I questioned what to title this blog post as I tromped through the wooded path that leads from faculty village to the Miller Theatre on my way to first-day-of-camp auditions. Do I title it “The Surprise” or “Ted’s Day of Awesome” or “A Whirlwind Weekend,” I mused.
Oh, hey snake.
He must be at BLFAC, majoring in slithering with a minor in hissing and striking. Doesn’t matter. He’s not in my class. But that pretty much put an end to my shameless pondering. I also saw a family of wild turkeys, though they didn’t hurry my pace quite as quickly as the artsy snake did. Anyhow…
Last Friday night after teaching my final section of choreography I piled in the car and drove me and two weeks worth of dirty laundry back to Cincinnati for a weekend I’d been planning for the past three months. Exhausted, I arrived home just before midnight, making excellent use of my trusty 1st generation iPod Nano and its embarrassing collection of terrible yet delightful 80s music to keep me awake for the 7.5 hour jaunt. I’d like to make note of a few things one might be thrilled to see after two weeks in a sparse, rustic cabin in the wilderness: air conditioning, carpet, and a real bed. Followed closely by ice cream, furniture, husband, and crayfish – though not in that order.
Overjoyed to get some actual sleep, in an actual bed, on an actual mattress, we crashed early, knowing there was a big and fun day ahead of us on Saturday. Rather, I knew there was a big and fun day ahead of us on Saturday. Ted knew only that he was to keep Saturday, July 21st free and clear of any obligations.
This “Day of Ted” caper centered around a prefect, un-pass-upable Groupon deal I’d unexpectedly found whilst prowling my inbox back in May. Ted works really hard all year long, often crazy hours, even by theatre people standards, and he rarely treats himself to exciting activities or fun events, just for himself. So, in short, I crafted the idea to treat him to an all-expenses-paid, fun, Day of Ted (with loving help from the parents on both sides!) because, honestly, the dude totally deserves it.
We started off the morning, a beautiful, breezy, cool summer morning, with a windows-down, breeze-whipping-through-your-hair for two-hours kind of drive down to Louisville, Kentucky. I’d considered both the Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting and the Louisville Mega Caverns Cave Ziplining and Challenge Course Tour for our morning’s activities, but due to schedule and timing, it was decided that these activities were best saved for another day in the (hopefully!) near future.
So our first stop, after spotting this epic red jewel-encrusted limousine parked outside of a swanky downtown hotel…
…was the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory for some baseball bat history and a tour of the factory that produces these infamous bats.
We toured the factory and learned all about how they shape, burn, engrave, dip, and manufacture the bats. We toured the museum and learned about the variety of bats produced and used through the ages. Ted tried Mickey Mantle’s bat on for size, took a few swings in the batting cages, and walked away with his very own, personalized, genuine Louisville Slugger.
(A rare sneak appearance of my Peter Pan crocodile face. You’re welcome.)
We noshed at Toast on Market, which is a fantastic little downtown eatery with great decor and atmosphere, wonderful customer service, and totally delicious eats. Bonus: They serve breakfast all day long, which is why (aside from the awesome reviews) I picked it for our Day of Ted lunch spot. Ted’s a breakfast kind of guy and I’m a foodie kind of girl, so I knew this would be right up our alley. I had the Caprese grilled cheese (provolone, mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil pesto) with creamy tomato soup and Ted had the Monte Cristo french toast breakfast sandwich. Both excellent.
Between the beautiful riverfront, Louisville Science Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Slugger Museum, Glassblowing Studio, and outpouring of great restaurants downtown, to name only a few things in the immediate downtown area, we definitely could have made a day of it in Louisville, but we other plans to attend to, so off we went!
To be continued….
:-)
