Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Road Trip Day 14

We woke up and headed to Churchill Downs.  We had stayed at the Galt House hotel-the official hotel of the Kentucky Derby and the largest hotel in Louisville.

The state of Indiana was right out our window and we even drove over the bridge to it and turned around, just to say we'd been there.

Our hotel was really cool.  They had lots of birds in the hotel and the bar was one large fish tank!

We didn't spend long though...we were headed off to Churchill Downs first thing in the morning.

We toured the museum-which had everything from a display of hats to a virtual horse race.  We took lots of funny photos and actually learned a lot about the life of a race horse.  We also learned about the "infield", where people go to party during the hours leading up to the race.


We took a walking tour of the grounds and we saw the Paddocks where they saddle the horses before the big race.  We saw the stands, statues, the amazing landscaping and then we went out to the track itself.  We were able to actually put our feet on the track and see the whole place from track level.

We went back inside and had a famous mint Julep.  It was amazing!  We has some food too...a burger and I had a Kentucky lettuce salad.  We also had Kentucky Burgoo-a Kentucky stew.  We had Derby Pie too...so yummy.  Here is a description for Derby Pie: http://unusualkentucky.blogspot.com/2009/01/derby-pie.html



We did get to see Mind That Bird, the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner.  He was there because the Derby takes place in just a week or so.

We then traveled to the Lousiville Slugger factory and museum.  There you can actually watch them make bats.  I thought you would see a sampling of the techniques used. We were actually able to see the real workers, equipment and process, going on in front of our eyes (saw dust and all).  The wood burning and dipping were fascinating.  They even gave us mini bats on the way out.


We got back in the car and we are on the final leg of our journey.  We will be home tomorrow, with lots of memories and stories and joy in our hearts.

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