Claiborne Farms

Friday we toured Claiborne Horse Farm in Paris, Kentucky. This farm is over 100 years old and belongs to the Hancock family. There are over 3000 acres, 97 miles of fence and 50 plus buildings. Our guide, a groom at the farm, was terrific. It was awesome being at such a special place.

Top picture shows Secretariat's paddock.

Blame

War Front

Orb, Derby winner 2013

Cemetery at Claiborne Farms

Arthur B. "Bud" Hancock always said, "Doing the usual, unusually well."

So true, Bud.

The Greatest

Louisville is home to Muhammad Ali. Here we visited the center bearing his name. 

Growing up, I can remember seeing him on TV and listening to him talk and talk about being the Heavyweight Champion of the World.  Who hasn't heard:  Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

I also remember seeing him carry the torch for the Olympics in Atlanta, even though Parkinsons Disease had a strong hold on him by then.

What I didn't remember or maybe I didn't know, was how generous he was. I didn't know he gave so much back to others, especially the sick and the poor or underprivileged.

I also found out there are some amazing quotes attributed to Muhammad Ali.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Connection with another person starts with a gift as small as smile.

Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth.

I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks, will accomplish  nothing in life.

What you're thinking is what you're becoming.

Of course the educator in me, thought these would be great goals for students. I could see them plastered around my classroom as guides for developing character.

There was another quote painted on the wall that I loved, although I'm not sure if it was attributed to Ali or not. But with all the craziness going on in this country, I thought it was a perfect reminder for everyone.

Respect grows within us. We earn and exchange it with those we meet. Respect thrives in an atmosphere of equality and withers in the presence of discrimination.

Torch he carried for Atlanta Olympics, robe given to Ali by Elvis, other photos from the Center.

Some of my favorite thoughts from the walls of the Muhammad Ali Center.  Good thoughts to live by.

Here is Ali's boyhood home.

Muhammad Ali...the Greatest

Oddities Around Louisville

Just a few oddities from around town.

Downtown you'll find red penguins perched on the top of a building and this huge gold David, as well as this chess piece and this guy sitting on a bench. Not sure who he is though.

Louisville is the home of 2 ladies who invented the Happy Birthday song. As you can read on the plaque, one of them was a kindergarten teacher. That doesn't surprise me, since I know a lot of early childhood teachers (Paula Allen and Wendy Rathgeber) who use songs to teach, just as I did. I also know a former 4th grade teacher (Amy Ellington) who used singing in the classroom to help kids learn.

 Below you see a huge vampire bat hanging outside a store called Caufields Novelties, a large troll outside a bar downtown, the facade of a mansion from the 19th century and giant clasping hands.

Kentucky is, of course, the home of Colonel Sanders. In the collage below, you see his trademark white suit, a life-size Colonel, his gravesite and a pressure cooker similar to the one he experimented with to create his fried chicken.

There was also a temporary Ripley's display at the Louisville Slugger Museum.

A toast to archangel Michael made with 450 pieces of burnt toast.

Portrait of Tom Cruise painted with ketchup and mustard.

Replica of Yankee Stadium made with 125,000 toothpicks.

Dress made entirely of licorice.

Portrait of Jennifer Lawrence made from peanuts.

Just like any big city, there are some interesting things hanging out in Louisville.

The Louisville Slugger

While in Louisville, I visited the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

The first professional baseball bat was made by Bud Hillerich in 1884 for Pete Browning. Pete Browning played for the Louisville Eclipse and was known as the Louisville Slugger. Later this is where the company name would come from. In the photo below (top center) you can see the bat Browning used.

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the factory tour but here are a few interesting things I learned.

It is not a very big factory.

They were making bats for Jason Heyward of the Cubs the day I was there.

It takes 30 minutes to hand carve a bat. They don't do this anymore of course except to show us on the tour. 

Each year 40,000 Northern White Ash and Maple trees supply logs for bats. The ideal trees are 80 years old.

Only 10% of the logs are high quality enough for major league bats, so the rest are used for minor league bats, recreational bats and mini bats.

Each day the factory turns out 2,000-5,000 wooden bats plus 4,000-5,000 mini bats.

Big league players order 100-120 bats each season, with unique specifications for each player. About 70% of players use maple bats because it is a very hard wood.

Louisville Slugger Factory produces 1.8 million bats each year including mini bats.

The big bat standing outside the museum (pictured above) is 120 feet tall and weighs 68,000 pounds.  It is hollow but could hold 30,000 gallons of water.  It is an exact scale replica of Babe Ruth's bat. The signature belongs to Bud Hillerich, who made the first bat in 1884.

The big glove was sculpted from a 60,000 pound slab of Kentucky limestone in 16 months. The glove weighs 34,000 pounds, and is 12 feet long, 9 feet wide and 4 feet high.

At the end of the tour you are given a Louisville Slugger mini bat.

I am not a huge baseball fan but I enjoyed this place. If you love baseball, put this on your bucket list.

Horse Racing Heaven

Today we visited Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville.  Before I go on...I know we are here at the wrong time but trust me, we WILL be back in May (some year) for the official Derby Day. I love the time of year we get to watch the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes and the chance at a Triple Crown winner.  It is my most favorite of sporting events. So you know today was one of the highlights of our travel so far.  Here are pictures from the visit.

Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY

Hats, Hats, and more hats

Churchill Downs

American Pharoah trophies 

Trying a mint julep; me winning Derby trivia against LW; Bill Shoemaker's outfit-look at his size; our "bets" for a race-LW won $0 I won $13.20.  No real money, just for fun.

Golf & Football

We stopped by the Jack Nicklaus Museum on the Ohio State campus in Columbus on Friday.

Saturday we drove to Bloomington, Indiana to the Husker game.

Sunday we are headed to Louisville, Kentucky for a week.

Long Live Rock n Roll

After getting back from a week in LA, we headed to Cleveland to get our rock on.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but upon arrival at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I was surprised by the design of the building. The shape was interesting. And it had multiple levels accessed by escalators.

Here are the highlights of our visit. You could spend an entire day here.

Some of my favorite Beatles things on display.

A few of the Michael Jackson items.

Top to bottom, left to right: Taylor Swift dress, Lady Gaga outfit, hotel keys collected by one of the bassists for the Eagles, boots woren by Alice Cooper,  Ray Charles funeral program, picture of Madonna

Hall of fame inductee signstures

A jukebox given to Elvis.  All songs on the Playlist are Elvis songs.

Part of a display on Johnny Cash. They were busy adding more memorabilia.

Being here made me think of several different friends who really love music. If you love music, especially rock and roll, and you haven't been here, add it to your bucket list. It's worth the stop.