The Bricktown area of Oklahoma City is a rehabilitated area near downtown. It has many upscale shops and restaurants, and a minor league baseball stadium.Statue of New York Yankees baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, an Oklahoma native.Statue of Cincinnati baseball Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, another Oklahoma native. He is still considered by many (including me) to be the greatest catcher in baseball history.Statue of baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, another Oklahoma native. He is the all-time leader in wins by a lefthander in baseball history, pitching mainly for the Braves.Statue of Jim Thorpe, considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, is also from Oklahoma.There are horse-drawn carriages rolling throughout Bricktown, with neon lights!Mickey Mantles restaurant.
This was a pretty neat museum in downtown Louisville KY. This the the Hillerich & Bradsby baseball bat factory. They produce baseball bats! Many pro baseball players help design their own bats for this company to produce. Their story is very interesting.All of the wood for the bats come from the region along the Pennsylvania-New York border. The wood from the trees is cut into “billets”… …which are then cut into baseball bats using this special lathe, which spins at 50,000 rotations per minute! It was amazing to watch this machine do its work. Here, it has already cut the handle and is spinning toward the barrel of the bat. This machine is used to make all the bats for the major league baseball players.This lathe, called “Hempel tracer lathe”, is used to cut all other bats for “normal” people.This machine takes each bat and cuts off the knob from the barrel, stamps the bat’s length, sands the end of the barrel, and airbrushes the bat to clean off dust particles.Many bats at various stages of completion.Cool three-legged stool.The museum part has some neat statues. Here is their newest, Roberto Clemente.Jackie RobinsonTed WilliamsDerek JeterBabe RuthMajor Leaguer Pete Browning used this bat in 1887. His nickname was the “Louisville Slugger”, for whom the bat is now named.Babe Ruth’s bat. The story of this bat is pretty cool…Jersey and bat used by Honus Wagner in 1915.Joe DiMaggio used this bat during his 56 game hitting streak in 1941.Hank Aaron used this bat to hit his 700th career home run.Hillerich & Bradsby made this special chair to honor Hank Aaron becoming the all-time home run king.They call this the Fort Knox of Louisville Slugger. It contains over 3000 different bats created by the players who used them, including many of the greats of the game, like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, et. al. It also holds their signature plates and bat patterns.After you tour the factory you get a free miniature bat souvenir. Of course I had to pose in front of the big bat! The big bat is an exact scale model of Babe Ruth’s bat from the 1920s. The model is 120 feet high, with a 9-foot diameter, and weighs 68,000 pounds. It is made of carbon steel.
We toured this historic distillery in Bardstown. In my younger days I enjoyed my bourbon. It was neat to see how it is made and stored. Kentucky is located above a large system of limestone caves. It is the water filtered through the limestone that makes Kentucky Bourbon special. Kentucky produces 95% of the bourbon in the world!This warehouse is one of 29 warehouses to store and age their bourbon. All of their warehouses are seven stories tall, and hold up to 22,000 barrels.Each barrel contains 53 gallons of bourbon. During the aging process, over seven to ten years half of the liquid evaporates, so the barrels are only half full. They pay taxes on 53 gallons the whole time from year 1 until the end, 10 or more years!Here’s an idea of how large this warehouse is.The clear liquid coming from the pipe into the cube and then into the copper barrel is 140 proof. The tour guide opened a spigot so we could get a handful of the liquid to taste. It was pretty sweet, since it is mostly sugar at this stage. She then had us rub the liquid into our hands, and it was an amazing skin softener! My hands were still very soft and smooth the next day!
Lexington KY
Calumet Farm in Lexington is a world famous thoroughbred horse farm. This farm has produced 8 Kentucky Derby winners, including two Triple Crown winners – Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948.Calumet Farm, very scenic.The Kentucky Castle, a large and expensive resort in Lexington. We were driving into Lexington and this just appeared on the left. It was stunning.Secretariat statue. Beautiful detail.The house where Mary Todd grew up. She later married Abraham Lincoln.Rupp Arena, home of University of Kentucky Wildcats basketballThoroughbred ParkStatues of a horse race. Usually there are a number of water fountains spraying next to the wall, but it was drained when we visited.Pretty cool view of the horses coming right at you.Whoa!Ashland, home of Henry Clay. Clay was the longest serving Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 19th century, the most influential Senator for many years, and he failed in five runs as presidential candidate for the Whig Party.Monument to the settlers of Fort Boonesborough, about 15 miles southeast of Lexington.The fort is a replica of the fort that Daniel Boone and his men built when they arrived here in 1775. It is now set as a working fort complete with cabins, blockhouses and furnishings, 18th century life skills and period craft demonstrations It was closed when we were there, but I got to at least see it.In West Virginia we passed by Huntington, so we went to see Marshall University.Marshall football stadiumMarshall was featured in a 2006 movie about the 1970 Marshall football team which suffered a devastating loss in a plane crash.This sculpture on the stadium wall honors the memory of the 1970 tragedy. The team was returning from a game at East Carolina University when their plane crashed, killing all 75 people on board, including 37 players, 5 coaches, team booster, doctors, the athletic director and flight crew. The 2006 movie shows how the school and team recovered the next year.
This is the United States Bullion Depository. It stores gold and other precious metal bullion reserves for the United States. It has more than half of all the gold bullion in the US – around $240 billion worth today!
Churchill Downs, Louisville KY
So we toured Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville KYThis is “The Spires”, a national landmark that is the classic view of Churchill DownsStatue of Barbaro, who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, then shattered his leg two weeks later in the Preakness, which led to his death in January 2007. He is buried here.The two drinks most famously connected with the Kentucky Derby are Mint Juleps and Oaks Lilys.There are many wagering windows throughout Churchill Downs. All bets at the Kentucky Derby are required to be CASH. Last year’s Derby saw over $80 million wagered onsite. That means there was at least $80 million in CASH in this location at one time! Wow! Overall worldwide over $200 million is wagered on the Kentucky Derby.More wagering windowsWe learned interesting facts about jockeys. This mural of Kentucky Derby-winning jockeys gives a hint about the progression of jockey demographics. The first jockeys were black…..then they were primarily white most of the early to mid-20th century……and today they are predominantly hispanic. Another interesting jockey story is the weight requirement for jockeys. All the jockey’s gear, including halter, bridle, saddle, stirrups, helmet, glasses and clothing, and the jockey himself, must weigh exactly 126 pounds. Elevators to “The Mansion”. Upon entering the elevator, you are handed a glass of champagne to drink on the ride up six floors. Access to these elevators are exclusively “by-invitation-only”.We took the “Behind the Scenes Tour”, which allowed us to see areas not usually available to the public. This is the entrance to “The Mansion”, a very elegant and exclusive room. To attend the Kentucky Derby in The Mansion, one must be invited by the Board, and then pay somewhere between $10K and $40K.The opulence here is hard to imagine. If you attend the Derby here, there are many food stations, where the food is prepared personally by top-line chefs, such as Bobby Flay! Personal attendants tend to the attendee’s every need – bring the food and drinks, and even taking their bets to the wagering counter in the room!Here we are at the bar.The view from the sixth floor, again only available to exclusive invitees!The track in the background, with the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle on the right.Ground view of the final turnFinish lineThe paddock for 14 to 20 horsesThe horses walk through this hall to get on the track.The Kentucky Derby Museum is a great visit! Upon entering you see this video – pretty cool!The Triple Crown races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont) are known for the outrageous hats and loud outfits worn by the women! The men also dress up, but women’s hats steal the show. These hats were donated to the museum by a Louisville socialite.The museum runs a 360 degree movie that shows the entire track oval. It is the only 360 degree theater in the world with 4K resolution. An 18 minute movie is a really neat story.Kentucky Derby artHorseshoes worn by American Pharaoh, who won the Triple Crown in 2015. Rachel saw him win the Preakness that year!Photo of Secretariat, greatest racehorse of all time. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, and set speed records in each of the three races, that still stand today!! When Secretariat died in 1989, a necropsy was performed, and they discovered his heart was over 20 pounds! The typical thoroughbred’s heart is 7 to 9 pounds!Secretariat displayWagner’s Diner across the street from Churchill Downs. Trainers and owners frequently eat here, but not when we were here. Some of the Secretariat movie was filmed here.This waitress appeared in the Secretariat movie in 2009.
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) Boyhood Home, Louisville KY
Boxer Muhammad Ali grew up in this house on Grand Avenue in Louisville. He was born Cassius Clay, and won an Olympic Gold medal, as well as the Heavyweight champion in boxing three times. One of the most famous athletes in the world in the 20th century.
Jim Beam Stillhouse & Distillery, Clermont KY
The Stillhouse was closed because of the Wuhan Flu, but we were able to look around the Distillery campus.Mr. Jim Beam Warehouse that stores the barrels full of bourbon
Bardstown KY
Within 16 miles of downtown Bardstown there are 11 distilleries!“My Old Kentucky Home” This early 19th century house was the home of the Rowan family. The tour of the house features singing tour guides, who sing the Kentucky State Song, “My Old Kentucky Home”. It was a pretty neat tour – they dressed up the house like they were in mourning for a death in the household, so black bunting draped over the doorways and picture frames, black fabric covered the doorknobs, and all the mirrors were covered in black to prevent the ghost from seeing himself as he left, and deciding to stay in the house! This demonstrated the Victorian traditions in the 19th century.Stephen Foster composed “My Old Kentucky Home”. He also wrote many other popular and well-known songs in the 1800s, including Beautiful Dreamer. Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair, Camptown Races, Gentle Annie, and Oh! Susanna.We stayed here at the Old Talbott Inn, which dates to 1779. It was actually pretty nice!Old Talbott Inn and TavernThe oldest bourbon bar in the world at the Old Talbott Tavern
