world and there are lots of attractions and tours and things you can do in this area, so building a large roadside hotel where people could literally stop and sleep on the side of the highway just made sense.
This Wigwam Village behind me had its own gas station and a lunch counter. The slogan was simple but effective: Sleep and Eat in a Wigwam.
That makes it pretty clear.
Wigwam Village Number 2 still has 15 wigwams available. You rent one out for a night, or more. They have private bathrooms, air conditioning, TV, wifi, all the trappings you'd expect. The lunch counter and gas station have both closed.
Before 1950, there were seven wigwam villages like this one built across the country. Today, only three are still active. You can find another one in San Bernardino, California, where it still stands tall and proud in red and white along Route 66.
The first Wigwam village went up in 1933 and San Bernardino, built in 1949, was the last one of the seven.
The other remaining Wigwam village is in Holbrook, Arizona, another stop along Route 66. This was Wigwam Village Number 6 and this is the actual motel that inspired the Cozy Cone Motel seen in the movie Cars.
You can definitely see the inspiration. The Holbrook location has 15 wigwams and here, they have an interesting extra feature: there's a classic car parked near each one of the wigwams. It's a fun extra touch.
Wigwam Village Number 2 in Kentucky takes up four acres that include two fire pits, a playground area for the kids, multiple grills for cooking and a covered picnic area. You can choose from a single or double Wigwam, which sleeps up to four guests.
The wigwams still have their original bed frames, which were made from hickory. There are also caned chairs and matching nightstands that were made right across the Ohio River in Indiana. The red and white tile in the bathrooms is also original.
It's listed on the national register of historic places and has been restored to its original state to become the quirky roadside stop you see today.
A single wigwam costs $115 per night and a double is $230. They book up months in advance, so I suggest you book early if you want to have this unique experience. Wigwams book up so far in advance, I actually had a little bit of trouble just figuring out the rates because I had to set my stay for four months ahead.
This Wigwam Village is the oldest still operating Wigwam village in the U.S. and it still has a lot of the original design and decor intact, which makes it unique. That's why I made it a point to stop here on my way to Bowling Green, even though I didn't say overnight.
Exploring the Highways
There are all sorts of unique stories and hidden gems buried along America's old highways. Take a look to see what's around you and to see what's around any road trip you might be taking, and you can discover some really fun and interesting things along the way. For a few extra minutes of time, you can take a little trip back to the 1950s, when interstates weren't a thing and road trips really did take a much longer time.
If it really is the journey that matters, have the most fun with it that you can.
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