Elk in the Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Kentucky. -- Photo by Dan Crank, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

When I first learned about Eastern Kentucky's Country Music Highway, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, doesn't every country singer worth his weight in biscuits and gravy live in Nashville? Kentucky was horse country, I thought, and the home of the infamous Hatfield-McCoy clan. But a whole highway devoted to country music? How peculiar.

But then I Googled Country Music Highway and, yeehaw, there was actually a Web site with that very name. Seems there's a 144-mile stretch along Highway US 23 in scenic Eastern Kentucky honouring celebrity musicians like Billy Ray Cyrus and Loretta Lynn who were born along the route. In fact, in 2002 it was designated as an official National Scenic Byway. Hmm... why not see if I can spy a star?

I fly into Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, aptly named to begin my quest for singing sensations with a bit of twang, and set off by car for the two-hour drive towards US 23. My driver, a New Yorker named George, regales a slew of nuggets. Did you know, he asks, that after prohibition much of Kentucky opted to go wet but were outnumbered by the moonshining majority and ended up going dry? Since many of country music's sensations started out their careers playing the Kentucky bar scene, he adds, they were forced to head south towards alcohol-friendly Nashville to find an audience.

Fear not, today 30 Kentucky counties are wet, 54 are dry and 16 are "moist," meaning there's a wet city located in the dry county. State parks are dry, too. Still, liquor stores and bourbon distilleries abound, and alcohol can be consumed in the privacy of your own home or hotel room.

Stop one is Morehead, a university town nestled in the hills of the Daniel Boone National Forest. We lunch at the All Seasons Cafe, a combination florist/home decor shop/eatery run by three brothers (ask for the Five Pimiento Cheese Sandwich on Texas Toast).

My lunch mate is Matt Collinsworth, director of the nearby Kentucky Folk Art Center, who tells me about the nifty local artists he showcases and the upcoming interactive exhibit of Kentucky music. He also mentions other combo businesses in the area, my favourite being "Tar and Bible" (turned out his thick Southern drawl was really saying Tire and Bible - an even stranger blend).

But has he met Billy Ray Cyrus? No, Matt whispers, but he does have celebrity roots: he and Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt both grew up down the road in Salyersville, Ky. Apparently, there aren't any historic markers for Flynt's favourite haunts.

Another hour through the Appalachian Mountains and we're at picturesque Jenny Wiley State Resort Park on the outskirts of Prestonsburg, Ky. The park is a happening place, with 117 tent and RV sites for summer use, plus 49 guestrooms and 18 secluded cottages open year-round. Family reunions are big at Jenny Wiley ("Last week we had the Hatfields, and we'll have the McCoys soon too," laughs park manager Scott Ringham).

I take a walk through the forest where I come face-to-face with a great big deer, and dine on chef Barry Oldson's famous Kentucky Hot Brown (a cholesterol-packed combo of ham, turkey breast, cheese sauce, bacon and tomatoes all piled onto toasted white bread and baked until bubbly). I even wake up in the wee hours to join in on an elk-watching tour where I get to see some of Eastern Kentucky's 5,300 elk at play.

And then, finally, someone mentions "opry" and I'm back on track. I head to the Mountain Arts Center, which hosts national headliners strumming and fiddling the latest bluegrass, gospel, rock and country music tunes. It's also home to the Kentucky Opry and its junior division, giving local up-and-coming Billy Rays and Wynonas a chance to shine.

When I ask around, almost everyone claims lineage to Billy Ray: they're his cousin, his kids' friend or his wife's aunt's grandfather's barber. One even had a son in Billy Ray's band.

Then I'm at Butcher Hollow (the locals call it "Holler"), where Loretta Lynn's younger brother Herman Webb takes me through their childhood home and snaps my photo beside the well where the coal miner's daughter drew water.

I visit the brand new Country Music Highway Museum, which touts memorabilia and photos from the likes of the Judds, Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yoakim, Patty Loveless and Billy Ray, as well as other locals who've made it big.

And I head to Ashland to see the historical Paramount Arts Center, once a movie house and now the area's major venue for Broadway, Beethoven and ballet (ask about Joe, the theatre's resident ghost). Billy Ray, it seems, filmed his Achy Breaky Heart video at the 1,400-seat Paramount.

Loretta Lynn's childhood home at Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. -- Photo by Suzanne Wintrob

Still, one of the town's heroes is Polly Judd -- Naomi's Mama and Wynona and Ashley's Grandma. The tiny redhead lives in a great big yellow house and boots around town in her yellow BMW Roadster convertible. I'm one up on her, she tells me, because she's never met Loretta's brother. But she does know Vince Gill's uncle. And Billy Ray's Mom.

Just when I've given up hope of ever seeing Billy Ray, I notice a sign: Billy Ray's. I dash in. Turns out the restaurant, famous for its burgers, belongs to some other guy with the same name. And they tell me that while I was in Kentucky, my Billy Ray is up in Toronto starring in Annie Get Your Gun.

Oh, my achy breaky heart.

If you go:

- Delta has connecting flights from Toronto to Lexington. Visit www.delta.com.

Loretta Lynn's younger brother Herman Webb. -- Photo by Suzanne Wintrob

- For more about the Country Music Highway, contact the Southern & Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association at 877-TOUR-SEKY or visit www.tourseky.com.

- Elk Watching season opens at Jenny Wiley in September with an elk feast. Tours run every Saturday morning at 6 a.m. through March. For details visit www.jennywiley.com.

- Loretta Lynn's childhood home is located in the town of Van Lear, Ky. It's open year round (except Christmas Day) by appointment. Call 606-297-1469 or visit www.paintsville.org.

Suzanne Wintrob is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

The well where the coal miner's daughter drew water. -- Photo by Suzanne Wintrob