Week 50 - Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville - 07-29-2007

Howdy from the Mid West!

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was created in 1909 not for racing, but as a test track. In 1911 it was paved in bricks, the first year of the Indy 500.

We drove the motorhome under the speedway to park inside. The lanes were so narrow that we drive only 5 mph to avoid hitting posts with our mirrors. As we did this, semi-trucks passed us at about 30! Today the track is paved with asphalt. The original brick starting line is still in place.
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1) 1911 winning car, the Marmon Wasp driven by Ray Harroun, average speed 74.59 mph 2) Not an Indy racer, the 1886 Benz Patent Motor Car, top speed 10 mph, was considered the birth of the modern car era. 3) Other winners in the Indy 500 museum. 4) Andy Granatelli's 1967 turbine car. Parnelli Jones led 171 of the 200 laps in this novel car. A $6 bearing failed on lap 197. In 1968 three turbines were entered and all three suffered a similar fate. In 1968 the USAC "banned" the turbines by restricting the air intake to less than what a turbine needed.

Today's Indy cars qualify at over 200 mph and average around 160 mph during the race. They complete one 2 1/2 mile lap in less than 50 seconds. Below is an aerial photo of the track. Did anyone know that the facility contains an 18 hole golf course? Four holes are inside the track. "Gentlemen, start your golf game".

Louisville, Kentucky is home of the "Louisville Slugger", the most sold baseball bat in America. And the largest as seen below. The company was started in 1842 by a German immigrant, J. Frederick Hillerich. His son Bud was the first to "turn" a baseball bat for himself and fellow teammates. More requests came for the bats from professional baseball players. J. Frederick said he would make a few, based on a promise that there would be no more requests. And the rest is history. Hillerich & Bradsby Co. now employs 470 people in nine locations and creates 3,000 bats per day. Originally, a bat took 60 minutes to hand turn. On the tour, Pete saw the automatic lathe produce one bat every 30 seconds. The ash and maple come from the 9,000 acres they own in New York and Pennsylvania.

The Belle Louisville river boat on the Ohio River. Lunch at "Joe Knows Crabs" waterfront restaurant.

The Grand Ole Opry: We thought it was a bit strange that you sit in pews and they have commercials every 6 to 8 minutes. Then we learned the history. WSM 650 AM, the second radio station in the world, started in 1925 by the National Life and Accident Insurance Company. They featured country western singers. In 1927 they changed the program name to the Grand Ole Opry. Folks began to crowd the radio station hallways to watch the performers and it was the beginning of an era that has never stopped. The Grand Ole Opry is the longest running radio program in the world. In 1943 the Opry moved into the Ryman Auditorium, which was a church. In 1974 the current house was built. As we watched the show from our pews, the program was broadcast over WSM Radio.

Among the ole time stars we saw were Charlie Pride and Porter Wagner. The show lasts about two hours with 30 to 40 different acts. As seen above, there is also a free outdoor stage with performances from May to July.

We have updated our map to show the states that we traveled through on Tour 2006 and Tour 2007. One of our goals this year is to visit a least a little bit of every state. Unless plans change this is as far south as we will go. Next week we will head to Missouri. Then on to Burlington, Iowa, where Pete was born.

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Jul 2007