7. KENTUCKY & INDIANA

LOUISVILLE (April 10th – 11th)

Having had a very busy 10 days with New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville we were looking forward to a slightly slower pace in Louisville and Indianapolis and having a bit of downtime.

Louisville is around a 2.5 hr drive from Nashville and we checked into the Best Western Hotel, Clarksville, around 2-30pm. We went for a walk and were very happy to see a Golden Corral restaurant about 50 yards from the hotel. For those of you who don’t know the Golden Corral, it is an ‘all you can eat’ endless buffet, with great quality food, a massive choice and its also cheap as chips. So that was dinner sorted. We also saw a nice little bar nearby so we now had a plan to start the evening with a few drinks before going onto eat way too much at the Corral

Before that though Ang & Den had found a Walmart nearby (huge drum roll) so off they went for a mooch. They came back a few hours later with more than a few heavy bags of shopping and they were positively glowing about all the stuff they saw.

We went out as planned and Ang & Den had their compulsory huge Magaritas before heading over to the Corral. As per plan we all stuffed our faces and an hour later went into a food coma before stumbling back to the hotel.

Den said the next day that Keith had laid down on the bed holding his stomach and said ‘please don’t let me go their again’ (ha, ha).

The next morning we were surprisingly okay and after a great breakfast headed off to the city.

Muhammad Ali was born (as Cassius Clay) in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17th 1942. So that makes him a Capricorn, along with Elvis (8th Jan) and also Ian (4th Jan). All are great examples of Capricorns with huge talent, discipline, ambition and resilience (ha, ha). Ali sadly passed away on June 3rd, 2016, age 74 and is buried at Cave Hill cemetery in Louisville.

We were off to the Muhammad Ali centre and museum which is dedicated to his life and legacy and features interactive exhibits, artefacts and videos on his boxing career, humanitarian work and his core values of confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality. There was even a full size boxing ring you could walk into and also a speedball plus heavy punching bag to try out (if you felt up to it). Walking through the museum, it was obvious he was so much more than a boxer and just like Elvis, he used his fame and success to champion numerous causes particularly for those who were disadvantaged.

You could even choose to watch any one of Ali’s fights, so of course we watched him knock out big George Foreman again in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle, Zaire, 1974.

After the museum we headed over to Cave Hill cemetery around 20 mins drive away. After a little bit of driving around in what was is a beautiful cemetery, we eventually found his grave which is a simple headstone with ALI written on it. There is a further inscription that says ‘Service to others is the rent you pay for your room in heaven.’ The site also includes two granite benches for sitting and reflection. Overall, we were very glad we made the effort to come and see his grave and we reflected on a lovely day as we headed back to the hotel.

In the evening and despite Keith’s protests we decided to follow the same routine as the night before, pre dinner drinks and then back to the Golden Corral, as it was so good. We did however make a group pact to be more disciplined in our eating and only have a maximum of 3 plates and two desserts instead of 4 plates and 3 desserts. That seemed to do the trick.

INDIANNAPOLIS (April 12th – 13th)

After another hearty breakfast we checked out and headed off to Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana. It was only a 2 hour drive so we landed just after 1-30pm at the Staybridge Hotel and Suites right by the Lucas Oil stadium, a 67,000 seat NFL stadium home to the Indianapolis Colts. Our rooms weren’t quite ready so we had a drive for a coffee and eventually found a Starbucks.

The hotel was amazing, very ‘boujee’ and easily one of the best we had been in. It had an indoor heated pool, a great gym, a free self service laundry, a great lounge area with multiple TV’s and our rooms were huge, more like apartments with seperate bedrooms to the living areas. They were deeee geeee (different grade).

Once we had settled into our rooms we decided to go for a swim in the pool which was around 28 degrees, perfect. The family swimming before us had left a ball so we played a few rounds of ‘keepy uppy’ and managed to crack the 100 (loud cheers please).

As well as the ‘boujee’ hotel we were staying at, Den had also booked us into a ‘boujee’ Italian just a short walk from the hotel. Three of us decided to try the Lasagne while Den had the Risotto. The Lasagne was amazing, very tasty, but there was so much of it, almost two servings per person, so Den had to help out and we finished the lot.

The next morning however, we were all’ punished’ with food overload from the previous night (surprise, surprise). We will leave you to use your imagination, but suffice to say we nearly ran out of toilet roll.

If Indianapolis is famous for one thing its the ‘Indy 500’, an iconic 200 lap, 500- mile race known as the ‘greatest spectacle in motor racing’ and the world’s largest single day sporting event. The 2.5 -mile track (known as Bricktown) has a permanent seating capacity of over 250,000 seats and with all the infield seating and general admission the total capacity is over 350,000 for a single day event, absolutely amazing crowds.

After a ‘light’ breakfast (ha, ha) we were heading off to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum, located at the track, about a 20 min drive from the hotel. The museum showcases the history of the event with a vast collection of over 150 cars (including more than 30 winning cars), 50,000 artifacts, loads of driving simulators, a 3D movie theatre, interactive displays and a whole lot more. Ang, being a big motor racing fan, was looking forward to this trip so much that she couldn’t sleep the night before due to the excitement (just kidding). We easily spent well over 2 hours going around the museum and it was very impressive.

Also included in our visit was a one lap bus trip around the race track, including a stop at the finish line where you could get out and have a walk around. That was worth doing as it gave you a good perspective of how enormous the whole thing is and the spectator stands seem to go on forever.

After a few more pics outside we headed to the city and the centre piece of Indianapolis, city the ‘Soldiers and Sailors Monument’. This thing is nearly 300 feet tall and is one of the tallest monuments in the USA (only 15 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty). It’s located in monument circle, which is a central plaza and acts as the city’s main gathering spot with historic buildings, shops and restaurants surrounding it. The monument was built around 1900 and its main purpose is to honour and remember Indiana’s military veterans, especially those who served in the American Civil War. Anyway, it’s very impressive, with a number of bronze statues, water features and some incredible sculptures. We described it as Nelson’s column on steroids as poor old Nelson can only manage 169 feet in height. Some more pub quiz knowledge for you all though.

For dinner, we just wanted something light and easy (after last night) so we found a local diner that served excellent food like a roast chicken dinner and lemon meringue pie.

The next morning we were heading off to Chicago, also known as thew windy city.