My Trip to Louisville

Monday I dropped of Amber, Sophie and Blanche at my son's house . The weather was rough and there were a few tornadoes sighted. I got up early Tuesday and hit the road to Louisville, KY for our Women of the Air Force Association reunion. This venue was cancelled last year so I was really looking forward to it. We only had rain on Friday but the rest of the week was fine.

I checked in at the Holiday Inn East. I had a time zone change. I was scheduled to volunteer at the registration table at 5PM to 7 but the schedule changed and the table was closed for the banquet.

Wednesday morning I decided to go for a swim. I took a photo before swimming with a new 2-piece suit I got over 2 years ago when Gordman's went out of business and never had a chance to wear. After a little dip, this newly remodeled hotel and key card didn't swipe. I went to the front desk dripping wet and she could not get master key to work either. The the maid came also. So she popped off the dial and used an old fashioned real key. Meanwhile an expert is called. The service man was called and he couldn't get the "fix all" key to work. Seems the electronics was bad.

In the morning we conducted our business meeting followed by a group photo in the hotel lobby.

In the afternoon we had a trolley ride to tour Churchill Downs. Our driver was a navy veteran and his wife had been in the Air Force. Adam, our trolley driver, took a picture of me riding a horse at Churchill Downs.

In front of the tomb of Barabro

Eight Belles

Me on the second floor of the museum on a horse at the gate

Dare I step on the jockey scale

overlooking the theater room

female Jockey

female jockies

I'm in love with a winner


Ok, probably for the kiddies to dress up like a jockey but heck, young at heart.

In the evening we went back on the trolley for a buffet and Jack-o-lantern spectacular. https://www.jackolanternlouisville.org/

OR THE FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.facebook.com/louisvillejackolanternspectacular

The dinner was pulled pork boxes but the walk through the park was much better than I expected. This year's theme is the history of TV.

Thursday was the day I looked forward to because the Civil War Women's museum was on the agenda and First the driver got us a little twisted around looking for the Civil War Museum so we had lunch first. Here's the website: https://bardstownmuseumrow.org/exhibits/

I found this sign that described the trunk of an Illinois surgeon displayed with a confederate surgeon.

Trunk belonging to Charles Martin


Notice the sign on the trunk with this display of a Confederate surgeon

In the evening we had dinner at historic Talbert's Tavern. I walked around the square which had a traffic roundabout. Traffic was very considerate of the crosswalk.

Sharon Zimpher recognized my name tag and rushed out to tell me we had a mutual friend with Joan. How about that!

Friday we went to the Louisville Slugger museum and the Peerless Bourbon Distillery.


The giant bat as you enter the museum


Baseball Bloomer Girl

Bloomer Girls

Fort Nelson by George Rogers Clark


George Washington made whiskey

Giant David on the strip

Tents under the bridge near the distillery

There was an old car in the lobby at Peerless

Peerless Bourbon tour

Alex our tour guide


I think the mash unit looked a bit "steampunk"


Alex knew a good back drop for our tour group

In the evening we were to have a supper cruise but the rain canceled the cruise portion aboard the Mary Miller paddle boat. As you can see, there even was a rainbow over the Ohio River.


We had to wait to board the boat and it rained so I hid under the bridge.

Saturday I went 60 miles to Harrodsburg to see Pleasant Hill Shaker Village with Sharon whom I've share a seat on the bus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtUkvSoMd8I

On the way to the village we had to stop at "Four Roses Distillery" just because we got mini-bottles at a previous gift shop. All of their tours were booked by appointment but they did have a nicer looking gift shop and grounds then the Peerless tour the day before.

My GPS took me a short cut through a narrow road to the Shaker Village. I didn't realize that many of the building's upper floors were converted into hotel rooms for people to stay overnight. We weren't hungry when we got there about 11 so we did a self guided tour. An hour later we were and learned the restaurant also needed a reservation so we ate late at 3PM. Meanwhile a cinnamon swirl slice held me over. We had catfish for lunch and over the conversation we narrowed things down that we both lived in the women's barracks at Barksdale. I was on the second floor and she was on the first. Then we discovered we got married in Chapel 1 about a month apart. That was amazing. I left Barksdale in May and she in August. Who knew?

HEAVEN AND EARTH: The shakers viewed work as an act of worship and broom making was especially meaningful work as it resulted in an important tool to be used to clean the earthly realm. For Shakers, cleanliness was close to spiritual purity. Shaker rules, hymns and recollections exhorted Believers to clean their rooms and public spaces and the notion of "sweeping" away sin, disorder and impurity is found throughout Shaker writings.


"Keep all things in order, as keeping the law of heaven." Shaker communities were highly structured to avoid physical and spiritual chaos. Everything was organized, purposeful, neat and efficient. Peg rails aligned the walls to provide a place for everything from tools to clothes. Chairs were numbered to indicate proper location. Oval boxes provided easy transportable storage.

Bonnet mold: Unlike the modernist movement of the mid 19th century the shakers were motivated by spiritual quest for perfection. This quest not only led to precisely crafted chairs but permeated throughout their entire culture. Their spiritual truths embraced their everyday lives. their community structure, innovative pursuits, diverse population and sustainable practices. The Pleasant Hill Shakers flourished on this site from 1805 to 1923. They were an intentional religious community seeking to create a world that reflected their conceptions of Heaven, a place of divine perfection. Their lives were guided by a deep spirituality and Shaker material s a reflection of these spiritual truths. To understand the Shaker world one must understand the Spiritual Shaker world.

Arch Kettle

Bone Button


A horse resting from the carriage ride in the stable.

Jonah Crutcher (colored) deceased at the West Family of dispepsia being of 44 years old the second day of last April. He was a slave and being hired by believers received faith in his testimony and confessed his sins on the 15th of October 1839 and he continued to be a faithful believer we continued to hire him, that he might have the opportunity of continued instruction and obey his faith until the 4th of January 1859 when it became apparent that he would be sold south and we purchased him that he might enjoy a privilege in the gospel in equal terms with the rest of us which he did and & continued faithful until the day of his decease. He was much respected & beloved in the family he resided which was not misplaced for he was worthy.

Much repairs on this Shaker dress.

Cooper Barrels

Expressions of Faith: Shakers found the spirit of God through song, dance, and physical motion. Overtime these expressions alternated between erratic and organized. Locals took notice of Shaker's worship sessions that included expressive convulsive movements and loud vocalization. As Shaker communities became more established the dances became more structured and wordless songs more hymn-like. The new era of worship in the 1840s brought a return of unrestrained worship. Regardless of method, worship became a vital way of Shaker life.

Converting New Shakers: As the Shakers established new communities throughout the east, missionaries traveled west. worshiping publicly to spread the spirit of Shakerism. Shaker missionaries competed with Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodist with stronger written and hymnal traditions. When they reached Kentucky and Ohio in 1805, they were pleasantly surprised to find others already using similar physical expressions of worship. There, the Shakers found kindred spirits unafraid to worship through dance.

Shakersism and Christianity: Shakers, like other Christian sects, followed the teachings of the Bible. Each sect interpreted the works through a different lens of their beliefs, however, resulting in different practices. Shakers believed that the confession of sins was the true gateway to heaven and rejected mainstream Christianity of the idea of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in favor of the principle of duality. These beliefs inspire the Shakers to form a perfect Heaven on Earth and reflected their acceptance of diversity and gender equality in their community. [note that a tour guide mentioned that they created a new family that was celibate and did not need to procreate since they believed they were living in the end times]

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55270158/francis-pennebaker

There was also a wedding on the site the day we visited and the photographer was busy as we waited for out table to be called.

Sunday morning I went to Mass at St Albert the Great Church. I was impressed with the priest's enthusiasm and smile as he presided the service. I told him so as he met those leaving and told me he liked my smile as well.

Judy wore her uniform. She presented the colors for the pledge. All 3 officers took turns reading the names during the memorial portion of our program