Don't know why it'd be greyed out and say Hide while not appearing at the bottom of all your finder windows.
I just tripped over this... You'll see "Hide..." greyed out if you're in Finder but don't have a window open; it should mean that when you open a window the path bar is at its bottom.
Yup...that's it. Actually...I realized earlier today that I just wasn't "getting it"
but the thread was in the midst of being moved so I couldn't reply.
And thanks, Kevin, for another great tip.