AND THEY'RE OFF!

Saturday, September 24 – Howl at the Moon.......that's a piano bar on 4^th Street Live in downtown Louisville. Our daughter, Carrie, was in Louisville a month or so ago and while her gang was at the bar enjoying the dueling pianos she won a party for 100 of her friends at the bar. It expires at the end of September and since she couldn't use it, she gave it to us. Two instead of a hundred....hmmm. Not sure weather this was a good deal or not for Howl at the Moon?

Suppose they would have preferred 100 drinking twenty-somethings than two sipping seniors....Ha! Ha! Regardless, we received free admittance ($10), four drinks ($1.00 each), half price off future drinks (don't drink and drive), and a free buffet ....not availably tonight...:=(     We had a great time enjoying the dueling piano players and people watching.

Of course there was the customary bridal shower girls enjoying toasting the future bride, birthday parties, and groups of people, young & old, having a good time.

This area of downtown, 4th Street Live, was a special treat.

Nice to see people strolling downtown, enjoying the bars, restaurants, and music venues.

This picture was taken early in the day.

They had a dress code and a 21+ age requirement too! Sorry, no shorts, sleeveless shirts on men, excessively torn clothing, exposed undergarments on men, full sweat suits, sagging pants or shorts; excessively long shirts or backpacks. The rag tag group has to stay home! The place was packed with neatly dressed young people....and quite a few of us in the “experience” age category. A nice evening downtown!

We even were treated to a couple taking a carriage ride.

Sunday, September 25 – While talking to our daughter, Carrie, this morning about her visit to Churchill Downs a month or so ago, she mentioned that she didn't pay for a tour and simply walked in the horse track during an off-track betting day. That's what we had in mind. A 30 minute tour was $10 and all we really wanted was to see the track and take a couple pictures.

So we checked the internet and there was off-track betting at Churchill Downs this afternoon. Horse racing in Kentucky is rich in history, dating back to 1789 when the first race course was laid out in Lexington. However, it was almost 100 years later, in 1875, that Churchill Downs officially opened and began its tradition as "Home of the Kentucky Derby."

HUGE building.

We headed to the track, paid a $1 admissions fee and walked freely all over the race track grand stands. So those of you looking for a bargain, check out Churchill Downs when they are having off-track racing or better yet, a live race.

Entrance

Amazing the number of people attending the off-track betting. If you are not familiar with off-track betting, you watch on TV and, of course, bet on races at other race tracks. There were 100's and maybe a coupe thousand people placing bets and watching the results on TV.

There are several murals depicting the history of Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs Main Track:

• One mile oval with a one mile chute
• Homestretch: 80 feet wide
• Backstretch: 80 feet wide
• 4% banking on turns
  

They have computers at the the outdoor seating area making it convenient to watch one race and place a wager on another.

Finish line.

And the winner is…

You can see the Louisville football stadium from the track.

We did not visit the museum. But if you would like to take a virtual tour, click here.

Oh yes…least we forget. Marsha has spotted a few more of those "special" horses.

Thoroughblue

1998 Derby winner…Real Quiet

1946 winner…Assault

Finally…Urban Edge

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

SEEING THE SIGHTS IN LOUISVILLE, KY

Saturday, September 24 – We are having another day of rain, but that won't stop us from discovering Louisville.

Marsha loves to visit churches. Off we went to visit the Cathedral of Assumption in downtown Louisville.

The seat of the first bishop, Benedict Joseph Flaget, moved from Bardstown, Kentucky, to Louisville in 1841. The Cathedral of the Assumption was completed in 1852.  It is the fourth oldest public building in Louisville as well as the third oldest Catholic Cathedral in continuous use in the United States.

Ceiling as we entered the Church.

As you face the altar, you are facing east to Jerusalem, the direction in which many Cathedrals face.  The bronze candlesticks around the altar are the original candlesticks used on the high altar of the Vatican II.  “There’s a great symbolism of the baptismal font being near the entrance and the altar being in the center in the front because through baptism we come to the Eucharist which comes from the table of the Lord." 

The ceiling fresco depicts cherubs surrounding Mary at the time of her assumption into heaven.  Through different restorations of the interior of the church, the fresco remained untouched until 1964.  After plaster started falling from the ceiling, the fresco was painted over when the ceiling was repaired.  As part of the 1994 renovation, the fresco was painstakingly restored to its earlier beauty.

The magnificent pipe organ was built by the Steiner-Reck Company of Louisville in 1983.  The organ is a mechanical-action tracker organ with 43 ranks and 36 Stops.  The casework is hand carved mahogany and reflects the Gothic style arches of the church.

We also stopped in to the Glassworks factory and shop. They had so many…according to Marsha…awesome items.

Aliens for a mere $40/each.

Marsha wanted to buy one of these for the holidays but thought twice. Not a practical buy when traveling.

Beautiful wine glasses but again impractical.

Below the shop, the doors are open. How neat to watch the artists make these beautiful works of art.

Putting the hot glass in a mold.

Squirting water on the hot glass. He then broke the bad part off the vase.

Footnote to our Louisville Slugger blog.
In our blog about our visit to Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, we forgot to tell you that our visit was FREE! While visiting the Apple Festival in Nappanee, Indiana, we visited the Louisville Visitor Center display. We told the worker that we were going to visit Louisville and headed to the Slugger Museum. He reached into his magic bag and gave us two free tickets…Now that is a great Visitor Center!

Also, at the end of our visit, we were each given a mini Louisville Slugger bat. In the picture, the top bat shows the end stubs that are taken off each professional bat. The bottom picture shows the bat without the stubs.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

BATTER UP!

Friday, September 23 – We visited another great museum today....The Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum. What an interesting tour. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed on the tour but they were permitted in the museum.

Check out the "Big Bat" leaning against the building. The total weight of the bat is approximately 68,000 pounds, height 120 ft. and diameter 9 ft. The bat is constructed of ASTM A36 carbon steel. The "Bud Hillerich" signature is a tribute to John A. "Bud" Hillerich, who turned the company's first bat in 1884. Called the world's largest bat and I believe it!

 

We started out holding bats actually used by the greats. Paul held Mickey Mantle's Model B220 used sometime between 1961 ns 1964. It measures 35" and weighs 32 ounces.

Marsha chose Johnny Bench's Model B278 bat that he used between 1980-1983. It is northern white ash 35" and weighs 32 ounces.

The factory tour takes you step by step through the production of a Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Our guide was very knowledgeable and informative. We did find one window that we could take a picture through.

Each year 40,000 northern white ash and maple trees supply the logs for Louisville Slugger bats. Ideal trees for bats are at least 80 years old.

You can see bats used by almost every famous professional baseball player like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Derek Jeter, and Barry Bonds. We saw bats in production for the likes of Jim Tome and Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians. Marsha went crazy!

Each year a professional player goes through approximately 100 bats at a cost between $60-$80/bat. Approximately one million bat are made per year.  During peak production times about 1500 bats are made per day at the factory in Louisville.

Babe Ruth carved a notch in this bat for every home run he hit with it in 1927. During that historic season, Ruth smashed a record 60 home runs in 154 games.

During WW II, Louisville Slugger reduced bat production and began manufacturing wooden gunstocks and tank pins for the war effort.

We stood behind a glass enclosure and watched a 90 mph ball come towards us. We actually were able to capture the ball before it reached the catcher. That thing flies in!!!

The was an awesome tour and museum. There is tons of memorabilia for those dedicated baseball fans. When you are in this area, don't miss it! We will leave you with a few fun"extremes" used by players… 

Edd Roush of the Cincinnati Reds used the heaviest bat, a 48 ounce piece of timber.

Billy Goodman, who won the batting championship in 1950 while with the Boston Red Sox, used the lightest bat.  He used a 30 ounce bat to win the batting crown.

Joe Morgan, former Most Valuable Player of Cincinnati Reds, also used a 30 ounce bat.

The longest bat in our history was used by Al Simmons, a 38” bat.  Simmons played with Philadelphia and Boston in the American League during the 1940’s.

The shortest bat ever ordered for regular play was a 30 ½” ordered by Willie Keeler who played with the Yankees.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!