Floating along....

What to do on a day when school is not in session, it's 90 degrees and humid outside, you're all feeling a bit lazy, but you need a little escape from the house? Why not drive 10 miles south from our house and cross the Kentucky River on a ferry. Sounded like a good idea to me."Turn back the clock" experience yesterday! The Valley View Ferry has been transporting people across the Kentucky River since 1785. It's where the history of the region began and where it is still alive. It's Kentucky's oldest continuous business.

-Mike Longinow Jessamine JournalRevolutionary War hero John Craig received a "perpetual and irrevocable franchise" in 1785 from the Virginia legislature to set up the ferry "on the lands of John Craig at the mouth of Tates Creek." The ferry's original owner, John Craig, was granted the charter for his service in the Continental Army. Virginia's governor signed the the charter since Kentucky would not be state until seven years later. Because of its unique heritage the ferry is authorized to fly both Kentucky and Virginia state flags. The Valley View Ferry has transported pioneers, Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers, farmers and business people for over its two centuries. Daniel Boone, Henry Clay and Ulysses S. Grant have numbered among its passengers. We were excited to be listed among those esteemed men.We were the first car to be loaded when we crossed the first time. There is no charge to ride the ferry. Three cars can be taken across at a time. You must remain in your car, though the boys enjoyed experiencing it all with the windows down and their heads outside. They hadn't had high hopes for this excursion, but they loved it once we got there.The whole process takes only about 5 minutes to load and cross. They've become very efficient in their over 200 years of service. The rudderless ferry is guided only by cables stretching between four 55-foot towers.It runs Mon.-Fri. 6 AM-8 PM and Sat.-Sun. 8 AM-8 PM.On average it transports 250 cars a day. When we drove the van off the ferry I told the worker we would be returning soon.Once we crossed the river we explored a bit of Madison County.It was lovely, but after driving ten miles we turned around and headed back to the ferry so we could make slowly make our way back home.