Posts Tagged With: Dupont Lodge Cumberland Falls State Resort Park

Corbin KY. April 15

The Sanders Cafe-KFC restaurant-Corbin KY

I have a story to tell. You may have heard it before. But we read it, or re-read it, today for the first time. We were in Corbin Kentucky, the place where Colonel Sanders began his Kentucky Fried Chicken empire. Harland Sanders was born in 1890 in Indiana. His father died when he was six. By age 10 he was working numerous jobs outside the farm. During his early years, he worked on a ferry boat, for the railroad, tried to be a lawyer (which ended when he got into a fight with his client in a court room), and ran a gas station. Sanders and a competing service station owner got into arguments over billboards providing directions to their businesses and the other owner shot and killed the national chain rep that was with Sanders that day. Sanders shot back and wounded the other owner.

Chris and Col. Sanders

Sanders added to his service station by selling food from his house, then adding a cafe and a motel. He dreamed up marketing innovations. In those days, the 1940s and 1950s, the wife would go in and inspect motel units before agreeing to the lodging. (Jeez, we should have done that Saturday night.) He set up a model hotel room with the entrance inside the ladies rest room of the cafe so women eating at the restaurant would have to see and be impressed with the quality of the motel.

He was modestly successful but in the 1950s Interstate 75 came through the area but a mile or two from Sanders cafe. Business went downhill and he sold out at age 65 with just enough money to cover his costs. During his cafe times, breakfast meals were his specialty but he kept perfecting his fried chicken recipe. In 1952, a Salt Lake City restaurant that used his recipe convinced him of the recipe’s uniqueness and helped developed the slogan and use of a bucket to sell his chicken.

When Sanders sold the motel and cafe in 1955, he had no debts but his only asset was his Social Security check and his recipe. He drove around the country signing up franchisees and telling them to pay him 5 cents per chicken piece once they turned a profit. Nine years later with 600 franchisees, he sold the business for $2,000,000 and continued as a spokesperson. He died at age 90. His secret recipe is still a secret, locked up in a vault. The product is made by two different spice companies, neither one has the entire recipe, so the two portions are combined together.

The recreated original Sanders kitchen with many original items and structures

The Sanders story was discovered by us on plaques in a park in downtown Corbin and in a KFC restaurant that replicates many of the features of the original and acts as a memorial museum. (We did know coming to the area that KFC began here.) The model motel room is replicated along with the kitchen used to develop the recipe. The customers today at lunch seemed to be a mix of locals who all knew each other and of curious tourists. Evidently Japan is a major international customer for KFC; we spotted what appeared to be four groups of Japanese tourists happy to visit and eat here.

Before dying at 90, Sanders gave millions to hospitals, schools, charities. “There’s no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery”, he said.

This was actually the high point for our day. We went to church in Corbin before KFC. A visiting, retired priest said Mass; 15 years of his career were spent as a chaplain on cruise ships (tough job). The church had a hand sanitizer, box of facial tissues, and a rosary in each pew.

The rain began coming down hard just as we got out of our car to walk into church. After KFC, since it was still raining and looked likely to continue for several hours, we thought we would drive an hour north to Berea, KY, the site of a large collection of Kentucky artisans selling their own wares. Two thirds of the way there, accidents on the Interstate drove us to use an alternate back road. Then an accident on the alternate road made us give up and return to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and just read. By the time we would have reached Berea, it would have been necessary to return anyway. We will shoot for Berea on Wednesday.

Dinner was back at the lodge. Very quiet tonight, no buffet even, too few clients. The breakfast buffet this morning will generate no complaints from me, the bacon was very good and the milk cold. Everything else was ho-hum but bacon and milk can keep this guy happy.

As the evening wore on, we noticed our room was getting cool. Adjusting the thermostat made no difference so a trip to the front desk brought a maintenance person who, so far at least, managed to make the system work. Dupont Lodge was built in 1942 and last “refreshed” in 2006. The staff has been pleasant and the place basically okay but it is time for another “refreshing”. There have been a few roof leaks, the carpet is getting thin, and the internet, while functional, has been too slow to upload pictures. I have had to spend more dollars to get more data on my personal wi-fi to supplement it and to keep Google Maps happy while driving back roads. I can personally sympathize with non-urban communities that complain about the lack of fast broadband service and how it hurts their economy.

A view of the Cumberland RIver from the patio of the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park’s Dupont Lodge

Ed and Chris. April 15. We hope you have filed your taxes.

Epilogue: Snippets on life in America from Chris
Day 31: I know for every rags to riches success story there are hundreds of failures. Starting out to develop a business at age 65 with only his $105/month Social Security check-wow. I will never eat at a KFC again without thinking about the Harland Sanders life story.