Clarksville (Louisville) - Day 2Oct 22, 2008
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Louisville Slugger Museum
It was c-c-c-cold today. It is a good thing we both love sweatshirt weather. The sun was out but the breeze is definitely blowing off of something cold and white somewhere. Luckily, it isn't near here.
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We headed out to explore Louisville after the morning commute traffic was gone. I could hear the noise from the freeway during the night. Where is everyone going at three in the morning? I think I only heard one train however.
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We headed across the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge over the Ohio River and down onto Main Street and into the historic area of Louisville. It's been a while since we have seen skyscrapers like there are in downtown Louisville.
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Our first stop was at the Frasier International History Museum. We started our tour on the third floor of the museum which consisted of exhibits of English weapons including swords and suits of armor. The entire floor was devoted to English history. We moved down to the second floor and realized that the entire museum centered around weapons through history. The exhibits on this floor showed rifles and knives from the Civil War through the cowboy and Indian era. While the exhibits were interesting, neither of us are weapon buffs and after a while, we found it boring. I learned that Eli Whitney was the first to begin producing rifles on a mass basis using machines which eventually led to the era in the US whereby all products are basically produced by machines in mass and not by hand as they were in the old days.
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After finishing with this museum, we crossed the street and went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, where they make famous baseball bats. We got to take a tour of the factory which was very interesting. They showed how all bats begin with a solid piece of wood, usually ash but sometimes maple, and end up usually one of many custom made bats. Most major league players have their own custom bats made and the Louisville Slugger Factory makes several million bats each year. We even received a free miniature bat for taking the tour. There were lots of bats and balls on display that had been signed by famous players.
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After this museum, we crossed the street again and went to the Louisville Science Center where there is a science museum and an IMAX Theatre. We saw a film on dinosaurs at the IMAX and toured the museum which was mostly geared to the kiddies. The film was ok as was the museum, although most of the computer generated exhibits were not working. The museum was well done but I think that most kids are just interested in seeing how things work without really absorbing the information on the exhibits, like cells and microrganisms. Even John and I really didn't learn anything in the museum but it was fun to build a car with the Legos.
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We had some lunch at a Subway close to by and were ready to find the car and get back to the rig. We had parked right next to the Ohio River, which was kind of pretty.
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Tomorrow, we will explore some more of Louisville before the rain is supposed to hit at the end of the week.
