Louisville- America's 16th largest city :)

I started the day picking my family up from their airport. They have been in Maryland and D.C. for the week and were kind enough to make a pit stop in Kentucky for a little fun and hanging out this weekend. They flew into Louisville so we decided to spend part of the day there. We started out at the Louisville Slugger factory and museum.

There was a walk of fame down the street outside on the way to the front door and of course the world's largest bat (not pictured until Holly and Karleigh get their pics developed :)

No pictures were allowed on the factory tour but it was actually kind of cool. If I had to work in a factory, that might be the one I would choose even though I'm not even a huge baseball fan. It was clean, all the jobs looked relatively fun (branding the logo on, dipping in laquer, using the machines that carve out the shape of a bat). It was pretty cool. They even had boxes with famous MLB players names on them with wood ready for a bat and one cut out of the kind of bat they like. Most bats in MLB last an average of 3 games.

After the tour there was a part that showed what it was like to hit a 90-mph fast ball (a screen of a pitcher of your choice with a hole in it. The pitcher wound up and the ball came player to the fake catcher through the hole at 90 mph. It was pretty cool.

And of course the best part, a complimentary free mini Louisville slugger with the tour!

Next on our stop was Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

There were no races today and therefore no horses which was kind of sad but we had free reign to the grounds and were able to walk around and see the facilities. The track is beautiful and it was a gorgeous day for a summer in KY (78 degrees and no humidity!)

Standing in a stall where the horses stand before a race so people can check them out and see if they look strong and healthy (good enough to put money on :) Even though there were no races at this track today, there were still several people there sitting upstairs in a big room with several monitors and credit card machines betting on races across the country. It's the littl Vegas in the heart of the Bluegrass State.
Good times with the Rose family in Kentucky. Poor Grant had to go to school but I guess we're going to have to get used to that, story of the next 4 years :(