It was quite interesting at the airport watching everyone flying out. The tarmac was lined from one end to the other with private/corporate jets. There was even a 737 parked there for the horses. It was painted with a horse on the side and proudly labeled "First Class Equine Transport". Inside the terminal the walkways were lined with huge vases of at least one hundred red roses each. The folks who still had a few bucks left were buying some last minute t-shirts and hats to take home.
Going the opposite direction of the crowd we zipped right out of the airport and headed over to Indiana to spend a few hours with our niece Kimberly (her mom Debbie also happened to be there visiting). She lives on a beautiful piece of property that her dad owns. It's out in the country near the community of Milltown. My longstanding nickname for Kimberly has been "Fish" which is a shortened version of her last name, Fischer. Where she lives could easily be called "The Fish Farm". We were greeted by three deer as we pulled into the property. There are seven ducks living on a pond that's full of turtles and bullfrogs. Tons of birds including different types of finches, woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays and humming birds as well as two cats (pumpkin and spooky) and a very cool well mannered dog named stinky. Those are the animals we saw. There are also turkeys, otters, chipmunks, raccoons and more. We had a great lunch of burgers and hot dogs after which I followed up with a nap in a hammock (thanks Debbie) before we all hiked down to the river that runs along the property.
After the visit Beth and I drove back into Louisville getting to our downtown hotel late in the afternoon. My first impression of the city was very positive, which was confirmed the next day as we roamed around.
It was Monday morning after the biggest weekend of the year so the town was still in recovery mode. It's a very clean city with tons of history. In addition to being the home of the Kentucky Derby, it was Muhammad Ali's hometown, home to numerous Kentucky Bourbon distilleries, considered one of the top ten foodie towns in the US, has a major university (University of Louisville), huge medical center and numerous museums just to name a few features. There is a very cool Louisville Slugger museum that's free and a factory tour ($14) that was very interesting. If you're not a baseball fan, Louisville Slugger is a baseball bat. At it's peak production they were turning out over fifteen million per year. Now that little leagues, high schools, colleges and recreational leagues have switched to aluminum bats the production is down to around two million bats. It is still the most popular bat in professional baseball with about 60% of all the players using them.
Louisville has also done a very nice job developing it's waterfront area along the Ohio River. This was a 20 year project that has turned this area into parks and trails. They have even taken an old railroad bridge called the Big Four Bridge and turned it into a "walkers bridge". We enjoyed strolling along the waterfront and took the bridge across the river. So yes, we can proudly say that we walked from Kentucky to Indiana!
http://www.10best.com/destinations/kentucky/Louisville
https://www.sluggermuseum.com
https://louisvillewaterfront.com/explore-the-park/features/big-4-bridge
After enjoying most of the day in Louisville we drove a couple of hours to Cumberland Falls State Park. This park is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest along side the Cumberland River. The falls are pretty impressive. At it's highest point the falls are 68 feet and the river ranges in width from around 120 feet up to 300 feet at flood stage. Not near as big as Niagara Falls but big enough to be know as the Niagara Falls of the South.
http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/cumberland-falls
Unbeknownst to us, at the state park they have a bluegrass/gospel music "jam session" twice a month and we were fortunate enough to be there for it. There were a bunch of local pickers playing in three different areas of the lodge. Good stuff to listen to at the end of a fun day.
Yesterday (Tuesday) was hiking day. We did a nice hike at the state park before heading over to Cumberland Gap National Park for a little more hiking. Our long hike here took us from the pinnacle of Cumberland Gap to Fort McCook. Now you may not know it but Beth's maiden name is McCook. Family members had shared stories of the "Fighting McCook's of Ohio" from the civil war days. We were excited to see it. The bad news is that there wasn't a true fort at the site. It was more of a fortress for cannons. We did confirm the fort was named after a General McCook from Ohio so I think we were looking at some of Beth's families legacy!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_McCooks
Today is a work day for me. I'm really looking forward to visiting our hospital in Manchester, Kentucky. I've heard so many great things about the work they are doing in an area where there is so much need. I'm excited about meeting members of the team as well as hearing and seeing about their mission.
We really haven't explored this area before but we were both quite impressed. Not sure when we'll be back but there is plenty more to see and do!
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| Feasting at The Fish Farm |
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| These boys can flat out eat! |
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| Thanks Debbie! I always appreciate a good hammock! |
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| The Big Four Bridge |
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| On the Big Four Bridge. They even had classical music playing along the main span! |
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| Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. The large bat is a replica of Babe Ruth's bat. |
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| Me & Harlan. We stuck our head in the small but interesting museum in Corbin, Ky. where he had his first store. |
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| Cumberland Falls State Park |
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| The Falls |
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| Beth is standing in Virginia and I'm in Kentucky-Cumberland Gap National Park |
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| Where it all started in Corbin, Kentucky |
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| Cumberland Gap National Park |
