I booked a ticket and started browsing through things to do and places to eat.
We left early Saturday morning and headed out to Louisville. The sun was a huge red ball, and this picture doesn't quite capture it.
I had my fave app, Roadside America, on at the same time so we could pull over at interesting stops that weren't far off the interstate. Unfortunately, Roadside America had some things for Indiana and Illinois but NOTHING for Kentucky. What!?
I didn't realize that we would pass through Indiana but that's where our pit stops wound up being.
First we stopped off at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. It was a great place to stop and stretch our legs because we could spend some time inside the museum and then walk around and look at his mother's grave, the foundation of his log cabin, and see the farm (reenactment of life in that time). Supposedly, you would see people working the farm - feeding chickens, gardening, etc. We saw a trio chatting inside the cabin. I guess everyone needs a break right? It was hot out.
We then drove on and miles down the road, I started noticing winery signs. It was due time for another stretch and bathroom break so we stopped at Winzerwald Winery, a German wine tasting room. It was a lovely stop with complimentary wine tasting (and some with cheese pairing), friendly staff, and an outdoor patio for sitting and sipping. A bonus? Photo opp!
Hello Kentucky!!
We made it into Louisville around 2 and went straight to Evan Williams. We had the urban distillery experience. We toured the distillery and learned how bourbon was made. At the end, we had a tasting of 3 bourbons. I long to be someone you'd describe as a "whiskey drinker" but I'm still not converted. The tour guide asked us to smell it (insert gag reflex) and tell what you smell. HOW did people come up with vanilla, oak, or caramel when I smelled horses*#t? Then, I felt like we were on an episode of "What would you do?" because Luba saw a GROWN man (40ish) steal 2 bottles of bourbon by putting them in the wife's purse. Seriously? I didn't see it happen. The bottles retail at $35 or less...really 40-something-year-old?
We wanted to hit the Louisville Slugger Museum just a bit down the street but we were already out of time. How did that happen?
We walked out and Luba thought his new birthday watch was already out of battery. It was an hour off. Then, I noticed when we got in the car, my phone was different than the car clock. OOOOOOOOOOH!!! Another thing I didn't expect? Time zone change. Oops.
We walked around to check out what the commotion was on the pier nearby - a World Festival! There were so many booths, entertainment and food tents representing tons of countries!
I also noticed that all through town there were painted horses - Gallopalooza. I'm not sure what the background is but the horses were amazing. The brown one is my favorite because of the detail that you may not notice just breezing by.
We went and checked into the hotel and relaxed and browsed restaurants for dinner. We opted for Harvest in the NuLu district. It is a farm-to-table restaurant. It was great. The ambiance was farmhouse style. There was a corkboard on the wall that showed the map of farms they support and bios of the farmers they use. All around the restaurant, there were large portraits of the farmers as decor. One of the owners made his rounds to each table and chatted with all guests for the night. He did not miss one table. The food was delicious.
I LOVED this doorway at this quaint house close to Harvest. Isn't it adorable?
The next morning, we got up and headed to the Cave Hill Cemetery. No, the cemetery wasn't morbid. We had heard how beautiful it was so we drove in to one of the most beautiful and serene places I've been. It was gorgeous. We saw Colonel Sanders' (KFC) grave site as well as one a few sites down that belonged to Harry Leon Collins, a magician from Louisville. That was a bit creepy because it was a life size statue. There were several mausoleums as well.
On the way out, we stopped by a wall that we had passed. It stood out because it had spaces for the public to complete to answer "Before I die, I want to...."
We then went to the Louisville Slugger Museum. If you are a baseball fan, you must go here! I am not the biggest baseball fan, but it was so interesting to see how the sluggers are made. That day, they were making bats for Cincinnati Reds player, Brandon Phillips. We watched them in production.
We were blowing through some sites! Time for one more!
We ended the day at the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. These are separate entities although they are side by side here. We went through the museum and toured Churchill Downs. It was SO hot outside -I mean, HOT HOT. The tour was about 40 minutes and we walked around to see the stables, the names of the winners, wagering windows and seats along the track. Tidbits? Only 3 year old horses are in the derby so each horse competes once. There's a statue that changes each year and is the color of the jockey's shirt of the winning horse.
We headed home after this since we had exhausted all the major sites!
What a great weekend. I love that St. Louis is driving distance to so many cities. You can get to dozens of places in 6-8 hours or less. That's one of the best things about living here. Next cities on the list to visit are Cincinnati, Chicago, Memphis, Nashville and Indianapolis.
