Our first stop was the Louisville Slugger Museum. We were the first tour of 2009! (The boys weren't impressed, but I thought it was rather cool.)
The museum is home to the largest bat in the world. (Those little people at the bottom that look like ants are actually Joey and the boys!)
A closer look. (Plus, it was super cold all weekend, so we all looked like stuffed sausages!)
The boys in front of one of Babe Ruth's bats. This particular bat has 21 notches carved in it, one for every home run he hit with it.
The museum has signatures of thousands of baseball legends, like Yogi Berra, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle, just to name a few. Every baseball player that signs a contract with them, also agrees to return their personalized used bats to the museum for display.
The bat below has an incredible story.
The Frazer family moved into a house several years ago, and later, tucked away in one of the closets, discovered this bat. It was owned by Babe Ruth. The bat has an original signature and is dated September 29, 1934, the day Babe Ruth hit his last home run as a New York Yankee. WOW!!! Cleaned out your closet lately???
Finally, we got a tour of the factory where they manufacture all of their bats. We couldn't take pictures inside, lest we be spies for another company. But, as we were leaving, everyone did get their own miniature bat as a souvenir. This was by far the coolest museum we've been yet!
The boys inside a huge baseball glove made of stone!
We also visited the Children's museum in Louisville which actually wasn't as impressive as I thought it'd be. Downtown Louisville is beautiful, though. It's right on the river and there's so much to do downtown. Muhammad Ali is originally from Louisville and his museum is there also, though we didn't go. I didn't know if the boys were really old enough to appreciate it. Later that afternoon, we hit the GINORMOUS (is that a word?) Flea Market that is there twice a month. The flea market was HUGE. We walked and walked and walked and finally gave in and had to call it a day. But, not before picking up some great antique coke and milk crates, as well as a giant paddle (more for looks than actually using!) Now that I think about it, our seeming obsession with paddles is pretty humorous considering the boys rarely get spanked. Grounding off of the Wii is doing the trick nowadays! So, anyway, we packed our treasures in the car and headed to the hotel.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn (have to do a quick shout out for their beds! Best night's sleep EVER!!) Plus, we ate from White Castle. Which, at this point I need to interject and say that I always assumed White Castle was Krystal's (like Rally's and Checker's are the same), but I said that to the guy in the drive-thru and he (quite rudely) informed me that they were in no way the same, and then proceeded to make fun of my accent. (They weren't as good as Krystal's anyway!)
The next morning, we headed for THE Churchill Downs.
The site of Barbaro's burial and monument. (At the time, still in planning stages.) We'll have to go back now and get a picture of the actual statue!
The finish line used from 1954-1985 on the racetrack. Kentucky Derby winner Needles was the first to cross the finish line in 1954. Other Derby winners include Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, and Affirmed in 1978, just to name a few. The finish line was retired in 1985.
When we were in Louisville, Big Brown was the reigning Kentucky Derby winner, and this statue is repainted every year to reflect the silks (uniform) that the winning jockey was wearing.
The original grandstand, built in 1875. Additions have been added over the years and now include condos that
Our tour guide has worked at Churchill Downs for over 20 years and he said the majority of the people that come to the Kentucky Derby never see the horses race. That's because most of them are in the infield, and I can tell you firsthand, that from the "infield", you can't even see the track!
A statue of Pat Day, an All-Time winning jockey with 2,481 wins and 155 stakes victories. The statue is the actual height and weight of Pat Day. He's pnly 4'10", making him shorter than me. . .. and that's saying alot!
We rounded out the tour with a trip to the museum, where we watched a little documentary on horse-racing and the Kentucky Derby. There are 40,000 horses born every year, and of those only 20 will make it to the Kentucky Derby. It was a very interesting movie and I even got a little misty-eyed (It didn't help that they played the theme from "Rudy", which I can't watch without crying like a baby.)
We finally headed home, but plan to go back soon. I'd love to catch a race (one of the $5 per ticket ones) just to let the boys (and me and Joey) experience a race at Churchill Downs. Now I just have to pick out a hat to wear. What do ya'll think of this one?
Oh my goodness, I'm rolling on the floor laughing, Bae just walked up and saw the picture and said, "Mama, that is hideous! You can't wear that, people will laugh at you!"
Until next time.
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