By Rachel - 7/13/06

Today we left Indianapolis and drove to Louisville, KY. When we got settled, we went to the Churchill Downs horse track. We were there about five years ago. One of the only things I remembered from that first time is a plastic horse that you get on and you press the button to start the race. You want to stay still and not touch the saddle with your bottom. There were a lot of hands-on things to do. The one was a scale to see if you can be light or heavy enough to be a jockey. We did a walking tour which lets you see the stalls for the horses and other places around the track. There were ten races going on. It is much quieter than a NASCAR race. There was a 15 minute movie about Churchill Downs. There were screens all around the room. Barbaro, the 2006 Derby winner, isn’t going to race another race in his life because he hurt his leg after the Kentucky Derby. We got to see one real close-up view of a real Derby horse. He had a little friend that is a miniature pony named Winston. When we were done on the first level of the museum, we went onto the second level. It was not as big as the first level. There was one thing that was supposed to give you the feeling of being in the starting gate. There was a model of a horse that you could get up on, and there were big mirrors around you so you could see yourself. On the left, there was a white line of a jockey’s position. You had to try to match up to the position. When we got done in there, we went to Bootleg Bar-B-Q. When we got back to the campground, Sis and I went to the free miniature golf course. Hole seven was flooded out. Then we went to the playground. It was very hot. I got four postcards today.