Our beautiful Easter morning started at Mammoth Cave National Park.

We’ve done some cave tours and caving before… some walking, some crawling, but they were always fun… and a little creepy when you think about exactly where you are 😬

Due to Covid, we could only do the Extended Historic Tour, but it was plenty for us. (Honestly, I think we all have a little PTSD after that cave tour in Tennessee where we crawled under rocks on our bellies😬). Two miles long and you could walk at your own pace, so it was perfect.

One of the most interesting parts were the TB houses. They were actual houses built miles underground. As tuberculosis swept the country, a doctor became convinced that Cave air would cure it. So families volunteered to move into the caves for 2 years for this “cure.” Not surprisingly, folks continued to die from TB, and the isolation and sensory deprivation from the dark caused most families to quit the program after 2 months.

We did see a little bit of Easter as we descended into the caves.

Since you are leisurely walking, you don’t realize how far down it is until you see it from afar.

After spending almost 2 hours underground, we decided spend some time outdoors and hike a few of the trails in the park.

And of course, climb a few rocks.

Our plans had been to travel to Hodgenville, Kentucky and eat in a little downtown diner, Laha Red’s, that was recommended by some friends… but like most small towns, the downtown area is shut down on Sundays… especially Easter Sunday. So, thankfully Mom’s traveling restaurant was open again, so Cajun Turkey Subs it is!

In Hodgenville, we visited the Lincoln Memorial built at Lincoln’s childhood home. His father bought the Sinking Spring Farm for $200 in 1808.

President Lincoln lived on this land until he was 2, and then they moved to an another farm about 10 minutes away. Inside the Memorial is what was originally thought to be the actual cabin that Lincoln was raised in (although carbon dating of the logs proved this wrong some time later).

After Hodgenville, we meandered to Louisville, taking highways instead of Interstates. We were disappointed to realize that we didn’t have a pool at the hotel to get rid of excessive energy but we wandered to NuLo (a revitalized area of downtown Louisville), and had a “hot chicken” dinner at Royal’s Hot Chicken.

Clearly it was delicious!

The outdoor area was constructed of old cargo containers which we all thought was pretty cool.

We wandered back to the hotel and after showers played a few rounds of Avocado Smash! (Like slapjack with a few extra rules and you get to shout Guacamole! every now and then 🤣).

We are snuggled in and ready for a big day at Church Hill Downs🏇 and the Louisville Slugger Museum tomorrow ⚾️