After a tasty breakfast of half a huge omelette, we hit the road towards our 35th state. Shortly before 11.30 we crossed the Ohio River and into Kentucky, where it’s all about bourbon and horses…. and for us, shopping!
We had arrived in Louisville , the largest town in the state and our first brief stop, just a drive by really, was to see the largest baseball bat in the world. It’s a replica of Mickey Mantle’s bat and is propped up against the entrance of the Louisville Slugger Museum. The Louisville Slugger is an iconic brand of baseball bat that was first made 132 years ago and is the most popular bat brand in baseball history.
Not being huge baseball fans we were happy with seeing the big bat and set off to visit the major draw in Louisville, the Churchill Downs Racetrack, the home of the famous Kentucky Derby. This race has a huge build up and following here and is the closest thing the USA has to the Melbourne Cup. At the Racetrack we visited the museum, which had some great interactive displays and a fabulous 360 degree sound/light show all about the Derby.
We went on a short walking tour out to the track and saw the paddock , the stands and the finish line. Just as I had in Indianapolis, It’s a lovely course, presided over by the lovely old Victorian structure of the original stand and it’s twin spires.
The paddock.
From Lousville we headed east towards Lexington, our base for the next 2 nights. The landscape of Kentucky is such a pleasant change from the flat farmlands of the last few states. Rolling hills with green forests and some gorgeous horse studs. The Bluegrass State – as Kentucky is known because of the richness of its pastures – is the horse capital of the America, a place where pedigree counts and tradition is everything.
However, there was another thing about the Bluegrass State that I’d been looking forward to… the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass! A massive outlet mall that just happened to be on our route from Louisville to Lexington. We stopped in and picked up some great bargains.
Tomorrow we have some scenic drives planned in the nearby mountains and also hope to turn our attention to the other major export from Kentucky…bourbon whisky!