Why is that Bridge Purple?

Today was easily the most enjoyable day of the trip. However I don't think that is solely due to the fact that we only drove 400 miles, but the fact we are able to do lots of things today. We did things in 3 different cities and Ellie had a blast. In fact, every time I asked her what her favorite thing of the day was, I would get a different answer.

The day started off with some activities in Cincinnati that I hadn't planned until last night. Originally I was just going to get up and leave Cincinnati for Louisville. However, I decided we may as well do something in Cincinnati since we were already there and today was a short distance day. I talked to Diane and she told me about the Purple People Bridge and I read on-line that you can go up to the top of the Carew Tower, which is the tallest building in Cincinnati. So I decided that is what we would do. However, before we did those things, I went for a short run through a lovely neighborhood, and ate some whole wheat pancakes with chocolate chips in them. They reminded me of warm oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips. That is never a bad thing to have for breakfast. I also had to wake Ellie up so she would eat breakfast before we went. As expected she was quite grumpy. Ellie is not a morning person at all, and takes after me in this way. This coupled with the fact that she wasn't going to play with Elsa, put her in a foul mood to say the least. However we were able to pack up the car and leave by 9:00 with tons of food that Diane gave us.

Our first stop of the day was the Carew Tower. The Carew Tower is nothing special to look at architecturally. However, it is pretty tall - 45 stories to be exact. So we drove downtown, searched for 10 minutes to find the parking lot for the Tower and then went to the top. We got up there and wandered around for a few minutes. We were able to get a great view of the city. If only it hadn't been so hazy. We were able to get a couple of good pictures, before heading back downstairs, so we could drive a mile or so to the "Purple People Bridge."

We got to the park where the bridge is, paid our 2 dollars, got Ellie in the stroller and walked to the bridge. This bridge is a pedestrian only bridge that crosses the Ohio River, which separates Ohio and Kentucky. We walked the half mile across the bridge, so Ellie could say she had been to Kentucky, and then we turned around and headed back to Ohio, which was where we had parked our car.


That meant our next stop was Kentucky, where we had two planned stops - the Louisville temple and Churchill Downs. Louisville is only about an hour from Cincinnati, which made for an easy drive. It was more of the same stuff we had seen over the previous two days - rolling hills, but I enjoy looking at it. We made it to the Louisville Temple, which I feel is in a weird location. It is directly off a somewhat busy road, but I am sure the Church members in Louisville are grateful it is there. We had to take our temple pictures at an angle, so we wouldn't get the men working on the roof in the picture. Ellie enjoyed wandering around the grounds and then it was off to Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs is located near downtown Louisville. What is cool about its location is the fact that it is near all of the University of Louisville athletic facilities, so there are a lot of sporting arenas that are nearby. We weren't able to spend a lot of time there, but we were able to wander around a small portion of the Kentucky Derby Museum. Even if we didn't have the time constraints we had, I wouldn't have paid the $25 it would have cost to get me and Ellie in so we could see the whole thing. I watch the Kentucky Derby every year, but I am not that into to it. :) Ellie enjoyed the statue of Barbaro out front, as well as the starting gate that was inside. It would have been sweet if we had seen some live horses, or if we could have gone out to the track, but it wasn't meant to be.



After that, all that was left, was for us to go St. Louis, which was our final stop for the day. However, as we were leaving Louisville I saw a White Castle and made the decision to stop there and grab lunch. As I said on Facebook, I think White Castle is totally overrated. They aren't bad burgers, but they aren't anything special. I can now say I have had them once, but I don't need to have them ever again. However, to be fair Ellie and I both enjoyed their onion rings more than their burgers. In case you are wondering their onion rings are in fact better than In-N-Out's, but their burgers aren't even close to being as good.

Anyway, we got back on the road and drove to St. Louis via Indiana and Illinois. What was stunning was that there is literally one town in between Louisville and St. Louis, along I-64. That would be Mt. Vernon, Illinois. I actually drove through about 150 miles of Indiana and didn't see a single town in Indiana. It was shocking actually. Apparently there is nothing worth seeing in Indiana. :)

We made it to St. Louis and I was taken aback at how large the Gateway Arch is. It is surprising how big it is. I really liked how you could see it for several miles as you drove into St. Louis. We got out of the car, and were immediately slapped by the humidity. I hate the sticky feeling that humidity brings. Unfortunately there was no grace period, it just gave us a very rude welcome. Once we regained our composure we staggered into the Arch's visitor center. We then signed in, and rode the little capsule/tram up to the top. These little cars hold 5 people each and they are tiny. They are so small that I kept hitting my head on the ceiling as I would try to sit more comfortably. The ride is smoother than you would expect, and you get a pretty good view from the top. However, just like Cincinnati the weather was hazy and so the pictures didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but it was still an impressive view. The worst part of the visit was how stuffy it was in the cars and up at the top. It really started to bother Ellie and she was quite happy once we got to the bottom of the arch. We took a couple of pictures and then called my friend Dave to find out where he was, so we could all go to dinner.


We found Dave and he took us to this place Pappy's, which was a good barbecue place. I had actually heard of it before, because I saw it on the show Man vs. Food. Ellie and I shared a nice pulled pork sandwich, before we headed off with Dave to the St. Louis temple where we were able to get some nice pictures. They would have been better but the light wasn't the best. At the temple Ellie also saw her first deer. I almost got a picture of Ellie looking at the deer, but Ellie was a little loud for the deer and so it took off. I think her favorite part of the temple was the fact she could run through the fountain at this temple. Needless to say she was soaked by the time we left, but she was thoroughly happy.

The day ended with us coming back to Dave's, where I gave Ellie a bath and put her to bed. While I think this was her favorite day due to all of the activities, for some reason the potty training took it tough today. She wet herself 3 times in the space of 30 minutes in Louisville (hence all of the different outfits), so we are hoping for a better day tomorrow. Apparently my daughter isn't 100% perfect. I guess I am okay with 99%. After I put her down for the night, Dave and I got caught up on life for the rest of the night, and now I am updating my blog.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. The plan is to drive 600 miles tomorrow. However we will be spending a couple hours in both Louisville and Nashville, which I am hoping makes the trip a little easier. I am excited about eating at Rendezvous in Memphis, as it was recommended to me when I was in college dating a girl from Memphis. We also plan to wander around Beale Street before going to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Our final stop of the night is Decatur, Alabama. Wish us luck.

The totals for today - 6:45 of driving, 414 miles, 2 temples, 4 accidents, 4 states, 1 wonderful pulled pork sandwich, 4 sliders from White Castle and my first experience in a long time with some serious humidity. I can only imagine what Florida and Georgia will be like. :) Good night...