My first visit to Doe Run Inn, near Brandenburg, was sometime in the late ’50s. The ride with my parents from Elizabethtown seemed like it took forever. As a teenager, I couldn’t get there soon enough. Why did we have to travel that far just to eat? I asked my mom and dad this question several times from the back seat of our 1958 Pontiac without ever getting a satisfactory answer.

I remember being in a hurry to get there and getting back home. It was not much fun being in the back seat with a 4-year-old chatty little brother. Back then the ride took us more than an hour.

The years have taken away the memory of the ride back home, but it didn’t take away my recollection of the three or four chicken “drumsticks” I ate that Sunday afternoon. So decades later when I decided to write about “Must Places to Eat In Kentucky,” I knew I had to include the Doe Run Inn.

Even though I had eaten at the inn several more times over the years, my visits just didn’t seem complete.

Make no mistake about it, Doe Run Inn is more than a place to enjoy good country cooking. It’s also a place to spend the night. Hence, the name inn.

The old 1792 stone-built grist mill first opened as an inn in 1821 with dining added much, much later.

Food, and lots of it, is what Doe Run is primarily known for today. But its 10 rooms and a single cabin are in great demand for those who want to really step back in time.

Ah hah! That was what was missing on my previous visits to Doe Run. An overnight.

The cozy, lodge-style lobby area is full of comfortable chairs and couches, and even a couple of not-so-comfortable converted church pews. Old pictures of the area hang on the walls and a large table holds several books, many of which tell of the history of Doe Run and comments from previous visitors. “History just leaks through the floors here,” read one.

If you search for it, you’ll find a ’70s wooden cabinet TV against the wall. Don’t get excited. It’s not for watching cable, but instead one of several videos lying on top.

Today, the Greer family – Jim, Opal and their son, Jim – run things here. The younger Greer handles the day-to-day operations, and when the former chef, bartender and lawyer invited me to spend the night at Doe Run, I jumped at the chance to complete my experience there.

And, it was an experience – a good one. The worst thing about the rooms was no TV, no radio and no phone. A card in the room even informed me my cell phone wouldn’t work. Surely it had something to do with the 24-inch-thick stone walls. But the room was not without its pluses. Other than a comfortable shower with nice, thick, fluffy towels, the best thing was no TV, no radio, no phone and no cell service.

Don’t expect five-star service at Doe Run. No magnetic slide cards. No mints on your pillow. No coffee makers in your room, no hair dryers. Just simple, old-style lodging in a hospitable setting.

Everything at the Doe Run Inn squeaks. My trek up narrow stairs to my third-floor room with suitcase in hand became an adventure. Every step down the hall and every turn in the bed that night could be documented by sound. All is easily forgiven in an almost 200-year-old inn.

The grounds around the inn are magnificent, particularly Doe Run Creek and its cascading water flowing over a series of small falls. By all means, when you dine here, request the porch. Even at night you can hear the rushing creek and often the reflection of the moon can easily be seen in the water.

With all that has been said about Doe Run, a bit of history is in order. For Kentuckians, and out-of-staters alike, the names of Boone and Lincoln are about as big as it gets. In 1778 it was Daniel Boone’s brother, Squire, who along with John McKinney, discovered and named Doe Run Creek. And if that’s not enough, a record book shows that Tom Lincoln, Abe’s father, was paid for masonry services on the original construction of the building.

Try it, you might like it!

So get up, get out, and get going!

— Gary West’s column runs monthly in the Daily News. He can be reached by e-mailing west1488@insightbb.com.