Visit to Louisville, KY
I visited Louisville, KY on 10 August 2005. Left home on 9 August at 0340, but 30 minutes later on I-295 South I realized I had forgotten my digital camera - had to turn around and head back home, and left home again at 0434. After all, without the digital camera I wouldn't have been able to take all these following pictures!
The Trip to Louisville
Reached the KY border at roughly 1300. I actually stayed at
a Hampton Inn in New Albany, IN, just 4 miles from
Louisville; arrived just after 1700.
Main Street, Louisville, KY
Because I didn't know what Louisville morning rush hour was
like, I got up early on Wednesday, 10 August and parked in
the visitor parking lot behind the Frazier Historical Arms
Museum at 0700. (Just $2 all day, what a deal!) Had to wait
until 0900 for the museum to open, so to kill some time I
walked a couple of blocks up and down Main Street.
Main Street has other museums and interesting shops and
offices. The sidewalks include statues and works of art.
The Kentucky
Center is home to many of the performing arts of
Louisville and Kentucky, such as the ballet, orchestra and
other performers. The "Heads" in front of the Kentucky
Center are sponsored by "Heads Up Kentucky".
Frazier Historical Arms Museum
The Frazier
Historical Arms Museum opened at 0900.
The collection on the third floor is on loan from the Royal
Armouries of the UK. It consists of armor and weapons from
medieval times to the early 20th century.
In the fantasy novel I'm writing, the main character will
be surprised that his riding companion uses a "combat"
saddle for what should be a simple ride - the idea being
that a combat saddle would be uncomfortable and wouldn't be
used if not needed. Here's an example of a saddle that
doesn't look comfortable.
The hexagonal tube is an example of the very earliest "gun"
used in medieval Europe. It's more like a tiny cannon than
anything I'd call a gun. The last image is of a gauntlet.
Examples of jousting armor. The armor is asymetrical: eye
and breathing holes are only on the right side; there's a
second layer of armor on the left side.
Armor and arms that made it to the New World. The ornate
cage around the sword's pommel is meant to protect the
wielder's hand.
The older matchlock had a lit fuse; pulling the trigger
brought the fuse to the gunpowder to ignite the gunpowder
and shoot the gun. The newer flintlock held a piece of
flint; pulling the trigger released the hammer causing the
flint to spark to ignite the gunpowder.
The museum has a performance every half hour or so of an
actor bring life to a certain period of history. These two
demonstrated Elizabeathan swordsmanship, as would have been
understood by the original audiences of Romeo and
Juliet in Shakespeare's time. For each set they
explained each blow and parry, discussing the different
schools of swordsmanship at the time, from a scene in
Romeo and Juliet - then replayed the scene at full
speed!
As pistols became more reliable and widespread, swords
became less important as weapons. Swords became lighter and
more ornate, but still dangerous.
An older flintlock pistol, and the more reliable percussion
cap pistol. Not only were percussion caps more reliable,
but flintlocks could be converted to use caps relatively
easily. Once the pistol is discharged, it could still be
used as a club. Note the brass reinforcement on the
pistol's butt.
More firearms using percussion caps.
The Webley revolver used cartridge rounds, i.e. bullet,
powder, case and primer - same as today's firearms.
I could have easily spent an entire day in the British
collection on the third floor, but I wanted to visit the
Lousville Slugger Museum across the street that day, so I
went to the second floor with the American collection: from
the 17th to turn of the 20th Century. After viewing a
15-minute film on the history of arms manufacturing in the
United States, I pretty much blew through the American
collection. Since I've read about many of the historical
firearms in American Rifleman and other gun
magazines, I was already familiar with much of what was
displayed.
After snacking in the museum's eating area I left around
1400 to my next stop.
Louisville Slugger Museum
The Louisville
Slugger Museum was just across the street. The huge
"bat" leaning on the building is a very visible landmark!
There's a tour of the factory floor every half hour.
Unfortunately they do not allow any photography on the
factory floor. We got to see bats manufactured, from
automated (and in the case of professional players' bats,
computer controlled) lathes to staining and finishing. At
the end of the factory tour each person gets an 18-inch
souvenier wooden bat. The rest of the museum is on the
first floor only.
Seats from the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field.
A room-sized display of what the original factory equipment
for making bats looked like. Wooden blanks were put on
belt-driven lathes; patterns preferred by individual
players were in record books.
Examples of bats from individual players from the 2004
World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston
Red Sox.
The first Louisville Slugger.
There's a wall of all the professional baseball players who
have custom bats, including international players. There's
space on the wall for more.
End of the Day
On the way back to the hotel, there was a pickup truck in a
parking lot blowing bubbles. Visit Bubbletruck.com for artist
Sonny Fenwick's works.
The Trip Home
Around 1530, 11 August 2005 on I-68E in WV it started raining, badly enough that I was considering getting off the road, finding a hotel and waiting out the storm overnight. The rain let up in only a couple of minutes. But approaching Exit 7 (Morgantown, WV) the traffic had slowed, then stopped. I slowed and stopped OK - but looking in my rearview mirror, the Jeep behind me looked like it couldn't stop! I got rear-ended; however when I drove onto the shoulder nothing seemed amiss with my car, and I got back into the main lanes. I passed multiple cars stopped on the shoulders and even in the divider ditches - seems the rain had caused multiple accidents and pile-ups in both directions.
I pulled off on Exit 7. The rain had stopped by this time (1545). The person who hit me had followed. The damage to my car consisted of a 4-inch gash on the right side of my rear bumper, with consequent damage to the absorber underneath. We exchanged information, and eventually I was on my way again. Made it home around 2100.