Back in the USA

It has been four years since I started my travels.  During the four years I have visited the United States three times and each visit makes it painfully clear to me that as the years go by I have less and less in common with the country that was my home for 62 years.

I came back this year to tend to some personal matters…none of which I accomplished…and to drive the Lewis and Clark trail with my friend Joyce.  I spent six weeks in Louisville, my home town, visiting friends, exploring and marveling at the change in appearance as well as mood.

Barges on the Ohio River

Louisville is a river town first and foremost. The city started on an island in the middle of the Ohio River in 1778….Corn Island, which disappeared long ago in the 1937 floods that devastated the city. Today the river still continues to be the main focus as most of the energy and money for development goes towards the riverfront.

There are great old iron front buildings along Main Street (we have the second largest number outside of SOHO in New York) dating to a time when the river was lined with paddlewheeler’s  and mule wagons hauled seed, tobacco, tools and hemp into the large brick warehouses that filled the space between Main Street and the river.  Today the street is lined with restored buildings, theaters, performing arts centers and museums and the area that was once filled with warehouses is a grand park dotted with sculpture, restaurants and large lawns for concerts and fireworks. Louisville has an abundance of green space which is what makes it one of the more livable cities in America.

Iron front buildings on Main Street

In the heart of the old district stands one of the newest and most innovative of the business offering…21C…a combination contemporary art museum and boutique hotel. It has been so successful that they have expanded to Cincinnati, OH  and Bentonville, AK. It is easy to spot as you walk down Main St…..there is a life sized statue of David on a pedestal in front covered in gold leaf and the roof is lined with magenta plastic penguins….how could you miss it.

21c Hotel and Museum

Further down the street is the famous factory where they make the Louisville Slugger baseball bats….again you can’t miss it look for the 3 story baseball bat leaning against the building.

Main Street’s Iron Front Buildings

Standing on the Belvedere overlooking the the cluster of modern buildings we are well represented by some of the major architects of the 20th century…postmodernist Michael Graves, modernist Mies van der Rohe and John Burgee who partnered with Phillip Johnson to make some of the most iconic skyscraper’s of the 70’s and 80’s

William Clark and his brother General George Rodgers Clark are part of the history of the city….the small town across the river in Indiana is named Clarksville after William Clark who lived there until he left on his great journey… and so it is fitting for my friend Joyce and me to start our road trip following the Lewis and Clark Trail from my home town of Louisville.  We will be traveling the back roads and keeping off the Interstates as much as possible. This will allow us to get a sense of what is happening behind the scenes in small town America while we absorb the history of the Lewis and Clarks great journey of discovery.  I will post about the trip in the next few weeks.