As seems to be a pattern with us, we started our morning behind schedule. Not that we have a very strict schedule that we need to maintain or anything, we're just perpetually late. Changing timezones certainly don't do us any favors, either. We started the day in the Eastern timezone, then traveled to Central. Smartphones are amazing and they do this neat little thing where they automatically update the time on your phone based on the timezone you're in, but if you're not paying attention then you might end up missing your meeting that took place at 9am Pacific Time because you thought you had an extra hour. Oops.
Our first stop today was Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood Home. Apparently Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana all want to claim Abe Lincoln and his family, so you have to be very specific when saying you saw Abe Lincoln's home. We went to the one in Indiana, where he lived as a child and where his mother is buried. They have a "living farm" there where we met a nice girl named Taylor in a replica of his home who likes re-enacting. She entertained all of the children's questions, let them play with some replica toys from the time period, and played/sang Yankee Doodle Dandy to us on a dulcimer. We went to see more of the farm and she went on her way to pick vegetables from the garden.
The kids saw some of the livestock on the farm (chickens and sheep, but we didn't make it to the cows) before moving back out front. About 15 feet from the replica house was a box trailer that had just opened its window and revealed a small blacksmith setup. CJ stoked his fire with the bellows to heat up some iron while we chatted with him. He said every year he volunteers to come out and practice his blacksmithing hobby (he's a professional carpenter) for a week and replace any broken or damaged equipment. He was a pretty cool guy who worked the iron with his hammer, anvil, and vice into a little S hook that he sent home with us as a souvenir.
We drove down the road about 15 minutes until we got to the small town of Santa Claus, Indiana. You've heard of people stuck in the past, like in the 80s, right? Well, this is a town stuck in a season. It's Christmas everywhere, all the time. The biggest draw here seems to be a theme park called "Holiday World".We went to the visitor's center where the kids all got stickers and recommendations for where to spend our hour in the area. "K" went into an ornament shop ( because people need ornaments year-round) before heading down the road to the Santa Claus museum. I'm not sure what was in there, because "B" needed some time away from the other kids, so I waited in the car with her while everyone else went in. I know they wrote letters to Santa, though, and I heard a rumor that they mail a response back later in the year. My favorite thing about Santa Clause, IN though is the police cars:
Up next, we drove to downtown Louisville, Kentucky. We parked under an overpass and walked up to the Louisville Slugger factory and posed beneath the world's largest baseball bat. As a fun side note, our pastor is from Louisville and he said he was there when the bat was flown unto position by helicopter. That bad boy is HUGE. After that, we walked up the road another block and went into the Kentucky Science Center which was like Mobius on steroids. This was a really cool place for the kids. 3 stories high with stuff to keep the 2-year-old, the 15-year-old, and everyone in between entertained. I think they must have some kind of partnership with UPS, because they had a few signs referencing them, a UPS truck converted into a toy, and a decent sized model UPS plane (next to a working flight sim) in the center. The kids had a blast building a ball roller coaster, using another giant Lite Brite, playing with airflow, building rockets, and more. We spent several hours here, and probably would have spent more time except they closed at 5 and kicked us out.
Finally, we hopped in the car and drove back north to Cincinnati, Ohio. Once again, the kids didn't sleep as soon, as well, or as long as we wanted, but there's always tomorrow!