Louisville

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Since the boys are both gone at Camp Ondessonk, Bill and I went on another travel date. The weather was iffy so we shelved our Plan A hike at O’Bannon Woods and chose to explore art in Louisville.   The first stop was the Big Four Bridge.  It was built in 1895 as a railroad bridge and decommissioned in the 1960s. Including the ramps, it’s a one mile walk over the Ohio River from Louisville to Jeffersonville, Indiana. 

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This statue greeted us when we turned around in Jeffersonville.  We also discovered the Tree Walk, a 1.5 mile walking route where 140+ trees have been planted that represent over 70 species native to and/or suitable to be grown in Southern Indiana. We thought this would be a fun component of an upcoming scout adventure. 

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Our next stop was the Speed Art Museum. 

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Outside was Palaver by Matthew Moore.  This giant tobacco leaf hangs over a communal table inviting people in.

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Spencer Finch’s Kentucky Sunlight is an LED display that is illuminated 24/7.

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In the Kentucky Collection, a number of pieces caught our eye including Chief Director, Mechanic Fire Company No. 1.  The chief was perched atop the firehouse and when an alarm sounded, it was rotated to direct volunteers to the scene of the fire.

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This wee silver violin by Jacob R. Esterle was one of my favorites.

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We both liked the pig flasks. 

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The American Library by Yinka Shonibare CBE was visually so appealing. This artist created an installation of six thousand books which are covered in the artist’s signature Dutch wax printed cotton textile. These fabrics were originally based on Indonesian batik textiles, made in the Netherlands and sold in West Africa.  The spines of the books are imprinted with names of people who immigrated, or whose antecedents immigrated to the United States.

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We had a lovely docent, coincidentally from New York, who passionately told us all about the collections. She shared that this was one of her favorite pieces in the museum, often overlooked by visitors.  The painting was only about a foot square but the details were so finely portrayed.

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She asked Bill to photograph the guests at the dining table and when he did, we could see the artist had included their facial features.

We looked at all of the collections and then headed off to our third stop—The Colonel Sanders Museum.

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This is housed in the office space for the YUM center.  It’s free and a little quirky but it was fun to learn more about KFC and its founder.

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A life-sized animatron greeted us at the door and so the story began.

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The pressure cooker and the 11 herbs and spices might be the key to KFC success. 

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The visit was quick which allowed us enough time to squeeze in a trip to Trader Joe’s before dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant.  It’s nothing special from the outside but boy, did the food pack a punch. We sampled Goi Cuon Bo (spring rolls filled with avocado, lettuce and bean sprouts and served with peanut sauce), Dau Hu Xao Ca Tim Nam Tuoi (stir fried tofu with eggplant and fresh mushrooms), Green Curry Tofu and rice.  The menu was much larger than our local Vietnamese restaurant so I grabbed one to study.  Maybe I can get them to make me one of these dishes here. 

Louisville has much to offer in the way of art and fare so I am glad Bill and I got to take some time to explore it together. 

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