The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Reporter's note: Back in mid-spring my wife and I made a 3,500-mile road trip to Louisville, Kentucky and back. She went to attend a church-related conference and I was, well, going as a tourist. About 20 years ago I had gone to a conference in Louisville but saw virtually none of the city as I was tied to the conference while there. Interestingly, we stayed this time at the same hotel I'd stayed in years ago-the Gault House, a large hotel and convention complex located downtown right on the Ohio River.

I knew about two destination attractions in Louisville that I wanted to see-the Louisville Slugger factory, where the famous baseball bats are still made, and Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. I learned, after being in Louisville for a week, there's a lot more to Louisville than bats and fast horses. Here's a little about our trip.

A visitor's short introduction

to Louisville

The downtown Louisville Visitors Center was a four-block walk from our hotel. The city was named after King Louis 16th to honor his role in helping the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. There is some debate over how to say the city-name, like whether to pronounce the 's' and whether the 'looey' is used when saying the town name. Per Visitor Services Coordinator Rose Caple and printed materials and signs in the center, the preferred is "LOO-A-VUL." I went with that pronunciation and no one ever challenged it.

Also in the Visitors Center is a life-sized figure of Colonel Sanders-yes, the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy. From working in Kentucky years ago I knew Kentucky Fried Chicken started in eastern Kentucky. He's memorialized in Louisville because the world headquarters of Yum!-a fast food company in the world with 42,000 restaurants that include Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. There's even a giant downtown arena named "KFC Yum! Center."

Humana, Inc. is also headquartered in Louisville. That's a national year health care company with 52,000 employees and 13 million customers. I don't think there's a conscious connection between one of the largest fast food companies and a giant health care company being headquartered in the same city, but who knows?

Louisville's two main attractions,

in my opinion

The Louisville Slugger museum and factory is on Main Street downtown. Technically, the bats are produced by Hillerich and Bradsby, a century-old local woodworking company that at one time specialized in wooden butter churns and posts for porches and decorative railings. The term Louisville Slugger, to describe a bat, was first used in the late 1890's. The company's old office building is still a part of the plant, where all bats are made.

I took the tour of the plant to see bats being made-all by machine nowadays. The accompanying museum has a lot of the history of famous players who used the bats, examples of custom bats still made for certain players and all sorts of exhibits related to the history of baseball. Except for the introduction of machines to turn the wooden bats, the process of completing a wooden bat has not changed much in a century plus.

Though the bats are still produced in the Louisville plant, the Louisville Slugger name was sold to Wilson Sporting Goods a few years ago. The company had some financial issues, in large part due to an increase in companies producing bats and related products. One more factoid, Wilson is owned by a Finnish holding company. That's right, the American baseball icon is now Scandinavian owned. Welcome to globalization.

I had to drive to Churchill Downs...it's several miles from downtown. Churchill Downs has quite a history including who started it-the grandson of William Clark (of the Corpse of Discovery fame) who went to a horse race in England and got the idea to start a similar race in Kentucky.

He leased 80 acres from two of his uncles, John and Henry Churchill, and the event grew to "the longest-running continuous sporting event in the U.S." Now the grounds encompass 160 acres, surrounded by residential and light industrial areas. It's not in the ritziest part of the city.

I visited the track about six weeks before the Kentucky Derby. Everything was open and I could walk into the stands. It's a huge facility, with folding chairs for 50,000 fans and standing room and boxed areas for another 120,000. All I could think of was, "Man, I bet this is a bugger to get out of after the Derby."

Also, connected to the Derby, is the famous Mint Julep-a southern concoction of mint leaf, bourbon, sugar syrup and crushed ice. Though around for a long time, the drink became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1939. Another tradition of the Derby is the wild hats women wear and the crazy ties and coats the men don. Our hotel had a store specializing in 'unique hats for the Derby.' I noted they weren't cheap.

During the Derby Festival, and leading up to the race, there are many events staged in the city. One I'd never heard of is "Thunder over Louisville." It's a daytime air show followed by night time fireworks set off from eight, 400-foot barges on the river. It's estimated five times more people watch Thunder over Louisville than attend the Kentucky Derby.

One last, small indulgence in Louisville

Downtown is an area still known as Whiskey Row. Distillers built facilities near the river to get raw materials (bulk corn and rye, mainly) to make whiskey, then used the river to transport the finished products to, literally, the world. I did the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience-a tour of a small working distillery, a museum about Kentucky bourbon, a gift shop to fulfill all your needs for schlock to take home with you and a bourbon tasting.

I'm not a bourbon drinker, never tasted it until this tour, but learned four requirements that define Kentucky bourbon-first, no color or flavoring can be added, it has to be at least 51% corn mash, the whiskey has to be aged in a new, white American oak barrel (where it gets the flavor) and, lastly, it must be distilled and aged in Kentucky.

Steve Edwards Photo

Louisville Slugger bats are still made at this factory in downtown Louisville. The trademarked name, Louisville Slugger, is now owned by Wilson Sporting Goods, which is a part of Amer Sports, a Finnish sporting goods company.

I'll skip the tour stuff, and jump to the tasting. First, we were told, "sip, don't gulp." That was good advice because I would liken the effect of swallowing bourbon to drinking kerosene-although I've never sipped that either. "First," the guide said, "take a little sip and roll it around your tongue and teeth. This is called 'chewing' the bourbon." Then the swallow, which I could feel all the way to my feet, is defined as "a warm Kentucky hug." Needless to say, I didn't buy any bourbon at the gift shop but I will say the 'bourbon flavored chocolates' we sampled were pretty good.

I enjoyed Louisville. The downtown is very pedestrian-friendly, panhandlers are kept to a minimum and the downtown is clean and well maintained. The riverfront is well developed with lots of open space, there's even an old railroad bridge converted to a pedestrian walkway that allows a stroll across the river to Indiana. And at the river, near downtown, there's a ball park named Louisville Slugger Field. The field is home to the Louisville Bats, a Triple A-Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. I wouldn't go so far as to say Louisville has it all, but it is a very nice place--a pleasing blend of old South charm and Midwestern industriousness. It's definitely a destination worth visiting.