Debate 22: The University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, KY.

We started this stop with a visit to the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the USA. It was a very moving experience for both of us and we thoroughly enjoyed having our photos taken with the life-sizes model of the famous Colonel. Jay Bourne (not related to Jason Bourne – but neither of us believed him!) the debate coach at the University of the Cumberlands checked us into the fabulously grand hotel, which the university owns and operates. It was very plush and included some rather bizarre frescos. That afternoon Jay and the debate team took us to visit a local waterfall, which at it’s peak is the second widest in the country – though on this occasion it was looking rather empty. We ate dinner at a restaurant in a local lodge resort and were very pleased with our local fried catfish.

The next afternoon, after a much needed lie in, we were taken to the main campus for the debate on the motion: “This house believes the US would be better if it looked more like the UK”. We opposed in one of the most amusing debates of the tour so far – it was more of a stand-up comedy competition than a battle of sophisticated rhetoric and analysis, but the 80-strong audience all seemed to have a great time. That evening we were able to sample genuine (non-KFC) Kentucky fried chicken at a dinner with faculty and our debating opponents. We had an extremely interesting discussion about a recent controversy involving a student at the University of the Cumberlands who was expelled for coming out on Myspace. It became clear, as has been the case at a number of schools we have visited, that the University administration’s policy does not necessarily reflect the more nuanced views of students and faculty. We adopted for a trip to the cinema to see the new Russell Crow and Denzel Washington movie American Gangster. Alistair enjoyed the film more than our last outing, though he was concerned at the manner in which the urban drug scene was glamorised.

After a delightful breakfast in bed Jay and the team picked us up for a Sunday of rest and recreation. We drove across the border to Tennessee and entered the Smokey Mountain range. Pigeon Forge is an incredible town just outside the boundary of the National Park and has been described as the ‘Vegas of the Mid-West’. We were privileged to sample a few of the attractions on offer – including Nascar Go-Karts, Indoor Sky Diving (we went to one of only two places in the country you can do this!) and Laser Tag. It was the 10th Birthday that neither of us ever had and we both felt exhilarated by the end of the afternoon.

We said goodbye to the debate team and drove with Jay to his Uncle-In-Law’s Lodge. It was a rather chilly evening by the time we pulled up at the beautiful cabin, but we did have a beautifully clear view of the starry skies. Jay’s wife (Beth-Anne) and 2-year-old son (Ethan) cooked us a delicious meal and we all spend the evening watching an Englishman called Bear on the Discovery Channel running around various remote places in America taking his clothes off and eating wild animals. It was great to be back in a family environment and the evening ended with a test of our American assimilation in the form of a Who Wants to be a Millionaire? board game challenge. Although our pop-culture knowledge wasn’t always sufficient to answer the $500 questions, Alistair proved very adept at winning $1,000,000!