As an early Father's Day present for Charles, we took in a ballgame at Louisville Slugger Field. The Louisville Bats were playing the Pawtucket Red Sox, so it was a chance for all of us to break out the Sox gear and enjoy the game.
Great front row seats, first base line behind the visitor's bullpen:
It's a very family friendly ballpark, with two playgrounds and a carousel.
Night game = tired boy.
He perked up for the postgame fireworks, however.
Despite the heat, the Sox getting the snot beat out of them, and the group of screaming women behind us that Charles dubbed "The Real Housewives of Louisville," a good time was had by all.
We continued the baseball theme the next morning with a trip to the Louisville Slugger factory, where you can watch as they manufacture the baseball bats. Since Matt's favorite shows are "How It's Made," and "How Do They Do It, " we figured he'd love it. Surprisingly, he enjoyed the museum more than the factory tour, which was admittedly very loud. He did like receiving a small bat at the end of the tour, though.
In the fake dugout at the Slugger Museum:
Charles and Matt with a game-used David Ortiz bat - very cool. Note the white archival gloves - these people take their bats seriously.
The boys with Teddy Ballgame - a nice statue of Ted Williams. We snubbed the neighboring one of Babe Ruth in his Yankee uniform.
Outside with the giant bat, which is 120 feet tall and 68,000 pounds.
Trying to make it a full Louisville landmark day, we next went to the famous Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby.
I was admittedly more excited about this than Matt. I simply adore horse racing and would spend all day at the track if I could. I don't gamble, except for the occasional $2.00 wager, I just love the atmosphere. And Churchill is a beautiful and historic place.
The boys with the famous twin spires in the background:
Racing hard:
Matt did not repeat his winning ways from Keeneland; the horse he selected finished dead last. Regardless, racing at Churchill Downs is not to be missed.
We ended our long afternoon with a trip to Falls of the Ohio State Park, right across the river from Louisville in Indiana. There they have massive limestone fossil beds where you can hunt for remnants from 380 million years ago.
Matt enjoyed the anticipation of fossil hunting more than the actuality. By this point in the afternoon it was roughly 205 degrees, and even hotter on the fossil beds due to sun's reflection off the limestone. We searched for a while and did find some fossilized plants and other items, which was very interesting.
On the fossil beds:
Digging for history:
We soon surrendered to the heat, however, and headed back to London. Matt proclaimed the bat factory his favorite part of the weekend, although I honestly think he gets as much pleasure from picking out snacks in the gas station, something he never gets to do at home.
Where will the next road trip take us? Suggestions are always welcome...
1 comment:
Looks like a cool trip :-) When I was a kid, we lived in East Tennessee and went to a place called Bays Mountain Park. I looked it up online and it still looks pretty cool. That was my first visit to a planetarium.
www.baysmountain.com/
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