Abraham Lincoln, Mohammed Ali and Helen Keller, Landmarks in Louisville And Kentucky

Helen Keller raised portrait at American Museum Of Printing For The Blind.

I was researching Braille and came across the American museum of printing for the blind. My favourite item from the museum if the relief portrait of Helen Keller. She loved touching it and wrote her name in the clay. The museum also has her bible.

I started researching Braille.

Then I wondered what else there is to see in Louisville and Kentucky. Most people would associate Kentucky with Kentucky fried chicken.

Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum


The story is a great one.

After that you might think of maybe the Kentucky Derby, or Mohammed Ali. I spell it Mohammed. He is listed as Muhammed. That would explain why your Google searches miss what you expect to find.

Kentucky has everything, the greatest heroes from history and modern times, from Abraham Lincoln to Mohammed Ali. Coal miners and music.

Louisville - Populous versus capital
Louisville is the most populous city in Kentucky. In many US states and also other countries the city with the biggest population is not necessarily the capital nor the seat of government. The government might build a capital between two rival cities or halves of the country (like Washington DC  in the USA and Canberra in Australia.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Giant memorial with tiny shack where Lincoln was born.

Photos from Wikipedia.

KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM

Statue of famous racehorse. The owners wanted the horse's ashes outside the museum so that fans could see it without having to pay for admission to the museum.
In addition to the museum you can book an entire day, with lunch and a ride around the grounds as well as seeing the museum with a video and explanation of how the foals are raised and the facts about jockeys.

The Blind
Museum of the American Printing House for the blind. Unlike other museums which say, don't touch, this one is designed with explanation and lots of touching and interaction.



Boxing - Mohammed Ali
Associations with Mohammed Ali. Mohammed Ali was born in Louisville, named Cassius Clay, and changed his name when he converted. the Mohammed Ali centre contains his boxing memorabilia.

Festival of Faiths
We have just missed the 2019 event, which was April. But plenty of time to book for next year.

Music

Blue Grass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Kentucky, USA.

There you have it, the ABC or ABCD of what to see in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln, Bluegrass, Coalmining, plus the Derby, and more, Mohammed Ali, the blind and Braille.

Useful Websites
Fried Chicken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harland_Sanders_Caf%C3%A9_and_Museum
https://www.kentuckytourism.com/harland-sanders-cafe-and-museum/

American Museum of Printing For the Blind
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_American_Printing_House_for_the_Blind
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Travellers_with_disabilities

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Museum
https://www.nps.gov/abli/index.htm

Kentucky Derby Museum
https://www.derbymuseum.net

KENTUCKY TOURISM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Kentucky

USA Travel

Travel from the UK to the USA
visittheusa.co.uk

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on the USA and destinations worldwide.
See my other posts on Braille.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Improvements To Food And Decoration At The Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire

Am I putting on weight?

The cake was delicious but too much - I can't finish it, says Penn.

Problem
The food has improved - and that's not the only thing which has improved.

However, if you have ever attended a Writers' Summer School or other conference at The Hayes Conference Centre you may view the past through rosy spectacles. In the early days, when we were all younger, The Hayes has a small swimming pool, as well as the Lake.

I remember being upset when the swimming pool was erased. On the other hand, it was small, no proper changing facilities, and the water was cold late in the day.

The lake was pretty, but, frankly, the life belts suggest that somebody might attempt to swim, paddle in the large puddle, or take a photo, step backwards and fall in. Now warning signs tell you it's not just a padding pool, but deep water.

The Garden House
The Garden House, a building reminiscent of a student hostel, had small rooms and such poor acoustics that you could play Chinese whispers from room to room.

Here's a friend I made in the Garden House.

I had a bedroom with no lock, unfortunately, beside the gents showers. I heard several men bang open my door by mistake. I heard male voices saying, 'Sorry!' whilst I was pulling a dress or nightdress over my head.

Historic Slides
This year, in August 2018, we were treated to a slideshow reminder of the good old days at the Hayes.

We had an afternoon tea dance, with music from the Fifties.

One of the Writers' Summer School committee, secretary Ingrid, in a costume from the local Jolly Jesters costume and hire shop in Swanwick.

Food Improvements
In reality, food has improved enormously. Instead of two choices, you now have two hot meat or fish dishes, one hot vegetarian dish, salads, potatoes in one two or three styles.


Salad. Picture by Angela Lansbury.


Choice of cheese and biscuits. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.


Fruit-topped cheesecake, gluten-free cake. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Sometimes lots of cakes. Sometimes more than three. Once - no cakes, only healthy fruit.

Desserts
The desserts are desserts to die for, strawberries and cream and fresh fruit. Most meals offer a selection of cakes including carrot cake, baked cheesecake, chocolate cake and sticky toffee pudding.

Drinks
Machines dispense coffee and tea, hot chocolate, hot water for herb teas, cold juices and cold water 24 hours a day.

Biscuits
At morning break time, we have Brontë biscuits, plain biscuits or chocolate chip cookies. Afternoon teatime we have cakes.

The joy of the first night's meal had worn off by midweek. I heard one person loved the dinner time cakes but said, "Last year's cakes at tea-time were better."

Cheesecake! Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

Another was unhappy her choice of a slice of meat which seemed dry. She would have preferred a smaller thicker piece of meat, less thin meaning less likely to be overcooked or dried out. She also thought some vegetables were overcooked until tasteless. Bolder souls were happy, after they went back for an alternative choice, or seconds!

I am a cakeoholic, as well as liking potatoes, biscuits and fruit.

The people have changed, too. The youngsters seems more mature. The over fifties are more energetic. They are smartly and fashionably dressed, even matching their hair to their turquoise lanyards and clothes.

Useful Information
visitbritain.org

Conference Centres
www.cct.org.uk 
Swanwick

The Writers Summer School
www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
Visit for a day or all the week. Next year's event: August 2019.
Contact secretary@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
See later posts:
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-lake-flowers-and-food-and-faces-at.html

The Secret of Finding a Seat - on trains

Finding a seat requires concerted action by the traveller, the train, bus or plane's number or seats and signs, and business hours and meetings. How can you increase your chances?

Finding a seat on a train should be simple. Live at the end of the line. Travel to the station when there's no traffic on the road. Travel on the train before or after rush hour. Just pick the nearest seat. Work early and leave early. Offices started work at ten and left at six, rather than nine to five like shops, to spread the load on the train and bus lines.

End of Train Line (UK)
When I lived in Edgware and Stanmore I was a happy traveller. I always got a seat into London.

The Return Journey
Coming home I would usually get a seat early on. Especially if I kept watching for people preparing to get off, packing up their belongings and looking alert, ready to leap up and out. I stood near them, ready to leap in.

Advantages of Last Stop
Once I fell asleep. I was woken by the station attendant whose job is to go along the train collecting newspapers and shutting doors - after waking the dozing drunks and tired travellers. That's the great advantage of living at the end of the line. You can't go past your stop. You might seem far away to visitors from the centre of the city, but at least you are easy to find. You can tell them, "Just stay on until the train reaches the last stop."

Cutting Staff Travel Time
The British Council offices were all on the Central Line. The offices were planned that way. The man who ordered the second building probably lived on the Central Line. His office was on the central line. Staff going from one office to another did not have to change trains and wait. It was less stressful for them. They could not get lost. It saved time for inter-office travel.

Seats On UK Trains
An article called The Seat on the Train by Hugh Graham in Britain's newspaper The Sunday Times tells you which stations give your greater chances of finding seats on commuter trains. Sometimes it is worthwhile spending five minutes driving to another station further out or in, to save a long time standing on the commute into London.

Reservations To and From Regions
When booking holiday trains to Wales or Derby, I try to get a reserved seat. Recently I was lucky to be near the exit. If there is a choice of seats, I might even abandon my reserved seat in order to take a free seat near the luggage stack at the exit.

Picking Seats
Unfortunately, unlike planes, where you can chose to be near a window or an exit, on trains when making reservations you often cannot pick the seat. If you book your holiday late, many seats are already taken, so neither you nor the office selecting your seat will have a choice.

Seats With Space
A seat in the middle means dragging your luggage a long way. Single seats near the doorway have room for your luggage beside you.

Seats With Tables
On the other hand, seats further in often enjoy the benefits of a table, for four. You have the opportunity to put down a laptop and work. You might also have the chance to chat to other travellers.

Watching Luggage
However, I do not want to leave my luggage in the rack at the carriage end and sit in the middle where I cannot see my luggage. Leaflets warn travellers to watch their luggage.

Theft
Tricks played on travellers include leaping onto the train before it goes, grabbing a piece of luggage and leaping off again. By the time the owner of the suitcase notices or gets up and rushes to the door, the train is moving again.

Carriage-hopping
Getting a seat on a busy train also involves watching the train as it comes in. If you have no heavy wheeled luggage nor multiple bags, and you see the end carriage has seats but the middle ones are full, you can run along the platform as the train comes in to leap into the last carriage before people start flowing along inside towards the empty seats.

Sometimes on a long journey, if I see lots of people standing at the door of the next carriage ready to exit, I will either run along inside to take a vacated seat, or leap out of my carriage and race along to leap in again and grab the empty seat. You have to be quick, to be sure not to be left on the next platform.

Success!
But, hey, the joys of sitting back and opening your newspaper and phone, or shutting your eyes. If going past your stop is one of life's worst travelling stresses, finding a seat is one of life's best travel successes.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.