The weekly photo dump — extras that didn’t make other posts, and random things that can serve as filler — post. We have a many things to see today. Let’s get to them.
I share this photo as a public service. Should you need to ask for assistance in saving someone’s life in two languages, you might consult this from your memory, where you should now commit the following literature. From the Whataburger on Oak Mountain:
We do get some pretty skies down here. This one was from last Sunday, when we road our bicycles around town in a dying light. Beautiful day:
I have a jersey that highlights Major Taylor. That is all:
The long, straight, flat flat flat roads of Indiana. Off in the distance you can see The Yankee, and I had to work to bridge that gap:
Always loved that sign, even before I learned from places like television that other people were also interested in dirty, rusty distressed signage:
Spring is coming to the Ohio River Valley. That’s good. Back at home now we’ve had a mild spring and are coming to grips with the notion that we’ll go straight into summer. But, for now, Indiana wildflowers:
Crossing that big bridge over the Tennessee River. You can see the trees in the middle of the channel, just peeking over the guardrail there. Good volume so far this year:
This is the Aegon Center, but it received new signage just this month. Mercer is the largest tenant. There remains an open question in Louisville about whether this will be the Aegon Center or Mercer Tower. They say Aegon, but time always wins out. Mercer has been in Louisville for three decades and is a “human resource consultancy” which sounds far too drab and corporate for a building with a cool hat. This is Kentucky’s tallest skyscraper at 35 floors and 549 feet:
The Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, which is the Kentucky diocese:
They are hanging banners downtown that calls Louisville the Possibility City. They already have four or five other nicknames. But it works, because no one can settle on how to pronounce the official name, which brings us to my favorite bit of the town’s marketing:
One of the world’s largest guitars. And this is the most cliched neon in the city, I’m sure, but the tree looks like it is strumming the guitar!
These next several photographs are in the rathskeller, which is the basement of the historic Seelbach Hotel, where the conference took place. These winged sentries are on all of the columns:
Rathskeller is of German origin — which makes sense for the region — and means “council’s cellar.” Typically they were bars or restaurants in the basement of a city hall or nearby building. This portion adorns the wall behind the bar:
The Seelbach’s Rathskeller is made of rookwood pottery and was constructed in 1907. The plaque outside says it it the only room of its kind intact in the world. These lion seals decorate each wall:
Artisans drew the decorations by hand, and then the clay was fired. All of the glazings were added, layer by layer, before each subsequent firing. Pulling out to see a segment of one wall:
Parts of the ceiling are actually made of leather, including portions of these seals and the signs of the zodiac that adorn the room:
It is a big space. This is wide as I could get in the darkness with a flash. Imagine about eight of these areas subdivided by those massive columns. We had a nice function in this room last night and was absolutely worth the visit:
This is one of two buildings that make up the Waterfront Plaza. Finished in 1991, there are 25 floors and nine elevators inside. It tops out at 339.99 feet. Why didn’t they just add another inch or two?
We saw that building on our way to breakfast with the folks. They came into town to visit with us at Dish On Market, which was good enough for breakfast two days in a row. (Try the pancakes or the omelets.) We had a delicious and lovely little visit, if all too brief. Hugs, stories, historical artifacts, a family tale or two and we had to depart.
We had a lot of driving to do as we left Louisville. A lot of driving. My shoulder is paying for it now. But Louisville, as ever, was lovely.
