Today was all about horses again. This time we visited Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville. It was less than an hour drive from where we are staying in Frankfort and the weather was spectacular.
We also learned today that our OnStar system is not as perfect as we thought. We arrived in good order, but the trip home was, well, difficult. We’ll get to that later.
We arrived at the Kentucky Derby Museum about 12:30 p.m., which turned out to be darned near perfect timing as we basically walked into the 360-degree movie presentation of “The Greatest Race.”
Immediately after the movie, about 1:30 p.m. there was a walking tour of the Kentucky Derby paddock area, the grandstands and along the famous track. After that we had two hours to tour the museum and take in the many exhibits there.
I passed on getting on the jockey scale to see if I could “make the weight” for a race as I was afraid of being thrown out of the museum for breaking it. There were films of every Derby race in the modern era and many other interesting tidbits and facts about raising and racing horses.
About 2:30 p.m. we had a case of the “hungrys” so we went to the Museum café where we had a great Chef’s Salad and Joan sampled a “Mint Julep” in a commemorative glass for $10. Seemed a little pricy, but we were assured the cost is the same on Derby day.
Also got a "look" at the new Barbaro exhibit that will be unveiled in a couple weeks in time for the Kentucky Derby. Barbaro, if you recall, is the horse that broke its leg a couple weeks after winning the 2006 Kentucky Derby. The horse is (or will be) buried under the monument, which at this time is still under wraps (photo).
Other photos included here are photos of the famous twin spires, a photo of Joan by the model of last year's winner - Big Brown - and painting a preparations at the Winner's Circle for the 2009 race.
The museum, movie and tour were well worth the $11 admission price (senior discount) and well worth the time.
So at 4:30 p.m. we dialed up OnStar and asked them to give us a route home. When we came to one of the spots where we were supposed to turn, traffic was so heavy we could not change lanes to get to the turnoff and so we re-dialed OnStar for an alternative route.
We were told the computer would not provide one, but the OnStar representative tried to talk us through a new route, but every time he would give us new directions we had already passed the turn he was suggesting.
Having been through this area five times during my trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I told the OnStar guy, “thanks, but no thanks,” and decided to wing it on my own. I used my Navy sense of directions to find an alternate route back to I-64 and we arrived back at the t
railer about 6:05 p.m.
We took a leisurely walk around the RV park and admired all the beautiful rigs to see how the other half lives on the road. We’ve learned a lot on this first trip and hopefully we will apply that to our longer adventures in the future.
The bathrooms and showers at this facility are far superior to our first camp and one of the things we have learned is that the web site pictures of a RV park can be a little deceptive. Except for the costs of sightseeing and gas, by eating in for breakfast and dinner our costs are not much more than at home.
On the way back from Louisville I spotted another one of those “Owl” restaurants, but Joan is convinced that the restaurant name – Hooters – has nothing to do with the bird.
Earlier this evening we heard a couple of competing woodpeckers in a tree near our trailer, but never actually got a glimpse of them.
Tomorrow there may be a casino in our travels and a stop at Daniel Boone’s “alleged” Kentucky grave. I’ll explain more tomorrow.
Sadly, the vacation comes to an end Saturday when it’s time to head home. We’re coming home a day early for a couple reasons. First and foremost we want to be with our church family for Easter Sunday service, but we also believe the traffic will be a little lighter on Saturday, which will be less hectic on the driver – me.
So far ever time we’ve moved the trailer the wind has been blowing at gale force, which has not helped in making the driving pleasant.
We also learned today that our OnStar system is not as perfect as we thought. We arrived in good order, but the trip home was, well, difficult. We’ll get to that later.
We arrived at the Kentucky Derby Museum about 12:30 p.m., which turned out to be darned near perfect timing as we basically walked into the 360-degree movie presentation of “The Greatest Race.”
Immediately after the movie, about 1:30 p.m. there was a walking tour of the Kentucky Derby paddock area, the grandstands and along the famous track. After that we had two hours to tour the museum and take in the many exhibits there.
I passed on getting on the jockey scale to see if I could “make the weight” for a race as I was afraid of being thrown out of the museum for breaking it. There were films of every Derby race in the modern era and many other interesting tidbits and facts about raising and racing horses.
About 2:30 p.m. we had a case of the “hungrys” so we went to the Museum café where we had a great Chef’s Salad and Joan sampled a “Mint Julep” in a commemorative glass for $10. Seemed a little pricy, but we were assured the cost is the same on Derby day.
Also got a "look" at the new Barbaro exhibit that will be unveiled in a couple weeks in time for the Kentucky Derby. Barbaro, if you recall, is the horse that broke its leg a couple weeks after winning the 2006 Kentucky Derby. The horse is (or will be) buried under the monument, which at this time is still under wraps (photo).
Other photos included here are photos of the famous twin spires, a photo of Joan by the model of last year's winner - Big Brown - and painting a preparations at the Winner's Circle for the 2009 race.
The museum, movie and tour were well worth the $11 admission price (senior discount) and well worth the time.
So at 4:30 p.m. we dialed up OnStar and asked them to give us a route home. When we came to one of the spots where we were supposed to turn, traffic was so heavy we could not change lanes to get to the turnoff and so we re-dialed OnStar for an alternative route.
We were told the computer would not provide one, but the OnStar representative tried to talk us through a new route, but every time he would give us new directions we had already passed the turn he was suggesting.
Having been through this area five times during my trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I told the OnStar guy, “thanks, but no thanks,” and decided to wing it on my own. I used my Navy sense of directions to find an alternate route back to I-64 and we arrived back at the t
railer about 6:05 p.m.We took a leisurely walk around the RV park and admired all the beautiful rigs to see how the other half lives on the road. We’ve learned a lot on this first trip and hopefully we will apply that to our longer adventures in the future.
The bathrooms and showers at this facility are far superior to our first camp and one of the things we have learned is that the web site pictures of a RV park can be a little deceptive. Except for the costs of sightseeing and gas, by eating in for breakfast and dinner our costs are not much more than at home.
On the way back from Louisville I spotted another one of those “Owl” restaurants, but Joan is convinced that the restaurant name – Hooters – has nothing to do with the bird.
Earlier this evening we heard a couple of competing woodpeckers in a tree near our trailer, but never actually got a glimpse of them.
Tomorrow there may be a casino in our travels and a stop at Daniel Boone’s “alleged” Kentucky grave. I’ll explain more tomorrow.
Sadly, the vacation comes to an end Saturday when it’s time to head home. We’re coming home a day early for a couple reasons. First and foremost we want to be with our church family for Easter Sunday service, but we also believe the traffic will be a little lighter on Saturday, which will be less hectic on the driver – me.
So far ever time we’ve moved the trailer the wind has been blowing at gale force, which has not helped in making the driving pleasant.
i think mom named me so that my initials would be the last two letters of julep. I'm pretty jealous about the julep.
ReplyDeleteep
We miss you! Hopefully someday you can come with us on one of these adventures.
ReplyDeleteHi Dad. Son
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