Louisville, KY

After checking into our hotel, we set off on foot to explore.  We found that our hotel was on a min strip right in the center of where we wanted to be.  We were withing walking distance off all of the popular museums and tourist sights to include the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum, the Children's Science Center, the Muhammad Ali Center and Fourth Street Live.

All along the road, there are replicas of the bats used by famous major leaguers.  We had to sett off to find the one for Cal Ripkin, our hometown hero.

 And, we found it

 

 

 Fourth Street Live was just a few blocks up the road.  The city has closed off the street to vehicle traffic and erected a roof over the entire block.  The effect is that it is now one big outdoor mall, flanked by buildings housing restaurants and retail.  We didn't spend any time there at all, as out goal at the time was to find the CVS and get a few provisions.  It would be nice to get back there when we could see what it is like in the evening.

We were getting hungry so I asked the kids what we wanted for dinner.  We were in Kentucky so, of course, the kids wanted Kentucky Fried Chicken fro dinner!  I pulled out my handy dandy smart phone and searched for the nearest KFC to our Louisville Kentucky hotel.  The nearest KFC was in Indiana.

OK, I know that Indiana was not fr away but somehow, I could not bring myself to leave Kentucky to go to a KFC in Indiana.  We settled for Pizza Hut instead.

On Sunday, we set off for our sightseeing with our primary destination being the Children's Science Museum

There is a shuttle which is free and runs up and down the main strip but, alas, it does not run on Sunday.  It was not a hateful walk but it was a little chilly despite the sunny day and we had not brought a stroller on this trip.  The kids whimpered a little bit but we made it to our destination.

The Louisville Slugger factory and museum was right across from the Science Museum so, after the kids started exploring the center, I snuck across the street for a couple of pictures and to check out the museum.  I think it would be a great way to spend the day if your party consisted only of adults or even older children but I knew that mine would not be interested enough to last through the walking tour of the factory.

The kids split up so I didn't get a lot of pictures but here is Lil' Bit building a structure which she would shortly  test out in a simulated earthquake.

 

 

The kids had a lot of fun at he museum and rated the experience as high on their list.  We stayed there a few hours, taking a break to grab lunch at the Subway next door.

 

After we got out money's worth and the kids saw everything they wanted to see, we set off on foot to head back to our hotel.  Big Boy was rather excited to stumble upon the Louisville Cardinal's team but and then was even more excited a little bit later when the Harlem Globetrotters bus went by.

 

And, we could not resist stopping i to say "Hi" to Colonel Sanders... even though he did not have a restaurant nearby.

Big Boy made a new friend

 

 







Louisville, KY

Or should I say Loovall, Kentucky?  After checking out Indiana, we headed toward out hotel on the river in Louisville.  We were staying at the Gault House Hotel which we had booked for a very reasonable rate through Priceline.  As we wandered through the city looking for our hotel we ran into a giant mass of pedestrians all donning red shirts.  They were clearly headed toward a large event and obviously had to park quite far away and walk.

Well, remember how my husband sent us to Louisville to avoid the sports crowds in New England that weekend...?  It turns out that our hotel was right next door tot he  KFC Yum Center which was the location of the huge Syracuse Orange, vs. Louisville Cardinals basketball game.  The place was crazy.  And here we were arriving just prior to game time.

The hotel has a parking garage which is open to the public and was filled with basketball fans.  We managed to find a place to park and headed to check in.

At the front desk we were confronted with the sad news (sarcasm) that our normal sized room was not available and we would have to be upgraded to a suite.  Not bad for a priceline room in the $50 range.

This is the view from the doorway, past the pull out sofa bed and into the hallway leading toward the bath and bedroom.

The little kitchenette

 

 

I think I measured the bathroom out at something like 600 square feet.  It was much larger than my bathroom at home.

 



 Our direct view of the Yum Center

View of the river taken from elsewhere in the hotel.

Exercise center (extra fee required) with a panoramic view of the entire city

 

Exterior of the hotel and breezeway tot he second building of the hotel.

Louisville KY and Clarksville, IN Jan 19-20

We were trying to figure out where to go and I was playing around with our airline website looking for flights when my husband reminded me not to go anywhere near New England as it would be crowded with football fans in town for the playoffs.  Remember this comment, it will be relevant later.

We came up with Louisville, KY as our destination.  Not being able to resist the opportunity to visit two states in one trip, I did a little research and found that we would be incredibly close to Falls of the Ohio State Park, also known as Fossil Park.

Immediately open landing, after picking up our rental car, we headed through Louisville and across the river into Indiana.  We took a very nice hike through the park but never saw anything resembling a fossil.

View of Louisville across the river

 We found a glorious huge hill and the kids took turns rolling down

 

 

It was a beautiful sunny day and the walk in the woods was invigorating after sitting copped up in a plane all morning.  But, our trip to Indiana came to a close after about an hour in the park.  We were ready to find some lunch.

Budget report:  $2 for parking at the park.

I shouldn't get this excited about luggage....

I have a luggage fetish.  I'll admit it.  I have bags of all shapes and sizes but I am continuously in search of a better bag.  So, today, instead of catching up on my much overdue blog posts, I spent a little time shopping online.  And, I may have found my next perfect bag.

Fist off, I was looking for a travel item other than a bag.  I was looking for a wall charger with USB ports instead of outlets.  I found several but after reading a lot of negative reviews, I was not happy.  I ended up picking one with the least negative things said about it.  When we travel, we, of course, take along a lot of chargers.  I have slowly built up quite a collection of chargers with USB on one end and then several wall adapters with a USB port.  But it is still a lot to carry around.  With this little gizmo, I can leave four of the wall adapters at home and just use one.  I'll have to wait and see if I will end up being one of hte happy reviewers or one of the sad ones.

I will pass on one important thing I learned from my research on multi port USB wall adapters:  Pay careful attention to the amps for each port.  Most of the ones I found indicated that they put out 2 amps but when you read the fine print, you realize that they put out .5 amps for each port when all four ports are in use.  This results in a slow of non-existent charge.

Now, on to exciting things... new luggage.   My new favorite carry on is a hard sided spinner case which my mother gave me for Christmas.  Once you go spinner, you never go back.  Spinners are awesome... but expensive. 

I love to travel as hands free as possible and we do a lot of "carry on only" travel.  So, me most frequently used bag is a small tote with a shoulder strap and a strap on the back which allows it to be placed over the extending handle of my spinner case.  If you go in search of one of these bags in the stores, you will discover that they are only sold as an item in a set of two to three nesting suitcases.  Or, if you venture out of the bargain aisles (Walmart, Kmart and Target) and into the Samsonite outlet store near me, You will learn that you can purchase one of the bags alone but for a very hefty price tag.  In the long run, it would be cheaper for me to but the two piece set from Walmart and throw the suitcase part away (not that I would ever do that).  But, since I am on the second one so far and have discovered that they are.. well... walmart quality,  I don't know how long that plan would be profitable.

The bag I am currently using is a great size, holding all of my in-flight entertainment essentials yet still fitting nicely under the seat for easy access.

I am really hoping the new tote I found lives up to expectations of being roomy, yet small while at the same time, durable.

In other news:  for those who are watching the interactive map t the right, yo will note that we have finally filled in West Virginia!!  And we had a lot of fun doing it.  Of course, I am trying to keep our trips in order and I am several behind but if you sty tuned you will hear of our ghostly visit to Harpers Ferry.

Spring Break Plans

I seem to have taken a little break from blogging but have no fear I will catch up.  I have been trying to feed my other blog regularly while not falling behind at home.

What a teaser blog title,  Spring Break Plans.   Now everyone is waiting with baited breath for my huge announcement about our exciting spring break travel plans.  Well, we don't have any.  The kids are off for a half day today and I was scheduled to complete my annual handgun qualification at the range this afternoon.  This thankfully got canceled due to weather because now we are headed to visit my mother in the hospital (or home if she is released today).  Thursday, the kids are of but I am working and Friday, the kids are off but I received a memo saying that I had mandatory diversity training in the afternoon.  Saturday, we are headed to Thurmont, MD for my niece's first birthday party (stay tuned, this is where travel plans may come in).  Sunday is, of course, Easter but we have not heard of any big family gathering being planned and, frankly, we live too far way from everyone to offer to host one ourselves (plus, my husband has to work).  This leaves us Sunday through Tuesday to do something and I am considering trying to pull a trip together. 

My husband wants to take Big Boy to Florida for the Orioles opening day baseball game.  It would be a one or two day trip.  The game is on Tuesday but I think I talked hi into going Monday as well just to make it more of an event.  The boys need some male bonding time.  He is having trouble finding an empty flight so they may just go to Ocean City, MD instead.

So, my possible travel plans are:

After the birthday party in Thurmont, the kids and I can drive another 45 minutes and spend the night in Harper's Ferry, WV.  The kids can visit some historical buildings and then climb around on the rocks at the river's edge while I close my eyes tightly so as not to witness them falling in and being swept away.

And/or, we can try to find somewhere new to visit on Monday and Tuesday.  This will be a challenge because these will be peak travel days and finding an empty flight* will be hard.  This would mean the boys would not have their guys' time away but we could always drag my husband along.

*just a point of clarification.  When I refer to an "empty flight" I mean one with enough empty seats still available so enhance our chances of getting on the flight.