Louisville, KY

We arrived in Louisville on Monday afternoon and found our KOA which is right across the river from Louisville, on the Clarksville side of the Ohio River. It is definitely a different campground -- not a blade of grass to be seen. The sites are all paved and the space (very little) between campers is gravel. It's definitely an URBAN campground! However, it's extremely convenient as I don't believe we had to travel more than seven miles in any direction to see the attractions we were interested in.

HOUSES: We stopped at the Thomas Edison "house" -- I use the term loosely, as actually Thomas Edison rented only one room in the house in the year that he lived there. He worked nights as a telegrapher for Western Union and got fired after only a year for spending his time doing experiments instead of doing his job. The room has been designed using period pieces and the remainder of the house is now a museum showcasing many of the inventions made by Edison.

Farmington Historic Plantation (1815) was the home of Lincoln's friend Joshua Speed, whom Lincoln roomed with in New Salem, Il. The Speeds owned 60 slaves and had a hemp farm of over 500 acres, selling rope, twine, and burlap-type bags. Lincoln visited the Speeds after he and Mary broke up.

Whitehall House was a 4-room brick farm home that was purchased in 1909 and the wife of the new owner took the simple home from a square brick home to a 16 room mansion with huge pillars inside and out and the final owner, Hume Logan, Jr. Mr. Logan was a collector of French antiques, and he filled the home with them. When he died at the age of 94, he deeded it to the city of Louisville with the caveat that it must be opened to the public to enjoy. The gardens are beautiful and this home is the site of one or two weddings per weekend.

Historic Locust Grove was built in 1790 and was the last home of Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark of the Louis and Clark Expedition. General Clark lived in Clarksville until he had a stroke and was no longer able to take care of himself. His sister and her husband, owners of Locust Grove, took the General into their home and he died there nine years later. Locust Grove was a farm -- growing corn, beans, potatoes, and hay as well as many varieties of fruits which they sold in Louisville. While we were there the house had costumed interpreters in the kitchen and one doing spinning demonstrations. The cook was making a blueberry cake over the coals of the fire in an iron dutch over. Smelled wonderful. She explained why the bottom portion of her dress was wet -- to prevent it catching fire as she worked among the ashes. It was probably the best tour of houses we took.

Other Sites:

Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center is a nature and environmental center located at the Falls of Ohio State Park. The park is noted for it's 350 million year old fossil reef. Exhibits related to the history of the falls from prehistoric times to the present. After touring the Center we walked down to the fossil reef, but did not stay to go out onto it.

Kentucky Derby Museum was our last sight-seeing adventure in Louisville for this trip -- there's soooo much more to see we'll likely have to return another time. We had a walking tour to see the paddock area, the alley that takes the horses and the jockeys out to the track (the bricks are made of old tires to protect the legs/ankles of the horses) and we were down by the track and the seating areas of the racetrack. Inside the museum we had a movie showing the 2010 Kentucky Derby, the various hats worn by the owner's wives, the jockey colors, trophies and many multi-media shows -- very interesting!

Tomorrow we're on our way to Corbin, KY for two days and then into North Carolina!