Monday, June 15, 2009

917.69 -- Mini Trip to Kentucky, day 1

Matt and I spent part of Memorial Day weekend with his parents visiting his sister and brother-in-law in Kentucky. To make the most of our two-day trip, we headed from their house straight to Louisville for a much-anticipated trip to the Louisville Slugger Museum. It was more educational than I expected. Not only did we learn about bat-making, but we got information overload in the newly-renovated museum area. And we scored mini-Louisville Sluggers!

After the museum we made our way to the Louisville Slugger Baseball Field to catch some great minor league baseball action. The Louisville Bats (as in flying mammals, not wooden clubs) are one of the "farm teams" for the Cincinnati Reds. The game was not as intense as a major league game, but the experience was really fun. The stadium was amazing, and all the seats were SO close to the field! Plus, it was much cheaper than the cheapest seats at Great American Ballpark.

I don't know if you can see the golden retrieve (circled) next to home plate. He was the "bat boy" for the Louisville Bats. He came out after most at-bats and retrieved the bat! He and his handler also played catch on the field with a frisbee between innings and before the game. At the seventh inning stretch, the dog actually took a basket with towels and water bottles out to 3rd base for the umpires! How fun!

The ball park was really fun. You could walk the entire way around it, and there were fun things for kids to do when they get antsy during games. My favorite -- although I didn't ride it -- was this carousel!

At the end of the day, it was back to base camp for a relaxing night of summer picnic food and watching the Reds lose to the Cleveland Indians :)