And a Long Finish!!!!

After a breakfast of cereal and cinnamon rolls, Lauren and I packed up the car, said our goodbyes to Jan, Amy, Mary, her son, and all the pets, and got on the road. Our first stop was the Lawrenceburg candle shop. At all of the distilleries we went to, we noticed that they all smelled the same and they all smelled delicious. They sold bourbon scented candles and after enjoying the intoxicating smell so often, I decided that I needed to have one. At the candle shop, they had one, but it just didn’t smell the same, so I didn’t get one there. While at the candle shop, Jan pulled up and Mary jumped out of the car to deliver Lauren her pillow. Oops. That, surprisingly, is the first thing we have forgotten all trip, and Lauren and I both went through that room to make sure we didn’t forget anything.

Because the candles didn’t work out, we decided to head north to Frankfurt to get on 64 so that we could stop at Buffalo Trace again, one of our favorite distilleries, and buy a candle there. Plus I wanted a bottle of bourbon crème, which you can only get at the distillery. After that errand was complete, we headed west to Louisville.

I knew 64 went into West Virginia, but I guess I never thought about where it goes after that; it runs all the way across Kentucky to Louisville. And you know I haven’t looked to see how far it goes after that… Lawrenceburg and Louisville are not that far apart and we were there by 11.

Our first stop was the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. The museum was fun and had an exhibit on this year’s Derby winner, Mine That Bird, silly hats the ladies wear, an exhibit of dresses worn by the silly ladies through the years – from the twenties to present, information about race horses and their lives, famous horses and more. Our entrance included a free tour of a small part of Churchill Downs including the area where the jockeys ready the horses and the winner’s circle next to the track.

It might be fun to go to the Derby, but I can’t afford it. You can sit cheaply in the grass in the center where you can’t see anything, or you can pay a lot of money. I think the cheapest seats are 400 a seat and you have to buy them in blocks of 6. If you are really rolling in the dough you can buy the better seats for 8,000 a seat also sold only in blocks of six. Where is my rich husband-to-be?

After the Derby museum, Lauren and I visited the visitor center in downtown Louisville to get a bit of info and to see the Colonel Sanders Exhibit. Colonel Sanders was a real person and he started the KFC chain in his fifties or sixties to make money. He really did look like the logo guy. He wasn’t a real colonel, though I think he was lieutenant in the army; he was awarded an honorary colonel-ship for something and he received a state burial when he passed away.

From there we went around a few blocks to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Turns out, it’s not just a museum, it’s a factory. We went through the assembly line and learned that Louisville Sluggers are typically made of maple or ash that is originally cut in long three inch wide rods. The rods are cured and aged, and then they are put on an automated machine that turns really quickly and cuts them into bats in about a minute and a half. Some of them are still hand turned, like the very first Louisville Slugger baseball bat, much like turning a lathe to make stair and porch rails. The bats then get a finish and a logo – either burned in or stamped in.

We also learned about specific players bats on the tour. Players who endorse Louisville Slugger have their own specific bats with unique measurements, finishes, and the same signature they put on the contract. Players get them as needed and can go through up to 300 a season.

After the tour, we wandered around the museum and learned even more about the history of the bats and the players that used them. We could see special bats like Babe Ruth’s and bats belonging to other famous players. There was a lot of information about records and baseball stats too.

After baseball, we walked around the block to go to Glassworks. Tour time was over so we just browsed the gift shop. Blown glass stuff is pretty, but it is so expensive.

Done with touring for the day, we went to go meet the Grays. The Grays live like five minutes from town. We met John and Sarah and their daughter Devin, and their other older teenage daughter Saba was in and out. We also met Devin’s chickens and duck, the cats, and a lovely old calm dog. John and Sarah had tickets for Hank Williams the third and invited us to go, but they were sold out. Instead we offered to take Devin, a soon to be seventh grader, to the drive-in because they were playing UP that Lauren and I both wanted to see and because Lauren had never been to a drive-in (and I have only been once – while I was in New Mexico). We all went out for burgers and beer and then split up for our evening activities.

The drive-in is in Indiana – which is just across the river from Louisville and includes a must-stop at Polyfreeze for flavor burst soft serve ice cream. We thought we weren’t going to make it, but we were just in time. We were at the drive-in but we didn’t actually sit in the car –well Devin sat on the hood. Lauren and I snuggled in our sleeping bags and sat in camp chairs borrowed from the Grays. We even took the car speakers, and instead of hooking them on the car windows, we just sat them in our laps.

I really liked UP, but I think it was more of a grown-up film than for kids. Devin had already seen it, but enjoyed it the second time at least it appeared so when she wasn’t texting. The second film was Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell. It was ok. I realized while watching it that I haven’t seen many Will Ferrell movies and that’s probably because I know I don’t particularly enjoy that kind of humor (except for Elf).

Lauren and Devin both fell asleep on the way home, but it was fairly easy coming back. I think we got home at 130? Not sure.

I had sort of planned for us to be up earlier, but after such a late night, we slept a bit later than usual. It is really funny because Lauren has this innate ability to get up about five to ten minutes after me like magic. I try to be super quiet and get out of bed – and I get out of bed at least once in the night to pee and she doesn’t move – but when I get up, its not long before she is up too. We had coffee and bagels with John and then set out.

Our first stop was the American Printing House for the Blind which is a printer and has a museum. We took the guided tour and learned all about different materials that are made for the visually impaired like games and study aids, tapes, recordings, and of course books. People who are legally blind can go to any library and sign up for a recorded book program for free. They record all the books at APH. They used to be on record, now they are on tape, and very soon will be digital (the service includes a free player).

Braille is based on a secret code used by the French to pass messages in the dark – they didn’t really like it or use it, but that’s how Braille came up with his system. Braille letters are made using a six dot system (two columns three high like on a dice) with additional dot patterns before symbols to indicate capitalization, punctuation, or music notes. Sounds confusing to me, but if I go blind, you can bet I will learn it.

Our guide explained how print books were computer translated into Braille and we got to see the proofreading. A blind person reads the text to someone who can see the original text copy including all punctuation and capitalization to make sure everything is exactly the same. We learned about Braille printing presses and how they work, there are a couple kinds, about special book bindings, and got to see it all being done. Afterwards our guide led us through the museum and gave us an overview about Braille came about, how it works, and some of the milestones. I took a picture of the Braille World Book Encyclopedia because it is so massive. Even with special abbreviations and double sided imprinting, Braille books take up more than twice the space. Lauren’s favorite parts were the goggles to simulate how you would see if you were blind (and different levels and causes of blindness – there were nine goggles) and being able to type her name using a Braille typewriter. Braille typewriters only have seven or eight keys.

Our next stop was Joe Ley Antiques and Baer Fabrics. Both of these were mentioned in the Kentucky Curiosities book. Joe Ley antiques was fun and I bet Karrie and James would have loved it. John told us he sold a lot of architectural antiques and he had a lot of moldings, door knobs, shutters, hinges, light fixtures – everything. Upstairs in the next three floors there was tons of beautiful furniture, dishes, knick-knacks and everything else you could think of. Baer Fabrics, known for its buttons and the large buttons on the side of the building, was closed and only the painted buttons remained.

Then it was back to Indiana, a quick PB&J, and our first stop Schimpff’s Confectionary to get the walk-through tour. Our tour guide was a Schimpff – it’s still family owned and operated. She showed us the levels of the three biggest flood, the greatest even with the middle of the second floor windows, and explained some of the family history. Then we watched red hots, one of their signature candies being made. I have never seen hard candy being made so I thought it was really interesting. There was a bubbling mixture of sugary syrup that once it reached the right temperature, was poured onto an edged table. It was allowed to cool a bit and then the man poured cinnamon oil on it and started folding up the gooey candy. The candy was more solid than liquid and it was neat to watch him fold it up. After it cooled a bit more, it was run through an antique candy press into squares. All of the equipment used was original and antique. She told us that they can only make candies in the shapes they have, because no one makes hand turned candy presses anymore – most candy is pressed into big shapes at factories. We tried a sample and then she took us to the museum portion and she talked about the history of candy sales and showed us original containers and really old candy vending machines - when hershey’s bars were a penny!

We sampled the warm red hots and then Lauren and I purchased some sugary snacks. We both love Modjeskas, named after a Bulgarian actress that some candy maker wanted to make a candy named after her. We had sampled these before – marshmallows covered in caramel, but here they were also dipped in dark chocolate. Yum.

We followed the road along the river to the Steamboat Museum, which incidentally was not really a steamboat museum. It was more like a guided tour of the rich steamboat owner’s lovely home full of beautiful woodwork and antiques, and a little information about steamboats with some bits and pieces and models. We both enjoyed it, but it was super long and after a while we both felt old and wanted to sit down.

We followed the river the other way to Falls of the Ohio to scout out some coral fossils (you know the ones preserved from the Great Flood). Lauren got the under 18 discount (score!) and we ambled through the museum. It really was a great museum, but we were just tired of reading stuff. This museum included prehistoric history and information about fossils, info about the Indians, info about the explorers, info about the civil war, info about the wildlife on land, aquariums and info about fish in the river as well as fish and animals on the reef now and in prehistoric times, and I think more. It wasn’t big, but it was well done, but like I said we were sort of tired of reading and ambled through. We walked down to the river banks to look for the fossils.

They were harder to find than I thought and not as clear as the ones presented at the museum. We spent maybe fifteen to twenty minutes climbing over rocks and poking around and then we were done. It was pretty hot and not that exciting. I know Josh would have been happy to be there all day.

Then we drove around randomly not sure we were on the right road to the drive-in to see if my phone was there. First thing in the morning I noticed my phone was missing, but I chose not to obsess about it and sight-see instead. Lauren called it a few times while I checked to make sure it wasn’t in the car, trunk, or in my room and she sent it a text saying to call her if it was found. The gate to the drive in was locked – but there’s no gate across the exit, so we drove through the exit to the spot where my car was the night before. And luckily, I found it there lying in the grass.

Victoriously, we drove back to Kentucky. We stopped back at the Gray’s to check in and then set out for Lynn’s Paradise Café, another Kentucky Curiosity. It was next door to the place we had burgers the night before, but we didn’t have time to check it out. Lynn’s Paradise Café is TACKY and wonderful. Fifties formica tables have their own tacky lamps and tacky salt and pepper shakers – and that does not even begin to cover what’s on the walls or hanging from the ceiling. The food was good, and besides the in-depth religious discussion between the two gentlemen next to us, the atmosphere was crazy fun.

After dinner we went to go see Shakespeare in the park. Getting to the park took some doing and involved me driving the wrong way on a one way street (for about 100 feet. I didn’t see the one way sign because the turn I wanted was catty corner and I was so excited to see it. The second time it happened – and it did happen again – I was prepared and did not drive illegally, just cut through an alley). We thought it was going to be Hamlet, but turns out its June and not July, so it was Macbeth. Lauren had never seen Macbeth and I couldn’t remember it well enough at the beginning to clue her in. The costumes were a punk kids dream – I think they went to Hot Topic for the costumes – skulls and leather and straps and chains and read plaids. Interesting, but it made it hard to tell some of the characters apart.

We were tired, I took a nap during intermission, so we went home to bed. Saba and her friends came home shortly afterwards and turned up the radio and stamped around and had an impromptu pool party. Kind of annoying, but I was pretty sure she forgot we were there (she had).

It was thundering and raining this morning when we got up, so we had another leisurely breakfast of bagels and coffee. We eventually got all of our stuff and got in the car. We waited for a break in the rain, but we weren’t a mile down the road when it started to pour, and thunder and lightning even more. It was raining so hard that I pulled over and it was a good thing I did. By pulling over I could see the enormous puddle building in a low spot and all the people getting swamped going through it, so when the rain let up a bit I drove through the parking lot to go around it. The storm was intense. The lighting was big, bright, and close and had caused some of the stoplights to lose power. We slowly made our way downtown as the storm lessened.

We decided to go back to Glassworks and I am glad that we did. We were able to learn more about the process, see some of the larger projects, and see glass-shapers at work. We watched two guys make a large case and another guy shaped a small seahorse, then a sun, and then started something else. After watching how much time and effort goes into shaping handmade glass pieces, it is much easier to see and appreciate why the pieces are so expensive. I purchased a glittery glass ring I had admired the first time we were there. Lauren liked them too but none fit her finger properly.

It was time for lunch and I had heard of this place called Wild Eggs and it had actually been in the previous days paper. I had marked it on our map so we set off to find it. On the way we passed through a cool shopping area and passed a shop that John had recommended. We stopped and Lauren got a nifty fleur de list shirt (louisville = king louis = french fleur de lis). We poked in another glass shop that had the same artist’s glass rings so Lauren was able to get one after all.

Back on the road and back on the hunt for Wild Eggs. It was difficult to find so we had to call for directions, but it was so worth it. The food was delicious and more fancy and gourmet than your typical eggs. Yum. Next we hit the HD and headed back for 64.

Originally, we had intended to stop at Red River Gorge to camp for the night, but it wasn’t that far. Lauren and I are both sort of ready to come home, so Lauren checked the map for places a bit further along. We stopped at Carter Caves State Park for the evening.

These people need some better organization. The first stop is the store, where the lady can sell you stuff and tours, but knows nothing about lodging. The next stop is the lodge where they nothing about camping. At the camp site, the young girl suggested we go over and check which site we wanted and get back to her. I asked her if we should drive and she said yes and she told us we could have anything that didn’t have a yellow reserved sign. Well we should have walked because it was so close and we ended up driving around the tent section twice before we realized that every spot had a yellow reserved tag. We went back to complain and a young man told us that there should be plenty of spots – that most of them were reserved for tomorrow, and that we just needed to check the dates on the yellow tags. He was right and with this additional information I hemmed and hawed and chose a camp site. We had heard on the radio that it is supposed to pour again tonight (no surprise to us, it had poured every night we have camped), so I was trying to weigh that factor in my decision.

After choosing a site and setting up the tent, Lauren and I went to visit some of the arches here by the shortest means possible. There were plenty of long trails to go see arches and views, but after close inspection of the map, I realized that some of the more well known and distinguished arches were very near to trailheads. So we hiked maybe a mile total from three different trail heads to see three different arches. We checked out Smoky, Fern, and Natural Bridge. Smoky Arch is the tallest and longest arch in the park. Natural Bridge is the only arch in Kentucky to have a paved road crossing it.

It was hot to be hiking, we were both sweaty and feeling gross, but I had wanted to see them and plus it was a little early to turn in – Lauren to her book and me to my computer. We decided on sodas to cool us down, but it was out of the one Lauren wanted and it wouldn’t take my five dollar bill. So we went to the camp store to get them and then sit on the swings. We went back to the campsite for dinner and then turned in. It has gotten cloudier the longer we have sat here, though it doesn’t look like rain yet. It’ll probably happen after midnight like the last two times (three if you count this morning’s storm).