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In the heart of Old Louisville overlooking Central Park is the Conrad-Caldwell House Museum, known as Louisville’s Castle. In the 1890’s, Theophile Conrad commissioned local architect Arthur Loomis of Clarke & Loomis to design this stone masterpiece. It is one of the finest examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the world.  

Our first trip to Italy was transformational. Art, history, adventure, and trauma (lost luggage) combined to leave a lasting impression and a strong desire to return.

While in Florence, we stayed at the Hotel De Lansi. It provided a comfortable home base with easy walking to many of the pictures we had seen in our art history books while in college. Carolynn was a walking encyclopedia of insight and information about the Renaissance and it's cast of characters. One of our favorite walks was looking for the weird and unusual doors of Florence. 

The American Numismatic Association sponsors the largest and most important coin show each year called the World’s Fair of Money. It is held in August and rotates between the largest cities on the East Coast and Chicago. 

Our visit to the Cleveland Art Museum was awe-inspiring. Their collections are World Class. They have integrated state-of-the-art technology as a way to showcase and teach about their collections. They told us that every major museum in the world has visited to check out their new gallery that utilizes an Artlens app on an iPad as a wireless interactive personal guide for visitors.

We love Chicago.  It’s a city of big ideas with great public art in large open spaces.  One of the best way’s we have found to truly understand the remarkable vision Chicago’s builders had is to take the Chicago Architecture Foundation Cruise.

During our first trip to Italy, we spent 3 days in Florence. Out the window of our home base, Hotel De Lansi, was the main church of Florence, The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. The ideas and architectural techniques used to build its dome played an important role in igniting the Renaissance. 

A visit to the Falls of the Ohio River evokes feelings of an ancient time. Three hundred and seventy-five million years ago it was a tropical sea! These falls are the only natural obstruction on the river between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s one of those places that make you think in terms of geologic time. You realize how short our time on Earth really is and yet how we all are connected to a past long ago. For Louisvillians, it is the reason we are here. People had to stop and portage around the falls. Many stayed to start businesses and families. 

Last year was the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. If you want your understanding broadened, your senses dazzled, and your collector gene completely awed, The Civil War Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky is a must see. It has one of the largest collections of rare and authentic artifacts of any Civil War Museum in the country. Prominent Civil War magazine, The North and South, named it the 4th best in the U.S. out of 500. This is quite a surprise for this great small Central Kentucky town.

It is difficult to find a true intergenerational family experience that entertains, educates, and inspires, but on our recent road trip to SanAntonio, Texas, we found one. We went to Enchanted Springs Ranch with aunt, uncle, niece, twin 5-year olds, and a fifth grader and we all loved it!!

If you are interested in a combination of Revolutionary and Civil War history, and are passing through rural Virginia, then Tappahannock, on the Rappahannock River is one of your destinations.  Being central to so many stories of America’s past, any road you take getting there will deepen your understanding of the ancestors we owe gratitude to for our modern way of life.  Throughout its history, the Rappahannock River has nurtured all of America’s inhabitants from Native Americans to native wildlife.

Route 66 took us off the beaten path to discover the amazing Acoma Indians. Members of the Acoma tribe have continuously lived atop a 70-acre plateau called Sky City since 1000 A.D. That’s right- 500 years before Columbus hit our shores in 1492. Sky City is nearly 370 feet above the canyon floor in the desert of Western New Mexico. About 50 Acoma Indians now inhabit the once thriving Pueblo.

Louisville, Kentucky has repurposed a 118-year-old railroad bridge over the Ohio River into the longest pedestrian bridge in the United States. It connects Louisville with Jeffersonville, Indiana by foot, bicycle, and mindset. Spectacular sunrises and sunsets can be viewed on a regular basis. You can marvel at the power of the river as it rolls beneath you toward New Orleans. You can see how the river widens at The Falls of the Ohio to almost a mile.

One of my favorite road trips is to shadow Route 66 along its way west and back again.  Our road trip started in Louisville, Kentucky and picked up Route 66 in St. Louis and ended in southwest New Mexico. Originally, Route 66 ran from Chicago, Illinois through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before ending in Los Angeles, California. Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west specifically during the dustbowl in the 1930’s. They were looking for agriculture jobs in California.  Businesses along the route thrived until the interstate highways came along. Route 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. When the highway was decommissioned, sections of the road were deposed of in various ways. Route 66 in New Mexico has been made into the National Scenic Byway, being replaced by I-40.  

Although I never get tired of facing off with Sue, the 67 million old, 42 foot long, and 13 feet high, Tyrannosaurus rex, we went back to the Field Museum to see its special exhibit called “Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair”. This exhibit is special because The Field Museum was primarily an outgrowth of The Columbian Exposition. Many of the artifacts and specimens on display have not been seen since the World’s Fair in 1893.

As a child, when we were watching Johnny Weissmuller swing through the jungle and swim at lightning speed in Tarzan’s Secret Treasures we really were experiencing Wakulla Springs State Park in Florida up close and personal.  While traveling to visit family in Gainesville we discovered this jungle gem 14 miles south of Tallahassee.  If you want the best family boat ride through an exotically diverse natural habitat, this is your spot. 

The Chicago History Museum showcases the important events, people, and groups that have had an impact on the city’s character. It’s a great spot to get the feel of what makes Chicago special. You leave understanding why Chicago is a city of big ideas. 

When we decided to go on our first trip to Europe, Italy was the destination. Being a coin collector, I wanted to look at examples from the large cities we were going to visit- Rome, Florence, and Venice. I asked a fellow collector I had met the previous summer while taking classes at the American Numismatic Association’s Summer Seminar (another story) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, if he had any suggestions. He told me about the Il Mio Hobby Coin Shop in Venice. As a total rookie in world travel, I found it hard to believe I could really find that spot in a land that seemed so far away.  

The huge Boboli Gardens behind the Petti Palace is a beautiful walk giving spectacular views of Florence in all her glory. We walked up the street that leads behind and overlooking the gardens. Every way you looked took your breath and fired your imagination about what had happened in this great Renaissance City. 

For thousands of years, humans have found areas in the world where the natural mineral springs seemed to miraculously help cure health ailments. For over 9000 years The Jefferson Pools have refreshed the fortunate few who knew her location. Warm mineral springs are relaxing, rejuvenating, and offer a great pit stop on a road trip to brush off the aches and pains of road travel.  Thomas Jefferson came in 1818 at the age of 75 suffering from what he called “rheumatism.”  He stayed for three weeks, taking the waters several times each day.  He reported their naturally warm mineral springs had a healing effect. Mrs. Robert E. Lee came often, but during the Civil War sorely missed her visits because of her fear of travel.  

West Baden Springs Hotel is a world-class spa built around a mineral springs in the middle of rural Southern Indiana. Built in 1902, it consists of a six-story domed atrium that is 200 feet in diameter. When you first see this unique structure, you are sure to wonder how and why it is located in Southern Indiana. 

On our way to San Antonio to visit our family, we decided to venture off The Beaten Path onto the Natchez Trace between Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. The 444-mile two-lane highway is a National Scenic Byway, All-American Road and Designated Bike route. We drove 17 miles southwest of Nashville on I-40W and took Exit 192 onto McCrary Lane. We went five miles to the entrance of the Park. We put on two of our “travel” CD’s consisting of the Grammy Songs from the last two years and headed out to find harmony in midst of a sometimes-troubled world. 

Let’s get off the interstate and “Go on Patrol!!” Today we are traveling on 31W, one of the original north south routes that run parallel to I-65 from Michigan to Alabama. On a car lot in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, we found Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear Museum. It is without a doubt the best free Car Museum in the U.S. Owner, Bill Swope, has collected and put on display 60 cars built between 1900 and 1970. They have been lovingly restored in every detail. I am a collector (not of cars) so I’m in total awe at what Mr. Swope has accomplished. He has found many totally original cars that are in “like new” condition. 

We are always “On Patrol” looking for a place to take our kids and grand kids. It must be family friendly, which for us means there is something of interest for all ages. The Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort, Kentucky fits the bill. The permanent exhibit titled “A Kentucky Journey” is a great walk through our early history up until the present day. The exhibits are interactive and at eye level for children seven or eight years and older. It is filled with rare and authentic artifacts that reflect the strengths and talents of our ancestors. Many of the objects are in drawers so you have easy access for viewing.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a huge collection of the personal artifacts from almost all the Rock and Rollers you know and love. This includes the musical instruments, cars, vans, clothes, advertising, handwritten song lyrics, gold records, jewelry, and much, much more.