Christi and I didn’t have to get too early of a start on the morning of Sunday, June 7 – thankfully…because it probably wouldn’t have happened anyway. We were at the Hampton Inn in Bardstown, Kentucky and our first stop of the day was in Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville. The kicker was that the Lincoln Museum, which was a must-see, didn’t open until 12:30. So the morning was relatively slow paced. And for Christi, the whole day was rather slow paced, I must say.
So we got up and ready, had a pretty decent continental breakfast that actually included eggs and some surprisingly good smoked sausage circles, and pulled out of Bardstown at around 10:20am. A half-hour later, we were checking out Lincoln’s boyhood home in Knob Creek and then moving on to Hodgenville, starting at the birthplace. All of these Lincoln locations can be found in detail here.
It was a bit humorous to see that this little podunk town had fully utilized (as they should have) their big claim to fame – as it seemed that every business in town used the Lincoln name: the Lincoln Jamboree, Lincoln National Bank, and Lincoln Trail Mobile Home Park, for examples. One of these, we actually stopped at – The Lincoln Freeze. Here I grabbed an ice cream soda and Christi had a hamburger as we waited for the Lincoln Museum to open.
Although Lincoln wasn’t really a relic of the 1950′s, he fit in just fine here
The must-see Lincoln Museum turned out to be not so much of a must-see location afterall. We blew through it in about twenty minutes. Of course just being a Lincoln Museum in Lincoln’s birthplace city – it still was a must-see as I see it, see? More details of the museum can also be found here.
Christi at the Lincoln Museum. I think she was grouchy because of me.
Less than an hour north of Hodgenville was Fort Knox, which was actually right on our way. Every since I had seen a Discovery Channel special about the gold bouillon depository at Fort Knox – and how no one could visit it, I have wanted to visit it. Of course, there was no way to actually visit it, but I found the next best thing and that was the General George Patton Museum located on the base. This was the only part of the base open to the public.
The Garmin GPS that we were using directed us to enter the military gates. They were understanding and just had us turn around after checking our IDs, but the big news was that I got to at least see the big Welcome to Fort Knox sign. I had contemplated trying to take a picture with it, but I figured I had pushed my luck enough. I was happy that I was at least able to see it, get on base for just one second, and then go ahead and make my way to the Patton Museum.
The Patton Museum was big and impressive, displaying the history of armored warfare with weaponry representing each of the 20th Century wars – with displays of tanks, cannons, helicopters, and even Patton’s actual touring car. We only spent about a half-hour in the museum and some of it was watching part of a documentary being shown on Patton, although I could have spent much longer. It was clear that Christi was bored and completely sluggish, apparently from being worn out from the previous day’s activities.
Outside the Patton Museum where folks are apparently rushing to get in
This tank followed me from the Fort Knox gates after we tried to break in
Okay, face in a cannon in Kentucky. Check.
Guess where I was here
Narrowly escaping Fort Knox
We left Fort Know about 2:10 and headed to our final city of the weekend journey, Louisville. Although Presidential birthplaces are biggies for me, they are second only to Presidential graves – so it is very exciting to see a new one, especially on the same day as a new birthplace. The first stop in Louisville was at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery to see his grave. This was followed by a brief stop at his home that was nearby. Christi reluctantly got out of the car to get a photo of me here. Details of these Zachary Taylor Presidential sites can be found here.
Christi at her first Presidential grave. I’m betting it’s the last too.
Since we were so close, we swung by one of Thomas Edison’s residences located in Louisville. The building was closed, but I reckon it wasn’t that exciting to tour anyway and mostly contains some examples of early Edison inventions. It seems to be unclear exactly when and if Edison actually lived here, as it is known that he lived in this Butchertown neighborhood, with the historic sign stating that he “rented a room in this house” and that he “lived in Louisville, 1866-67.”
At the Butchertown Thomas Edison House in Louisville
And the final stop of the adventure came at about 3:45 when we made our way to the Louisville Hard Rock Cafe, my fourth of eleven planned Hard Rock visits this year. It was located on Fourth Street Live in the heart of the downtown retail district, with a nice Disney-esque neon sign on the roof covering the street. A Hard Rock guitar also welcomes visitors.
Outside the Hard Rock Cafe at Fourth Street Live in Louisville
I had my favorite menu item – the Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger – and browsed the displays. Christi had woken up and enjoyed the Hard Rock the most of anything we saw that day, I would think. The fact that Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream – one of our favorite songs at the time we were dating – played during our visit didn’t escape me either. Not sure if she noticed or not. After the eating and the traditional scouting of the Big 7 memorabilia, we headed out.
Okay, now guess where I was here
Hard Rock food rules! And it’s the same no matter where you go
George Harrison gold record commemorating the sale of 500,000 copies of Cloud Nine
Ringo Starr owned stage jacket presented to a fan in Rome on June 27, 1965
It was about an hour and forty-five minute drive back to Cincinnati. Christi fell back into dreamland and I entertained myself with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer album. We got to Joy’s house where we picked up Creed and then headed on home.
I love weekends like this when you can accomplish so much, feeling like you’re out and alive – and awake!
An even bigger road trip is looming just around the corner. Continue here…
Hey! I just had the Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger at the Hard Rock in Venice yesterday. Sarah and I got better seats than you and I did.
Chris
July 5th, 2009
apparently you don’t recall the previous day’s activities Mr. I can go all day Brad
Christi
August 14th, 2009
Ahh sluggersville..
Christi
August 14th, 2009
re the Edison House. There is no proof that he actually lived in that building. He did hang around the neighborhood at the very least. A fellow WU telegrapher did rent a tiny cottage from the owner that was to the left of that building. It would have been one of at least five places that Edison stayed in while in Louisville April 8 or 9, 1866 – mid-August1867
Jack
September 7th, 2009
You are like the energizer bunny…however I found everything to be very interesting, just seeing so much was a little overwhelming… I would do it again though!!
Christi
October 20th, 2009