Glass - A thing of the past.

Hidden Cove has become the Moore family destination.   

It’s a prideful place of work, and a place of relaxation.

We rush to Hidden Cove, at every chance we can,

Some by air, some by land, some of us in caravan.

After many years in this place, simple troubles are inherent.

Glass bottles pose a threat that is not obviously apparent.

Broken glass is a threat to safety, some evident, some unforeseen.

(Not to mention, it is a serious pain in the ass to clean).

We ask that we all bring cans, and move in a new direction,

In respect to the land, our safety, and garbage collection.

Please consider cans, not bottles, the next time you pack,

Or else, above all, you will have to answer to Jack. 

John Phil's Memorial - Thank You.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for John Phil’s Memorial.  

Many drove and flew from far away to make it that weekend, some cooked and some baked, some dug and some built, some prepared and some planned.   Many contributed financially, which allowed us to make John’s wishes happen.

Thank you.  We know that this is exactly what John Moore wanted.

The day of John’s Memorial was important to us in each of our own ways.  In summary, it was a day of family and friends, a day of good food, a day of great beer, and too many cigars.  We told stories of him, stories of us, and we admired the recent developments of his prized Cathedral Falls.  We laughed, we cried, but we laughed more than we cried.  We know this is exactly what John Moore wanted.

We spread his ashes among Cathedral Falls, and later hosted 70+ people that day.  The location looked incredible, the acoustics boomed from a small stereo, the drinks were cold, and the jokes were quick.  We know this is exactly what John Moore wanted.

This will become a place that we all go to celebrate John.

John Moore was a very direct man, an easy man to understand.  A man who preferred to enjoy the good rather than dwell in the bad, his Memorial was just that.

We will always remember John Phil Moore, and his favorite place in Hidden Cove will continue to develop, in his honor, as he intended.

On Friday, May 24^th, six humans and two dogs squeezed their way into a van, already filled from top to bottom with supplies, to make a journey down to a remote area in Kentucky. It’s a trip I’ve made three times before, but this time was set to be a whole new experience. For the first time in three years, I was able to take part in Hidden Cove’s Memorial Day weekend family festivities.

We arrived late and went to work getting our camper equipped with electricity and running water. After a bit of settling in, we made our way down to The Lodge and joined our family for conversation and drinks; there’s really no better way to decompress after a four-and-a-half-hour drive (at best).

Saturday morning I awoke to see the transformation Hidden Cove has gone under since my last visit. The Truitt family camper, has come to rest upon the hillside of The Sanctuary (tentative name), steps have been sculpted into and around the hillside, the area’s utilities are more permanent and desire paths connecting many points of interest are becoming well-trodden. The Lodge is a charming work of art, still in progress, that flows seamlessly with its surroundings. Everything has its place and works with the natural beauty of the land. It’s a lot to fathom, the amount of thought, time and effort that’s gone into creating such an exciting yet relaxing destination.

The unveiling of the 2013 commemorative Hidden Cove Memorial Day t-shirts took place Saturday night. It was a heartfelt moment while receiving a depiction of the Hidden Cove Founding Fathers portraying Mt. Rushmoore forever immortalized on a t-shirt. The design is well thought-out and timelessly stylish.

Thank God beer doesn’t stain cotton quickly because most of the family then gathered to play a marathon game of flip cup: a Hidden Cove Memorial Day weekend tradition. There was fierce competition but in the end someone had to be force-fed a well-aged bourbon cherry… most likely more than once.

 For me, Sunday was a lazy day filled with recuperation, relaxation and hydration. There couldn’t possibly have been better weather for this weekend. Not at all humid, a cool breeze kept me comfortable by an afternoon bonfire built specifically for s'mores. Structure leisurely worked its way into the day with the First Annual Hidden Cove Beer Tasting. From IPAs to specialty beers, there was a large variety to choose from. My favorite was between Victory Brewing’s Summer Love Ale and Hoyt's homebrew; both are excellent for future reference in crafting a custom Hidden Cove beer in my opinion. We spent the evening chatting together about many things including our beer palates until tasting became drinking.

There’s much I could say about my trip to Hidden Cove for Memorial Day weekend but you really just need to be there and experience it yourself to understand. I look forward to future visits, hoping to help with the ever-transforming topography and memory of the land.

The sense of support, loyalty, acceptance and love make us all a family; something this destination wouldn’t be the same without.

This one time at Hidden Cove I....

...Played Flip Cup for FOUR!! hours ... seriously that was Flip Cup on a whole other level.

...Lived dangerously, climbed  a boulder in the middle of the lake, and practically plummeted to my death... I mean I jumped into the lake with no lasting complications.

...Saw a Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Summer Tanager, White Breasted Nuthatch, Indigo Bunting, and Red Bellied Woodpecker.... I'm a novice birder so that was a total highlight!

...Learned that if I were to be a James Bond villain, I might give Odd Job a run for his money. Sorry about the lost frisbee, Blake!

...Got a super sweet, official, Memorial Day t-shirt that really impressed my grandmother and mom when they came to visit me last weekend. Charles, you may find yourself overwhelmed with T-shirt design requests. You've been warned!

...Hiked around Hidden Cove National Park, saw some waterfalls, a huge hemlock tree, home grown mushrooms, and just general natural beauty that is Kentucky.

...Experienced the overwhelming awesomeness that is ANY event or activity hosted by the Moores. I can't say I expected to help color the beer tasting sign, but I'm guessing the cooler full of extra craft beers was payment for my ability to stay in the lines!

...Learned that Hidden Cove has a logo, official font, website, blog... so fancy! Like the Grey Poupon of rustic, family getaways! Did I just come up with the unofficial slogan of Hidden Cove?!

Some blog followers and family members might be wondering who this crazy lady is blogging about Hidden Cove?!

 Here's a brief backstory.... I have known the Moore Family for a long, LONG time. I knew Lauren way back when we were teammates playing softball at a very young age, and Charles and I were very good friends in high school. Lucky for me, Charles is one of the few people I have kept in touch with from high school and I was pretty surprised when he invited me a few months ago. I assumed that our lengthy chats about music, sharing said music on Dropbox, the blog we started about music, and the fact that I live in Kentucky may have had something to do with the invite. I agreed to go because who doesn't like hiking, drinking, catching up with friends, and chillaxin' on a boat? I also figured if I didn't have fun, I could always just high tail it down to Mammoth Cave for some hiking and bird-watching.

Needless to say, I did not make it to Mammoth Cave because Hidden Cove was a BLAST! During the introductions, I was overwhelmed with like 100 names and 50 pets. I think it ended up being more like 20 names and 10 pets but you get the picture... I cannot believe the cabin. It's awesome. I know it is still a work in progress, but what a cabin it is shaping up to be! I think my favorite part of the cabin is that porch. It is perfect for some high-quality bird watching. The tour included a trip to Cathedral Falls. The falls provided an enchanting trickle that was so pretty. The walk was also great because I had the resident Poison Ivy spotter to protect me from those pesky plants. Thanks Lauren! I was poison ivy free when I left!

A bit later, some of us went on the boat and Jet Skis. Let me pause my reflections to warn future visitors. Should you find yourself driving over the Nolin Dam, please get an accurate estimation of the number of boats on the water. If you do not, you might want to double back or just confidently make something up. If you waiver, you will not live it down and can expect a few jokes. The best part of being on the lake was watching everyone ride the jet skis. Hilarious! A bit later was Wine Hour and the presentation of the t-shirts. At this point, I learned that there were three previous designs and they were all pretty bad a! But I think that this year's was the best! After everyone put their t-shirts on, more wine was drank, a delicious Shrimp Boil was prepared for dinner, and then it was time for Flip Cup.

Flip Cup is a big deal! It lasted four hours and it may have lasted longer if there had not been a shortage of beer. The most clear memory of Flip Cup was bourbon cherries. This picture clearly depicts my feelings about bourbon cherries.

Sunday was a pretty slow-moving day. I nerded it out with my binoculars and bird books, got the rest of the tour and saw Holly Falls, and enjoyed a delightful beer tasting.  I discovered a few IPAs that I really enjoyed at the tasting and one I did not. Stone Ruination is on the same level as bourbon cherries to me. ICKY. But Hoyt's Homebrew was surprisingly my favorite beer. I can't wait to see what the official brew of Hidden Cove will be!

Monday might have been my overall favorite day. It was another day of perfect weather. We went back out on the boat to have some more fun. Swimming and jumping from giant rocks was awesome once I got past my fear of heights. But the best part was having some fun with my waterproof camera. Video importing still in progress... but there are some good videos! Like Cory's selfie flip. It's pretty sweet!  We also saw the Bald Eagle while boating and then saw the Great Blue Heron right by the dock when we were coming back for lunch. To top the weekend off, we ended it with a porch sit, nice visit, and I tried to convince Charles to become a fellow bird-watcher. Only time will tell if he's converted...

The whole weekend was just wonderful. Hidden Cove is an amazing place but it was the people that made it so much fun. Thanks Moore Family for such an awesome, fun, great time!


 

2013 Commemorative Hidden Cove Memorial Day Tee Shirt Unveiled!

Feast your eyes on the tee shirt design for 2013!  We are really proud of what we came up with this year, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Since we didn't have any notable events from 2012 of which to create the shirt off of, I decided to go off of the idea of using the outline of Kentucky as a basis for the design. First I used the words Hidden Cove in the negative space of the Kentucky outline.  I next just used the Kentucky outline and placed the state of Ohio to mark where Hidden Cove is.  I like the idea, but it didn't make for a spectacular shirt.

Next we used designs that incorporated a park ranger or national park emblem of sorts. This was based on a comment from one of Jack's friends that "This place is like a nature preserve!" After that we looked at possibly using some phrases as the focal point like "Happy Camper" and "Cabin Fever."  Some of those actually looked pretty good.  Unfortunately we were not able to gather unanimous approval from the selection committee, so it was back to the drawing board.

At work one day an idea flashed into my head that we could use the concept of Mt. Rushmore as the tee shirt design.  If we were able to replace the presidents with those men involved with creating Hidden Cove, perhaps it could make for an interesting shirt.  Its also a heck of a lot easier than carving their likenesses into solid rock.  I had Lei send me pictures of Jack, JP, Brian and John at angles.  I was able to photoshop their faces into their respective places using some perspective and skew tools.  Once they were blended in, I imported into Illustrator and used the live trace feature to create a simple enough image for a screen print.  We decided a circular image surrounded by "Hidden Cove National Park" would fit the bill nicely and shazaam, we were nearly there.  It was decided the image looked best when it was in a subdued color and we also desired that the image look "worn."  So I added some layers on top of the image which replicated a worn out and faded image layer.  The resulting product got unanimous approval from the selection committee and is not far off from the image you see before you.

One of the interesting wrinkles that presented itself, was the fact that due to the colors chosen, the female shirts actually required the negative image and the guys shirts required the positive.  Turned out to be a little bit of a pain, but I think it was well worth the trouble.

I hope you enjoyed the story of our tee shirt design for 2013.  We'd love to read your comments below!

We look forward to Hidden Cove.

I never have been an “outdoorsman.”

At least in the terms of which “outdoorsman” is generally used.  I don’t own tools.  My waterproof boots were a gift.  I have no idea which way North is.

But I look forward to this place.

It seems as our lives become busier, and our commitments increase every day, I look forward to this place even more.  This little place on the map outside of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky has become such a magical and unexpected part of my life.    I once heard that “happiness is having something to look forward to.”  I could not agree more, and that is exactly what Hidden Cove is.

There are so many things to look forward to in Hidden Cove.  Simple things.

This log palace is nearly completed.  Classic, stylish, and custom.  Jack Moore has an ability to make those like me that contributed very little to it in the scheme of things feel like we are an important part of this place.

I daydream about watching Buckeye games and stepping out on the porch during commercials.

There is always a question, every time, as to what we should bring.  We try to strategize; hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork, but inevitably Mrs. Moore will deliver something like lobster tails and completely blow away the expectations.  I look forward to this.  She always outdoes herself.  I also can’t wait to have prime rib in the new house. I mean, you know, if you want, just saying.   No big deal.  That would be cool with me, though.  I mean, just saying, you know, if you want.

I look forward to sunburn on my face after one day outside.

I look forward to being secretly embarrassed about how much my legs burn after walking from the cabin to the Summit, and trying not to show it.

I look forward to bad cell phone reception.

I look forward to a million stars in the sky that you do not see in the city.

I look forward to driving to Saline’s to pick up ice or gasoline.

I look forward to flip cup.

I look forward to more attempted construction work, although I have no idea what I am doing.  (I generally just follow Chris Moore around.  He usually has a good idea as how to do most things, and he operates tools while severely hungover much better than I would with practice).

I look forward to the relaxing sound of the rain falling on the gazebo.

I look forward to having an early morning coffee with Uncle John, and chuckling at his sarcastic remarks.  His clever wit is only surpassed by his impeccable timing.  Especially when it is at 8 a.m. and everyone else is completely vulnerable.  

I look forward to the newest T Shirts.

Samson. I will throw that Frisbee.  Promise.  I will throw it like it has never been thrown before.

Quincy . . . nevermind.

I look forward to seeing Brian’s property develop.  I know he has some serious plans, and the location is exciting.

I look forward to getting on that boat and feeling warm wind carry over.  We almost forget what warm air feels like after months of winter, but there is nothing like it when we get together on the boat.

I look forward to taking out the kayaks for a good workout and relaxing ride.

I look forward to finding a reason to not try the jet skis again.  Ever again.  Never. Never ever.  Never ever again.

I look forward to cigars and bourbon.

I look forward to finding the turtles we have already tagged.

I look forward to entering new turtles into the fleet.

I have never known camping.  I have never known the outdoors like I do when I go there.

I have fallen in love with this place, and I am humbly grateful to be a tiny part of it.

Hidden Cove gives me and maybe even others something to look forward to.  Whether it is completing a project, or just enjoying the simplest detail of nature, maybe relaxing and reflecting on what has already been done.

This is a place where an incredible group of people come together as often as possible.  Some are family,
some are friends.

Some of us are Founders, some are Platinum Club Members, some of us have Guest Passes.

This is a place we all look forward to.

A look back at our Hidden Cove Tee Shirt Designs!

Greetings Hidden Cove blog followers,
Unbeknownst to all of you, we have been hard at work finalizing the design for this years Memorial Day Hidden Cove Shirt.  Before we talk about the 2013 shirt, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the shirts from the last 3 years.

The inaugural Hidden Cove shirt was in 2010, when we gave out the Polygonwrongonal shirt.  Not only did we make a shirt, but we also coined a new word in the process that may forever be used among those in the know.  My favorite part of this shirt is the font for Polygonwrongonal. I think it embodies the word perfectly with its angular funkiness.  If I had to do it again, I would have thinned the lines of the gazebo, made it less detailed, and more out of proportion (exaggerated).

The next years shirt was the "Three Shot Minimum."  I think this shirt has set the bar for which all future designs will be measured, so its exciting to think that we may be able to come up with shirts this nice in the future.  My favorite feature of this shirt is the Hidden Cove 2011 spelled out in the spill from the third shot glass.  This was a nice touch, and a brilliant idea by Lei Moore (comment below if I mixed up who thought of that).

Last years shirt featured an upside down pig which signified my failed pig roast from the year earlier. Maka Pua is Hawaiian for "Raw Pig" because the pig was definitely still raw after the "roast."  I like that this shirt is an inside joke, and people are automatically curious as to the meaning of the shirt.  While we had a definition on the back of the "Three Shot Minimum" this shirt has none, and I like it that way.  I also am glad we were able to hide the hidden cove 2012, by placing it on the apple.

The 2013 shirt brought a variety of challenges, and after many a brainstorming session, heated discussions, a final design has prevailed.  Unfortunately (for you all), I'm not going to share the design with you!  You'll have to come down to good 'ole Kentucky for a classic Memorial Day weekend to see the shirts unveiled.  I don't think you will be disappointed!  In case you are wondering, the new design has nothing to do with any of the other designs posted to this blog.  All of those ideas were scrapped and we started fresh!

If you plan to be in Hidden Cove for Memorial Day, you are encouraged to place an order for your shirt at http://www.hiddencovekentucky.com/gift-shop