He Said, She Said: Louisville, Kentucky

HE SAID:

After yet another long drive (I know, it's getting old), we finally made it to Louisville. Because of the credit card incident back in Santa Fe, Des asked the CC company to send a replacement card out to Louisville, to a friends house. As Des says, it was not a big stop on our way originally, but because of this we had to make it a major stopping point on the trip, and it turned out to be a really good thing. The card was mailed to my mom's boss' mom's house (try to follow that one!) and that's where we headed to pick it up. The ladys name is Frances and she is one of the main reasons that Kentucky was such a cool place on our tour.

We got there around 8 PM and she made us our first home made dinner on the road trip so far, and even put us up for the night (talk about southern hospitality!). The next day, she took us to this really cool breakfast place and afterwards she drove us around town to show us some cool houses and the venue where her daughter got married. Louisville would definitely not have been the same without her, and if you're reading this, thank you so much for everything Frances!

After we said goodbye to Frances, we headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum (we're in Louisville, how can we not?) and Des bought a specially engraved bat for her dad for fathers day. Once we left the museum, it was off to Churchhill Downs (again, how can you not when you're in Kentucky?) to go watch some horse racing. It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately we could not stay long as we still had to drive to Indianapolis and start heading towards Ohio.

A Patriots fan in Colt's country, this should be interesting.....

SHE SAID:
We finally made it to Kentucky. After losing my credit card in Santa Fe, we decided to have a new one shipped to a Mario's mom's friend in Louisville. It wasn't really a major stopping point for us before that. However, we knew the card would be safe until we could get there and pick it up. This little twist of fate happened to be one of the best parts of our trip for me. It was in the great city of Louisville that we got to meet Frances- our angel. She made us our first home cooked meal in weeks, she gave us a place to rest, and she became our personal tourguide of the city. I think it is because of Frances that Louisville has gained a place in my heart.

Because we stopped in Nashville, we didn't actually get to Frances' until around 8. very excited for our first home-cooked meal in awhile. We had hot dogs, salad, coleslaw, potato salad, watermelon, and berry ice cream. YUMMMMYYYY!!! After dinner, we walked around her neighborhood enjoying the nice weather and fireflies. It was so great to be in a safe residential neighborhood. The houses had so much Southern character!

The next day we went out to breakfast and took a tour of town. Frances took us to Lynn's Paradise Cafe. That place was crazy. So much color and personality. I guess there is an ugly lamp contest every year at the Kentucky State Fair. There are the most random lamps scattered around the restaurant, along with a huge map to mark where you came from. Really fun! Turns out it was even featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

From here, Frances drove us around to show us a little bit of her history and what the city is known for. We went to the most beautiful cemetary. I guess people actually hang out there on the weekends and take their kids to feed the ducks. Its like their version of a park with a pond. Nevermind the huge headstones scattered around. We also saw where Frances' daughter was married. It is a huge estate in the middle of the Presbyterian Seminary. So beautiful!! If we ever moved here, this is where I'd want to work. It would be a pleasure walking through the rose gardens every day selling the venue to couples in love.

Eventually we had to leave Frances to head to the Slugger Museum. We happened to leave for our road trip right before my dad's birthday and father's day. I thought there would be nothing better to send home than his own personalized bat. They were pretty cool. I hope he hangs it up in his sports room.

Last but not least, we had to go to Churchhill Downs before heading out. My good friend Randel had told me all about going to the Derby and drinking mint juleps. It sounded like so much fun. We had planned to just visit the museum and be on our way. However, when we pulled into the parking lot, the attendant offered us box seats in the shade for $5 each. It seemed too good to pass up. Neither of us had ever been to the horse races, so we decided to check it out. I had soooo much fun. I'm not really a big gambler. So, we didn't do much betting. But it was really fun to drink mint juleps with a big hat on and cheer on the horses. I would definitely go back.