Louisville, Kentucky - 4th of July Weekend, 2014

 Jeff took me to Louisville to meet his family over the 4th of July weekend.  This was my first time being in Kentucky.

 I was amazed that it reminded me of Pennsylvania so much.  We arrived on the 3rd of July.  These narrow, winding roads with all the trees and the rolling hills were so much like Pennsylvania.  This picture was taken on the way from the airport to Jeff's parent's house.

 We went sightseeing in Louisville on the 4th.  Our first stop was the Louisville Slugger Factory.  It was so interesting.  They wouldn't let us take pictures in the factory so this is my only picture in the front of the building.  This bat is 120 feet high and is a replica of the Babe Ruth bat.  This factory makes 1.8 million bats each year and supplies bats for the major leagues.  The wood for the bats comes from trees in Pennsylvania that are at least 80 years old.

 I'm not sure why but I was really excited to go to Churchill Downs.

 The museum was impressive.

 I learned that the women spend months selecting their hat to wear to the Kentucky Derby.

 This plate describes the Derby food and Kentucky food in general.  

 This is where the horses wait on the right for their time to run in the races.

 The races have been held since 1875.

 This is a picture at the University of Louisville.  Paja John's Pizza is headquartered in Louisville and we drove by that building on the way home.

 This is a picture of Jeff and his mom in front of the home of William and Lucy Clark Croghan.  It is named Locust Grove and was a stopping point for Lewis and Clark when they returned from their expedition to the Pacific Northwest.  This landmark is 55 acres of the original 694 acre farm.

 Some antiques inside the home

 For dinner Jeff took us to Claudia Sander's Dinner House in Shelbyville.  The food was unbelievably delicious.  The fried chicken and yeast rolls were my favorites.  Everything was so good.

 Here I am with the picture of Colonel Sanders and his wife Claudia in the background.  We also drove by the cemetery where he was buried.

 This is the outside of the restaurant that was opened in 1968.  I thought it was very impressive.

 This is the residence where they lived.  It is right in front of the restaurant.

 Kentucky has beautiful farms.  I was impressed by how nicely manicured they were.  Many of the farms had ponds.

 There were a lot of horse farms.

 Another beautiful farm

I also saw lots of hay in addition to the growing crops - corn, tobacco, soybeans, sorghum, etc.  The farms also reminded me of Pennsylvania.