Churchill, Bourbon, Temple and Garth...Day 3

We headed out to Wild eggs for breakfast which was just down the street from us.  It was packed even at 10:00 on a week day so we thought that was a pretty good sign.  

It was a fun place with really neat egg art on the walls and the restroom doors cracked me up.  We loved this print of the runny egg, but it wasn't quite the same when we were in the picture with it.  

We sat there watching each table get their food delivered and oohed and awed at all the yummy looking food. We ordered the Raspberries and Lemons Oh My! (Buttermilk pancakes with raspberries, lemon curd, raspberry sauce, whipped cream and powdered sugar) and the Mr. Potato Head Casserole. (Hashbrown potatoes baked with sour cream, diced onions, spices and cheddar-jack cheese.  Topped with breakfast sausage, diced tomatoes, poblano peppers, roasted mushrooms, queso fundido and an egg your way.) The whole menu had really fun and clever names so it was fun reading through the menu.  The whole meal was yummy!  Totally making the pancakes with lemon curd and raspberries at home. 

 After breakfast we headed to Louisville again for some unfinished business.  There's no way I could return there and not visit Churchill Downs.  It was hilarious.  We went in a different way than I had every single time I had been there.  Sheri kept telling me the directions and I kept insisting that it wasn't in this area but on the opposite side.  We were back behind the fair grounds and then I saw a huge screen and said that we had found the drive in.  Not so much.  It ended up being the jumbo tron for Churchill.  I couldn't believe it.  How had I never been to that area of town?  Ever.  It was good to be back in familiar territory although it had changed too.  Barbaro was now buried right there on sight, and the stands were enormous.  They had continued to add on and were now expecting 175,000 at this Derby.  I think I remembered it being 140,000.

We had fun visiting the Kentucky Derby Museum.  They've done a fabulous job there for all ages actually.

My new bracelet I got there.

These are the pants worn by the jockey last year riding American Pharoah.  (my horse)

Don't mess with me when I'm in a horse race.

I've got to work on my hat placement.

Visit Churchill Downs.  CHECK

 We then went out near Shepherdsville to the Jim Beam Distillery.  We were in bourbon country so it seemed fitting.  When we arrived at the property we were in awe at how beautiful it was.  There were gorgeous black barns, the yards were well maintained, and there were barns and buildings dotting the rolling hills.  We tried to purchase tour tickets but they were sold out.  We really wanted to do the bus tour so that we could be driven around the rolling hills and see all the barns so we bought $10 tickets for the next day.  While we were there we walked around, shot a couple pictures, I almost fell down a well, and we got some yummy BBQ right there on the property.

Jim Beam Distillery.  CHECK

Smoked Brisket and pulled pork sandwiches with homemade chips and mac & cheese.

Driving back to Louisville we drove through Bernheim Forest which was a beautiful park with trails, lakes, park benches everywhere, and poles with several bird houses on them.  

 We got back to the motel and with it still be so cold and windy there, I said was going to just climb in bed and get cozy for just a minute.  Well I ended up falling asleep.  I woke up and called the temple to see if we could make an appointment for that evening.  We left within a few minutes and went to Crestwood to see the new temple.  At least it was new to me.  It was announced in 1999, the year after we left.  It was tiny and reminded me of the South Carolina Temple.  We were given a tour and were shown all the new beautiful artwork they had just gotten.  Some of the pieces I had never seen and they were beautiful.

While doing temple work there, I heard a phrase that I have loved for so many years. I shed tears every time I hear it and that time it wasn't any different.  Yet, it was.  I was thinking about the promises, the reason I was in Louisville right then, the time of year, and being in that specific temple.  That's when I recognized my fifth tender mercy on the trip. All these years I've had Louisville on a pedestal, it almost being a sacred place.  Yet, I have what is truly sacred to me, 24 hours a day, no matter where I am in the world, how I'm feeling, or who I'm with.  I was overcome with so much gratitude and love as the Spirit bore witness to me that as long as I live like I know I should, I can be protected.  I know it to be true.  I'm living proof.  I was so happy to have been able to attend their small yet beautiful temple, and the huge inspired insight I got that day.

Attend the Louisville temple.  CHECK

After the temple we headed back to our motel to change because we had somewhere we needed to go.  haha.  Of all places?  We were headed to the building that ruined my Louisville skyline, the KFC yum Center to see Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

 Talk about going, going, and going that day.  Our concert was at 10:30 P.M.  Not knowing what traffic would be like downtown, we wanted to get their with plenty of time in case we had to park several blocks away.  The streets were insane.  Garth had done a 7:30 concert also, so there were thousands of people trying to leave the venue while we were trying to get in.  We weren't sure if we were going to find a place or be able to move over lanes if we needed to.  All of a sudden there was a parking garage on our left with vacancy.  We zoomed over, well not exactly, but I've learned how to be an aggressive driver when necessary, and we found a place in the parking garage.  Sheri took a picture to know where we had left the car in the garage and we began to make our trek.  It was so cold yet there were ding dong girls wearing shorts and skirts to their you know wheres.  Really?  You'd choose that over being warm??  We found the line for the Yum Center and waited for about half an hour, while Sheri and I stood close to each other to create some sort of warmth.  Then, the doors opened.  Don't be fooled.  There were thousands of us that had to be funneled through security.  We made it up to the doors and looked behind us only to see a sea of people waiting.  There was no way we would all get in on time for the concert.  Walking in, it was neat seeing the new building and learning that the U of L Cardinals play their games there.  D would think it was cool, so it instantly became cool to me too.  

 At 11:15 the concert started.  You would have thought we'd be exhausted and too old for that, but it was exciting and we giggled over the fact that this wasn't the norm for either of us.  Garth came out and began singing and the fans went crazy.  After about five minutes, he said that Trisha was home sick and that we would be stuck with him all night.  Again, the crowd went wild.  After just watching him perform for five minutes, my disappointment in no Trisha lasted about as long as it took to type this sentence.  He was the best performer I had ever seen and I have never even owned a song of his.  He was amazing.  He was fun, he was great live, he was great with the crowd, he was energetic, he sang all the songs you had heard before, and quite frankly you didn't want it to end.  After about an hour and a half, he and his band walked off stage.  Really?  Had it gone by that quickly?  I'm his newest super fan.  He came back out with just himself and his guitar.  He played any requests for half an hour even if they weren't his songs.  You knew he had to have been exhausted but you would have never known it by his performance.  He went to leave the stage one more time and the crowd insisted he remain, so he did.  He sang a couple more songs for us and it was over.

I needed his CD.  I needed a concert tee.  I loved this guy.  If you have a chance to go see him.  GO.  Actually I think his CD arrived yesterday so I'm going to race out to my mailbox and get it, then smother my kids with Garth Brooks for the next few weeks.  And, I couldn't help myself.  I've never bought a concert tee, but since it wasn't black with his photo on it, I heard it talk to me and so I bought it.

 The concert went until 1:30 in the morning.  We laughed and reminisced about what an awesome concert we had been to and how lucky we were to have been able to go.  Garth hadn't been in Louisville for 17-19 years and we were there that weekend.  So cool.  We finally went to bed at 3:00 that morning with our alarms set so that we could go back to the distillery for our bus tour.  Silly girls. Such a great day.

Garth Brooks Concert.  CHECK