My husband and I are coming up on our fourth wedding anniversary, so we decided to celebrate by taking an overnight trip. And being the party animals that we are (see Game Night), we decided to visit the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
One of 34 buildings on the grounds.
I really think I was a Shaker in another life (well, if you take away the crazy religion part, and, oh yeah, the whole no-procreation thing). But in terms of their simple lifestyle, I’m all in.
The grounds are home to 34 buildings (there were originally a few hundred), some of which you can actually stay in for the night.
The building we stayed in for the night.
Our room. Simple, but beautiful.
If you’re ever in Kentucky, I highly recommend it as a place to unplug and just relax. Since we stayed there in the middle of the week and during the off-season, we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We were able to freely stroll the grounds and hike the trails.
These stone walls covered the property.
The Inn does have a charming restaurant. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay vegan, but we were able to adhere to a vegetarian diet. It is a little on the pricey side, though. The next time we go, we decided that we would spend a little extra money to stay in a cottage, which does have a sink and a microwave (no stove), and bring our own food.
The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a non-profit corporation with a goal “to preserve and maintain the site of the Shaker community which once existed here; to protect its buildings, its countryside and the records and articles pertaining to its builders; to make these buildings and grounds available for the broader uses of culture, education and recreation benefiting the citizens of Kentucky and others who visit the Commonwealth.” So if you pay to tour the village, it all goes back to maintaining the property.
