Last week, my brother and I both took a few days off for a road trip. We had set aside this time a while back, not realizing it was Easter weekend, so that ended up cutting our trip short. Then, for various other reasons, my brother Jason had to be back by Friday afternoon. That left us Wednesday, Thursday, and part of Friday to use.
We tossed around a few ideas, but didn't really have a plan until Monday. Our first stop was Columbus, Indiana. Huh? Turns out they are actually ranked #6 in the US for cities of architectural significance, after Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
We drove the few hours from my brother's house in Dayton to Columbus and parked at the visitor's center. From there, we walked around downtown. Of course, one of our first stop wasn't for art but for food:
Excellent quick serve Cajun. And beer. So fortified, we hit the town:
City hall:
View from city hall towards the war memorial:
Exploded engine in the Cummins lobby:
Street art:
We passed an indoor playground:
This was across the street from a kid's museum and the ice cream parlor we stopped at--may have to come back here with the family next time we pass through Indiana.
This church was finished in 1942 and started the whole modern architecture thing in town:
Bike racks!
The Church of the VW CC:
We headed due south the Ohio River Falls State Park. Turns out, the Ohio River's falls are pretty much dammed over these days:
We crossed the river into Louisville. Jason found a great deal on Priceline at the downtown Galt House hotel, our $170 riverview room was only $65, one night only:
In Louisville, we walked around downtown. We had a ($14 each!) mint julep at the Brown Hotel, then headed back up to the river to dinner at Doc Crowe's, a BBQ restaurant that had been recommended. We agreed City BBQ does it better.
Next morning, we walked to breakfast at a small diner, than loaded up and went to the Louisville slugger factory and museum:
Babe Ruth's bat, where he made a notch for each home run:
My softball bat would be safe from such damage in my hands (not just because it's aluminum)
Then we stopped by Joe Ley's antiques, which was notable for having an oddball pricing scheme and was crammed with junk. This suit of armor was priced at something like DHBS - D2, which deciphered to $2150:
This sarcophagus was relatively reasonable at $895, but alas, wouldn't fit in the VW:
From Louisville, we headed east to a stop for a distillery tour:
They had something like 26 vats at 30,000 gallons each going:
Not exactly craft distilling. We stopped for lunch at the Wallace Station Diner, where we had a pleasant lunch of hot browns outside. From there, we headed to Lexington for a tour of the Town Branch distillery, a much smaller operation that also makes the lovely Kentucky Bourbon Ale:
After that, we decided to make a late run for home, rather than staying in Lexington that night and driving back the next morning. I was home by 9:00, which allowed me to keep my April riding streak alive.
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