Louisville

We left Bardstown and headed up to Louisville, where we stopped off at the home of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs.  We didn’t stop here as a race track was starting to buzz with visitors arriving for the afternoon’s racing, we just nosed about and admired the stands and horse enclosures.

We did stop at the Mohammed Ali centre, a museum showcasing his life as a young boxer, as an adult boxer, his fight against enlistment in the Vietnam war and as a public figure afterwards, his involvement in religion and charity. It was enlightening, interesting and very informative.  We had just arrived and got into the lift to start the tour, when a fresh suited man entered with us, along with another couple.  It transpires that this was the Mayor of Louisville and he welcomed us to his lovely city!

Indy

Our next stop was at the Indianapolis Motor racing track, home to the Indy 500, NASCAR, Moto GP and the USA Grand Prix!  The museum was amazing, full of original working race cars, lots of driver memorabilia and information on historic speeds, dates, winners and record breakers.  We took a ride around the track, in a minibus being driven by two old ex-employees, both flowing with information.  We learned that until 1909 he track was made up of red bricks, but with the improvement in engines and tyres, the bricks were tarmacked over and a metre of bricks were left by the winning line.  It is customary for winners to get out, kneel down, and kiss the bricks, so we did!

Back to Chicago via Joliet

We headed back up towards Chicago, back through the prairie lands again, before stopping at Joliet, just outside Chicago, for our last night together.  Joliet is on Route 66, but is a large modern town nowadays.  We went to a bar/restaurant called Juliet’s and had a lovely meal and a few glasses of wine!

It was so cold that night, minus 9c!! Food was lovely, and I got to try the national favourite – deep fried truffle ravioli – simply delicious, followed by home made tiramisu!!!

After 4 weeks together, we dropped Mike and Brenda at Chicago airport and we spent a few more days with friends Paula and Perry at their apartment on the outskirts of town, chilling and relaxing.  One of my requests during our stay was to visit a cat café, Paula had made it her job when travelling the world to visit as many cat cafes as possible (www.theneighbor’scat.com), while Perry tries chocolate milk in an effort to find the best in the world, or the best in the USA (www.afoolzerrand.com).

  • Paula’s view

So we went to a Cat Arcade, the owners of a cat rehoming charity have set out a room with old arcade games and sofas and chairs, so cats and public can interact in a relaxing environment.  The cats were so happy to be stroked, played with, cuddled and cooed over and this helps with their socialization before they are rehomed. Whilst we were there a man arrived with a cat carrier and scooped up a lovely older cat, was given advice on how to let the cat settle on arrival at its new home and he left, grinning like a Cheshire…..cat!

A sassy grey feline was happy to be stroked, rolling over for tummy rubs, but every so often let me know she had had enough!

We popped into an old building which was home to the Schlitz Brewery, a “tied house” that sprung up after Prohibition (1890 – 1903), a Tavern owned and operated by the brewing company in what could have passed as an ornate residential property.

That ends our journey to the USA, hope you have enjoyed all the pictures and write ups!!