The Signature Smells of Owensboro and Kentucky — For Better or Worse

I walked up to the front desk earlier and our receptionist was eating some homemade vegetable soup her grandmother made. It's not a signature aroma of Owensboro KY, but it oughta be.

Signature Regional Aromas

What's your favorite aroma? That might be a hard question to answer because, as far as I'm concerned, there could be too many to narrow it down. For example, honeysuckle rocks my world, but it could hardly be considered a signature smell in any region; it's everywhere.

Pine is also a favorite. And since we have pine trees all around our place, I'm in heaven when I walk out the door. Again, though, it's PINE, and pine trees are present in almost every type of climate. (Plus, the pine cones make for great natural and FREE Christmas decorations.)

What's That Smell, Owensboro and Kentucky?

So yeah, you kind of have to rule out NATURAL aromas, for the most part, when it comes to signature aromas. However--and there's a reason I said "for the most part"--I did include a tree in a list I concocted of the signature smells of Owensboro and Kentucky. I did that because I have an uncle who used to make special trips to Owensboro JUST to see these particular trees. Yes, they're available elsewhere; they're the state flower of Virginia. But DOGWOODS are so associated with Owensboro and the Commonwealth that I just had to include them.

So, for better or worse--WAY worse, in fact--here's my collection of Owensboro's and Kentucky's signature smells. There may be more, and if I come up with any--or if anyone makes a suggestion--I'll add it to the list.