We started our Mother-Daughter trip by first going up to Louisville, KY. Since we were literally planning this trip two days beforehand, we had little time for extensive tourist research. I also have to say up front that I can’t find about half of the pictures we took.
We did notice Mammoth Cave National Park was on the way so we booked tickets for a guided cave tour. Again, I wanted to go there, but not actually go in a cave. Thing 2 convinced me otherwise. We bought our tickets online for the 1:00 Historic Cave Tour. The next morning we left Atlanta around 6 am so we’d get there about an hour before the tour began.
Mammoth Cave National Park
Gathering with the group outside the visitor center, the park rangers explained that parts of the tour could be claustrophobic. In actuality, it really wasn’t claustrophobic at all. They went into detail that there would be a few tight squeezes, but it was well-lit inside. Thing 2 and I stayed near the front of the 40 or so people. The other guide was trained to get people out of there if they had any problems.
Inside, Mammoth Cave was beautiful. How do you describe a cave? It’s like the gargoyle maker on European structures had a field day inside the cave. The rock formations were everywhere – tall and skinny, fat and wide. Sometimes looking like candle wax had dripped all over the place. We stopped about a 1/3 way day and sat in a cave room while they told us historical things about the cave.
We walked some more. Since the worst was over, I really enjoyed myself – even when they had us turn off the lights and listen. We learned that the cave system is over 400 miles!
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Park
Next, we drove to Hodgenville. On the two lane road, we passed an Amish buggy with people wearing black. My daughter was spooked, but I thought it was neat. Rolling hills dotted the landscape. You may wonder “aren’t all hills rolling?” No, these really were rolling and we had just leaned they helped form all the caves underneath.
At Lincoln’s birthplace, we went inside a concrete memorial structure. Inside a replica of a log cabin sat in the middle. Even though it was a replica, it was over 100 years old. What I liked was the stream the ran outside where Abe would have gotten his water – not a reproduction, but the original.
It’s not a must see – but I did enjoy getting off the highway for the scenery.
Louisville
We got into Louisville, checking into the Sheraton across the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, Indiana. From there, we had the best view of Louisville across the river with the sunset. We ate downtown at Doc Crow’s and walked into the Galt House Hotel, a large convention-type hotel on the waterfront.
The next day, we toured the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Even though I don’t watch much baseball, I found it fascinating to watch how much technology goes into a wood bat. We walked around different stations watching workers carving bats, painting bats, etc. The tour lasted about 30 minutes and they gave us a small souvenir wood bat.
My favorite activity was visiting the Falls of the Ohio State Park, which we did on our way out of town. It’s across the river in Indiana but it’s where Lewis & Clark started their expedition. Water gently babbles over the rocks and there are great views of Louisville. We didn’t go inside the interpretive center due to time constraints. It’s the perfect picnic spot and a great place to stretch your legs before getting in the car – in our case – the 4-hour drive to St. Louis.