Living it up in Louisville

Kentucky is the smallest state we've lived in, but we still haven't explored much beyond Lexington, so we recently traveled to Louisville. The drive was only an hour from our house to the hotel in downtown Louisville.

We arrived in time for lunch and walked to an area called 4th Street Live, where there are many restaurants, clubs and shops. Part of the street is blocked off to vehicle traffic, so it's easy to walk around.

Our view at lunch of the 4th Street Live area.

We ate at the Red Star Tavern for lunch, and it was very good. We were among the only two or three groups of people dining, but they told us it gets very crowded at night. We returned to the area that night but soon realized the place turns into a very loud, crowded and smoky area for adults over 21. Ten years ago that might have been fun but probably not. :)

The world's largest bat outside the entrance to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Of course we went on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, but we found refuge in the Louisville Slugger Museum. I am not a baseball fan, so I didn't know a lot of the players whose statues and photos are there, but it was interesting to see how they make baseball bats all the way from a tree to the finished bat. Admission is only $10 for adults, $5 for children and free for kids 5 and under. At the end of the 30-minute tour, everyone receives a small Louisville Slugger bat.

I don't think Cash will break any batting averages any time soon. He tried to bite the souvenir bat and then went back to sleep.

On Sunday, we drove over one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio River, and on the other side is Indiana.

On the Kentucky side, there is a riverfront park with 7 miles of walking trails, and several playgrounds. There is an amphitheater and an area where vendors can set up booths for events and festivals.

Our hotel room at the SpringHill Suites in downtown was very nice. We noticed our room had the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.

We paid less than $100 for our room, but on the back of the door, the hotel lists the maximum amount it can charge for a room. Any guesses? Remember, Louisville is home to the annual Kentucky Derby that brings in thousands of rich visitors the first weekend in May.

Speaking of the derby, we drove by Churchill Downs but decided to wait until our next trip to do the outside walking tour because it was too hot.

We have a rule while traveling that we will only eat at local restaurants and no chains, but we broke that rule to eat at Macaroni Grill on the way home since we don't have one in Lexington, and it's one of our favorite places. It was delicious.

Also on the way home, we stopped halfway in Frankfort, Lexington's capitol. We've never lived this close (30 miles) to the capitol in any state. We drove around the capitol building and Governor Steve Beshear's mansion.

A clock made out of flowers is across the street from the capitol building.

Here is a scenic view of the capitol we drove by in Frankfort.

We had a great trip, and it was nice to get away for a short excursion since David starts dental school today. I'm sure we'll make more visits to Louisville during our fours years here, and we also want to travel to other parts of the state and visit Cincinnati.