LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FACTORY, CHURCHILL DOWNS AND THE PARADISE CAFE

We can go home now, RV says. He's seen the Louisville Slugger Factory, and it was more than he ever imagined. He held Mickey Mantle's and Rod Carew's bat, etc. and I don't EVEN know all the other significant things. Bob really enjoyed seeing the "Ft Knox of Louisville Slugger's on display that were used by so many stars as well as super-stars. They were making Josh Hamilton's bats in the factory. The 24,000 sf museum has interactive displays, exhibits and a film highlighting the history of the company and baseball's greatest hitters. I had been there when I was about 11 years old; however, they still gave me a mini bat. You know if any of these pictures are too small, just click on the one you'd like to see. It is pretty impressive that what used to take 30 minutes to produce one bat, now takes 30 seconds with the use of modern techology.

We continued on to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. A terrible rainstorm last week that brought about 7 inches of rain in about 45 minutes was devastating to the museum and it has been closed until they can repair all the damage to very valuable items that were on exhibit. However, we did get a fantastic tour from a very knowledgeable guide.

The horse in the pictures is Phantom, on permanent exhibit at the track. He is the grandson of Secretariat, also a Derby champion. The horse is at the end of his career and the Foundation will sell them to you if you're serious. No kidding, the prices for the older horses who cannot be bred or raced again, is about $500. Phantom is on exhibit with a miniature horse, just to keep him company. Phantom had just eaten lunch and couldn't hold his eyes open.

If we're going to be in town a couple of days I usually do a little research on places we might enjoy eating. Well, we found a place called Lynn's Paradise Cafe, and I'll have to say it was most enjoyable, most eclectic. The food was very good and you could tell a lot of the students from the University probably enjoyed it as well. There is a long list of celebrities that love to eat here when they are around. If you have time, look them up on the internet. I hope my pictures do it justice. I think we counted about 3 parking lots just for the customers who come to the Paradise Cafe.