And They're Off...

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As we drove through Ohio on our way to Louisville, there was one place we had to stop for Grandpa Linscott: White Castle. Cody had never been there before, so we decided to give it a go. We ate our burgers as we drove from Columbus to Cincinnati. When we first drove in to Louisville, we (of course) got lost and headed west to Indiana. We finally got turned around, and found a spot to sleep for the night. The next morning we headed back in to town, where our first stop was to the Louisville Slugger Factory in downtown. The factory was really neat; out front is a huge 120 foot tall, 9 foot diameter baseball bat. In the front lobby is a huge 20 foot baseball glove. We weren't allowed to take any pictures in the factory, in case we were spies sent by Rawlings. At the entrance to the tour, they have the world's largest bat mobile hanging from the ceiling (their own little joke). The tour itself is really neat. We got to see them make trees into blanks for the bats, wooden cylinders 50 inches or so long. They take these blanks and run them on the lathe, making them into the basic shape of the bat. The bats are then smoothed and hand finished by workers. The bats are then sent to be painted, where they are dipped and then hung to dry. At the end of the tour, they gave us mini bats! We then were able to tour the baseball museum, where we learned a bunch about the history of the Louisville Slugger company and their connection with Major League Baseball.

After we were done with the factory, we drove over to Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is run. We didn't go inside, because they wanted $10 a person, but we did get pictures of the outside. I was totally surprised at how huge it was. It was also really pretty. We left Louisville and headed east through Kentucky and Tennessee towards the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Photos

White Castle
On the way down to Louisville we stopped and got White Castle, just for you Grandpa L!

Louisville Slugger
Louisville Slugger Factory

Louisville Slugger
Cody in front of the GIANT baseball bat at the entrance to the slugger factory. This monster is 120 feet tall!

Louisville Slugger
About the big bat.

Louisville Slugger
That is a HUGE bat!

Louisville Slugger
There is this huge glove in the middle of the entrance to the Louisville Slugger factory. Nickey was going to crawl into the pocket and take a nap.

Louisville Slugger
The largest bat mobile in the world. He he, get it?

Louisville Slugger
A tricky bat design. The bent handle was designed that way on purpose, in order to increase the torque of a swing.

Louisville Slugger
A bat with a counter-balance on the handle.

Louisville Slugger
I guess it's hard to tell here, but this is a softball bat...and it's triangular.

Louisville Slugger
Babe Ruth's bat from the 1927 season. Notice around the Louisville Slugger oval in the middle, the Babe made a notch for all 21 homeruns made with this bat until it broke.

Louisville Slugger
A swinging dairy churn, which is what the Louisville Slugger founder did before making bats.

Louisville Slugger
The explanation of the Presidential exhibit.

Louisville Slugger
Teddy Roosevelt's baseball.

Louisville Slugger
In the presidential museum, they had balls thrown as first pitches and signed by most of the presidents since Teddy Roosevelt. Here they are trying to figure out who will be the 44th president.

Louisville Slugger
Even the tree planters around the Slugger factory were shaped like home plate!

Churchill Downs
Entrance sign.

Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs
More Downs

Churchill Downs
More Downs