LOUISVILLE, KY CONTINUED

Friday, August 15th, 2014

Day 11
Miles Traveled Today: 0
Total Miles Traveled: 264



  We felt we couldn't leave Louisville, KY without seeing the Louisville Slugger Museum and a Bourbon Museum.  

  The Louisville Slugger Museum, like many other museums in Louisville, was walking distance from the dock.  The museum offers a tour of the factory which was worth the money.  We actually got to see some of the bats being made for some major league players.  It was interesting to watch.  The trademark bat "The Louisville Slugger" got it's name after the player it was made for.  The company, "J.F. Hillerich, Job Turning", made it's first professional baseball bat in 1884 for Pete Browning (the star slugger for the Louisville Eclipse team).  The bat was turned by Bud Hillerich, son of the owner, J. Frederick Hillerich.  J.F. was not really interested in making professional baseball bats, but, it is a good thing that he listened to his son.  J.F. was hoping to make his money on butter churns.  Fortunately, his son, Bud, had better ideas, and the company is a thriving business today making 1.8 million bats per year and during peak season, in the Spring, will make about 5,000 bats per day.  WOW!!  In front of the museum is a 120 foot long baseball bat which weighs 68,000 pounds. 
For more info about this factory and its history go to:  http://www.sluggermuseum.com/about/

Louisville Slugger Museum Entrance

  The next stop was for lunch at the Down One Bourbon Bar.  Dan got a flight of bourbon - 3 different varieties to try.  Angie tried one and confirmed that she still does not like bourbon. 

Dan with his bourbon flight at Down One Bourbon Bar

  We ended the afternoon by going to the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience.  You get a historical tour, a look at a scaled down operating Artisanal Distillery, and a taste test of their bourbon.  This tour is very well done and should not be missed if visiting Louisville.  Evan Williams was known as the jack-of-all-trades - stone maker, politician, entrepreneur.  But, his biggest accomplishment was making whiskey.  He was Kentucky's first commercial distiller and built his distillery on the banks of the Ohio River at Louisville, KY in 1783. 
Check it out at:  http://www.evanwilliams.com/visit.php

Evan Williams Bourbon Experience Lobby

  The evening was completed with dinner at Manny and Merle (Mexican mod food - meaning specialty tacos) and drinks at Stevie Ray's Blues Bar.

Dan outside of Stevie Ray's Blues Bar

  Louisville, KY is a great place to visit.  There are lots of things to see and do and many great restaurants.  http://www.gotolouisville.com/index.aspx
  But, it was time for us to continue to move down river as there are many more places we want to see.