WOW! What a day! We began by driving 45 mins through the back roads of Lexington headed for Harrodsburg. There we would enter a whole different world when we stepped back in time. The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill introduced us to a world that seems not even possible by today's standards. The Shakers live much like the Amish but there are several key differences. The first being the very strict rule of celibacy. When one enters the community they vow to refrain or they are required to leave the village. Needless to say many people were asked to leave. Married couples are immediately separated and then made to live as bothers and sisters in Christ. All of the adults live in one main house which is absolutely huge. Its four or five stories high plus a basement, pretty wide and very long. The children may stay in the main house up to a certain age. They are then moved to the children s home where they are raised by elders with all of the other children. The village is now a tourist attraction as well as as Inn with a restaurant. We were able to interact with farm animals, tour the different houses, and have a picnic lunch under an old oak tree. It was a very interesting place to go. My kids even stated what a "cool" place it was to see! It certainly made me appreciative that I was born in the 70's instead of the 1800's. Our Journey continued on to Louisville KY. Our first stop; "The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory!" This was such a neat place. AJ and Adriana grabbed a helmet and a Louisville Slugger and jumped in the batting cages. Its true the bats are magic because my kids were hitting everything that came at them!!!! (of course skill and good genes had something to do with it, LOL) Mickey Mantels bat which could be held wearing white gloves, Babe Ruth's "Darla" laid inched from our hands, and the feel of a 90 mph fast ball speeding at you were just a couple of the highlights. After the museum it was onto the factory tour. I couldn't believe the size of the factory given that it supplies all of the Louisville Slugger bats. It wasn't some huge warehouse, but a small area filled with precision machinery that makes over 1.8 million bats per year. We saw the bats of Ripken, Jeter, Yogi Berra, Thome, and many many more. I have a whole new respect for baseball bats! The amount of work that goes into producing a Louisville Slugger is awesome! We all got to take home a mini souvenir bat after the tour! After all the talk of fast balls we decided to witness another type of speed; the thunder of hooves racing across the finish line. We rushed off to Churchhill downs where we were unbelievably able to go right to the finish line seating to see the last race of the day within three mins of the start of the race. The excitement of Thoroughbred horses breaking from the gate and blowing right past you only a few feet away from your very touch, at Churchhill Downs is tremendous. After our day filled with multiple different types of cultures we decided to add yet one more. A little city flavor was in order. Off we drove headed for "Fourth Street Live!" This area is right down town and only encompasses a couple of city blocks but the energy fills the whole area. There are restaurants galore all with outdoor seating, bars, comedy clubs, entertainment, a food court and more. What made it particularly cool was the glass roof that covered the street so as to almost designate the area. We wandered into the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. The display of guitars, including Alice Coopers Machine Gun fashioned guitar, and other instruments was impressive to say the least. They even had a scavenger hunt for the kids. The service was pure southern hospitality. It was a day memories are made of!
Money Saving Tip: Adults can order 1 appetizer combo and one entree, eat for half the price, get full, and not have to worry about take home boxes. :)
