Today we had a “back stage” pass for a tour of Churchill Downs! This facility is huge! I had always thought that it was located more in the country, but it is right in the middle of downtown Louisville! It is gorgeous, and it has a very interesting history. We toured the stables, press box, millionaires row, jockey locker room, memorial garden and out to the track. We were lucky to have the earliest tour of the day because all of the horses were out getting shoed, groomed and washed. There were also lots of horses working on the track. Our tour guide told us that later in the day, all the horses are back in their stalls and not easily seen. We were so lucky, these horses are beautiful! We went through the museum then had lunch at the track café. Erin tried an authentic Kentucky “Hot Brown” sandwich (shaved turkey and bacon on a English muffin, covered with a hot cheese sauce) the rest of us had a more traditional lunch. The food was great!
Next we headed to the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory. This was a really great tour. I’m sad that we couldn’t take pictures inside of the actual production, they said it was “top secret”. We got to see the bats go from their beginning as just a core of wood, all the way to the finished shape. We even got to bring home the little spindles that are cut off the ends after the shaping is complete, and the bats are ready for sanding. We saw the newest machine that is computerized and can shape any part of the bat to one- one hundredth of an inch! They have a wall with a cubby for all the professional players who are under contract with Louisville Slugger. In each cubby are the wood cores that have been handpicked to meet the desires of each individual player. They keep several on hand and make them up as needed. We saw how the bats were finished; flame seared – to bring out the grain, stained or clear coated , or painted. The wood cores are graded as to their perfection of grain, and made into bats for pro-ball, minor league ball, collegiate ball, high school, little league, recreational and mini souvenir bats. They use almost all of the wood to produce the bats, there is no waste! The little spindles that are cut off get ground into sawdust that is given to local turkey farms, and it is also mixed with clay and sand for use on the track at Churchill Downs. Some of the wood shavings are sold to furniture companies for use as filler.
After the factory tour we went through the museum. They had an exhibit where I put on cotton gloves, and was able to hold the actual bat that Mickey Mantle used! I saw the bat that Babe Ruth used when he pointed to the stands, and hit his famous home run. They had an entire hallway, floor to ceiling, of wood squares with the signatures of all the players from 1935 to the present who have a contract with them! These squares were all made from the actual templates used for each players bat. Lots of baseball history was made with Louisville Slugger bats!
Back at the KOA, we BBQ’d hamburgers, watched a movie, and got Erin and Bryan all packed up so they would be ready for their early morning airport call.
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