Kentucky Lake
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
1970s Kentucky Lake. It was a beautiful hot summer day as we drove along in our non-air conditioned air-cooled van. We were driving through Kentucky when I saw a sign for a dam and lock at Kentucky Lake. I thought that this would be a great educational moment for the family. So, in we went. I was elated when to my surprise there was a string of barges and the tug ready to go through the lock. This would be a great chance for everyone to see a lock in action. There was a real challenge to this lock operation. The string of barges was too long to get into the lock and they had to do the operation in two stages. Everyone would get to see how this was done. The gates opened and the first set of barges went in and the gates were closed. Then the water started coming in very sloooooowlyyy. The barges went in and then the water went out, again very slooooowly. This had to happen several times until all of the barges and the tug were through. It seems that there were a few disgruntled people there that day. However, it was a very educational experience. I can say this, "it was an experience that they will never forget".
