Getting ready to check out of the hotel.
We'd asked for a refrigerator, and that itsy bitsy white object is what we found in the room. (Those are carrots inside....) It was very quiet, I'll say that for it.
I knew this sort of thing existed -- for keeping one's insulin cold, maybe? It surely doesn't have much use beyond that! It has room for one can of pop or two small yogurts, and that's all. We were glad we brought the cooler, so we could have half gallons of milk and oj!
We've checked out. One last look at where the river is, compared to where it was when we arrived. This is Fourth Street, where it dead-ends at River Road.
Tighter crop of the above -- that platform thing, upper left, is where I stood to take many flood pics on several different days. It was my goal the day the waves were near my toes when I wanted to walk up the stairs on the side which faces the river.
You can see the blue-sign-with-white-lettering that was nearly submerged, the first day we saw it, as well as one of the historical markers (very light, far right, with river behind it).
Remember that the fire hydrant was mostly submerged, just a few days ago.
Here we are, standing on the platform seen up two images -- these are the stairs I climbed a couple of days ago. The debris at the bottom is evidence that area was still under water just recently.
Up another level from that platform, looking at the river boats. I believe we ought to be able to walk out to the river boats, and conclude the river is still above flood stage.
See the pink handrails, bottom left? We saw one of those, barely above water, the first day I walked out here.
One last look at Indiana, on a lovely March day.
This clock (barely visible, just left of center, above) is clearly visible to a person standing in Ohio. I wonder why they went to the trouble and expense of making sure that people in Louisville know what time it is......
Looking up at the hotel, enjoying the rick-rack texture on the side. Those two disks at the top are the restaurant.
Driving on River Road, where ducks swam just days ago!
I read that River Road becomes quite scenic, further east, but right here, under the expressway, not my cup of tea!
We went to the science museum. They were having a Star Trek exhibit, so we had to see that. I was never a Trekkie, but I watched the original show (and its re-runs), and have seen many episodes of the later shows, and some of the movies.
Alas, no pics allowed. This I could understand, at least -- Star Trek stuff is new enough to be under copyright. But it was frustrating, nonetheless.
They had a lot of costumes, as you'd expect. Kinda cool, to see the actual outfit worn by Whoopi Goldberg. (The info with it said that she got on the show by contacting someone -- Roddenberry? -- and saying she wanted on. Pays to be famous!)
There was a model of the spherical Borg ship (so much detail!), and lots of weapons. I didn't know (but it makes perfect sense) that there are "stunt props" which are crude -- just good enough to look as expected on camera -- and "hero props," which are much more detailed, for closeups.
There were "memory devices" (can't remember what they were called) that were pieces of etched colored plexiglas ... about the same size as a thumb drive we'd use for the same purpose.
There were "communicators" -- so big, so clunky-looking -- which led directly to the first cell phone. The info said the person who made the first cell phone (in 1973) was inspired by Star Trek communicators.
The coolest thing, though, was what was said to be Captain Kirk's real captain's chair from the bridge of the Enterprise. Best of all, we were allowed to sit in it! !!!!!!!!! Very cool!!!!! (See what it looks like here.)
Someone was working in the exhibit, taking pics of people in the chair, which you could purchase later. If I'd had a uniform, I totally would have had my picture taken, but in my street clothes? Too weird.
(When I was describing this to my daughter, she said "Wait. If you *had the uniform, too*, it wouldn't be weird???" "That's right! It would be totally cool, if I had a uniform!")
The photographer said that A LOT of people who came through did have uniforms. And wigs. and Spock ears........
Anyway -- I was glad I had a chance to sit in that chair. It has "controls" on the arms -- things that look like they are buttons, and various other less-familiar objects, but none of them can move when touched. All for looks.......
They also had a transporter that was from one of the movies. We were allowed to stand in it -- and imagine getting home without the 6-hour drive.....
Lots of props, lots of costumes, lots of info.
They had information about the science -- about the tools used in Star Trek that have come true, like communicators, and lasers used in medicine, and about things that may never come true, like the transporter, and warp drive.
The exhibit was more fun than I'd expected, and I was glad to have seen it (and to have sat in the chair!) Wish I had some pics, especially of me (in uniform!) in the captain's chair!
Looking at the rest of the museum.
Water-play area. I was amused by the very low hand-driers. They also had a whole rack of little raincoats......
The Smithsonian Castle, in Washington, DC, has (used to have?) a big exhibit of manufacturers' displays from some 19th century extravaganza.
This display of brushes reminds me of those displays.
Love it, and want the brushes. I'll take the whole thing, please.
Wonder about the intended use for all those different kinds/sizes of brushes!
In the same area, there were examples of cutting-edge technology for the day......
Yikes! So glad I am allowed to have my hair way too short to have to think I should curl it!
I saw lots of models of architecture, in Louisville, in several different locations.
The sign says this is Fort Boonesborough.
In another area, some more "old" technology........ This is said to be a real training capsule for one of the early space missions.
We were allowed to sit in it, too!!!! If we could fit........... The space was pretty small. And uncomfortable. I could fit, but wasn't sure I'd have been appropriately padded for take-off or landing......
All the switches and dials really flipped and dialed!
Cool. And, as my better half said, "It's all so ... mechanical..........." Scary and ... awesome ... what people can do with just their squashy wet brains!
It's a nice little science museum. Lots of stuff for little kids to do.
There were people there, but it wasn't crowded. That was my experience of the history museum, the zoo, the art museum..... It was very nice for the people who were there, to be able to see everything without crowds, but I wonder if the venues can support themselves on the level of attendance I witnessed. I only saw crowds at the bridge tournament, and one day when I dodged into the lobby of the science museum to find that the four school buses out front translated into a mob of high school kids inside.
Before we left home, I'd "walked" on Main and Market in Google street view, and had thought they looked creepily empty. Not many cars, and hardly any pedestrians. It was exactly like that in person. I could jaywalk (like the natives) across four-lane roads any time I wanted, as long as it wasn't rush hour. Except immediately outside a "destination" spot, pedestrians were few and far between, and an awful lot of those few were men (during working hours), sauntering rather than going somewhere......
Thinking again of my last trip -- this dearth of pedestrian traffic was in sharp contrast to everywhere we went in France, except Carcassonne.
In my experience, if you want a real, viable, downtown, people have to live there. If no one lives there, you get the creepy abandoned feeling.......... Commuting in to work, leaving at the earliest possibility, does not make for a vibrant downtown.
If you make a downtown people MUST leave, early and often, to procure the things people need every day (bread, say), people will be less likely to live there. You have to have groceries, and pharmacies, and schools, and laundromats, and all the sorts of things people need in their daily lives.
It's clear that many people in downtown Louisville are working on turning things around. I saw much new and refurbished housing. I saw many businesses in newly-refurbished buildings -- art galleries, restaurants, architectural firms.
I wish them well! It looks to me like they have a hard row to hoe.
After the science museum, we went in the lobby of the baseball bat museum and factory. There was a lot to see in the lobby, including some bats of the kinds used by famous players for us to pick up and imagine swinging. The baseball aficionado said multiple times that he didn't care about seeing the rest of the museum, or the factory (it was getting kind of late in the day....).
I seriously wish I had taken a pic of the whole wall of signatures of baseball players who have been under contract to Louisville Slugger. Hundreds and hundreds of these 2"x4"(ish?) rectangles. They sold (and sell) real bats with signatures like these on them. My better half had an Al Kaline bat, when he was a kid.....
By this time it was getting on for 3:00 pm. Time to go home.
We are on River Road, headed east. The entrance to the expressway was just blocks from the museums (and fewer blocks from the hotel).
Don't you love it when people plant daffodils beside the road for you to enjoy?
The expressway we saw in Kentucky is hilly and winding. Sometimes they blast through the hilltops, to make a less uppy-downy ride.
Left lane for Cincinnati.
I noticed this on our way west -- I believe it's bamboo!
You don't have to go too far south of Ann Arbor to see ghostly sycamores in the landscape. We have sycamores in town, in Michigan, but you don't see them "in the wild" the way you do in Ohio and Kentucky.
There was fine weather for this part of our trip. (It rained when we got to Toledo, and rained the rest of the way home.)
Rest stop in Kentucky, not far south of Cincinnati. You can see there's a matching one on the other side of the highway, and can see the highway disappearing into the north, just above the farthest-away silver station wagon on this side of the parking lot.
That's our red car, spicing up the monochromaticity.
That rest stop was where I commenced to drive, and when my turn was up, it was dark.
This is the last pic of our trip to Louisville.
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