Bluerauder
03-30-2009, 05:07 PM
MEMORIES OF LOUISVILLE, KY
REGIONAL MARAUDER MEET, 26-29 March 2009
“Silks, Gloves and Bats” (The 4th Annual Louisville Regional)
Thursday, 26 March 2009
• 593 miles total. About 400 miles in the rain through VA and WVa. Dry in KY
• Ran the entire way at 75-80 MPH
• Haggis/Ladyhawke, Silverauder and SilverSurfer03 about 1 hour behind me at the I-64W junction in Charlestown, WV
• SC Cheesehead and 03mmmonroe about an hour or more ahead of us before the junction of I-75/I-64W
• Stop at the BP station near the hotel to top off for the weekend ($2.11 per gallon)
• Arrival at the Hampton Inn at 7:00 PM
• Cars already lined up under the hotel canopy for the dinner run.
• DOOM and BigDogJim are in Louisville, KY despite the calls and texts that I got enroute. Man was I surprised along with many others.
• Zack brought his Blue MM with new wheels. I like them – black with a chrome/polished ¾ inch edge. Very nice. The chrome lip makes the wheel IMHO.
• Quick check-in and luggage drop
• Convoy to the Gasthaus Restaurant (9 miles) about 22 people and 8 MMs initially
• Ken leads the convoy and makes the mandatory U-Turn on Blankenbaker Pkwy to head back to I-64W. Two of us at the back had to run the light to keep up.
• Excellent dinner at the restaurant (Weiner Schnitzel for me, the wife gets the Special and white wine). CBT and his daughter catch up.
• Hack Goby and his girlfriend ride rear seat of the Bluerauder on the way home
• Interesting maneuver on the way home at the I-64W junction. Thought the first 3 cars were gonna miss that exit.
• Meet whd507 and his 18 year old son in the lobby. He brought four altogether.
• Order two Louisville Marauder decals (in Blue of course) from Pat – for shipping to home.
• Hang out in the hotel lobby/lounge until about 11:30 PM. Where did the time go?
Friday, 27 March 2009
• Up at 6 AM
• Breakfast and coffee in the hotel lounge
• Head over to the Marathon Station Auto Spa “Touchless Car Wash” at 7:30 AM for a quick wash to remove road grime and bugs from the trip.
• Do a quick wipe down, ICE shine, and wheel wipe before 8:30 AM
• DOOM, BigDog and MM2004 are using the preferred canopy parking
• Begin MM line up around the hotel
• 9:00 AM departure time comes and goes
• Coordinating & waiting on the Louisville Metro police escort (4 cars this time)
• 30 MM Convoy to downtown Louisville departs at 9:10 AM (not bad for MM folks). Police leading and trailing and running ramp interference – terrific.
• 1stMerc is ahead of me. Zack is behind me. About in the middle of the convoy.
• I-64E to downtown. Exit at the 3rd Street ramp. FRS/GMRS radios help with lane changes.
• Pics of convoy enroute. Exhaust blasts in the tunnel, too.
• Arrival at the parking garage top floor overlooking the Louisville Slugger Museum at about 10:00 AM. Back-in parking only is the standard.
• Mill around in the parking lot, take lotsa pics
• Four Blue MMs together on the end. How did CBT get out of line?
• Group heads over to the Muhammed Ali Center for the tour
• 4 floors of Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali boxing career, community and international involvement, films/videos of major matches.
• The boxing ring films from overhead were very interesting.
• Stepped into the ring for some jabs at the bag and some photo ops
• Excellent photo shots from the glass front windows across the river into Indiana.
• Learned that Ali invented the “George Forman Grill” ;)
• Lunch on our own at a small Bistro on Main Street.
• Meet up with N40GL, SilverSurfer03 and TCBO1 for lunch downstairs.
• Head back to the Louisville Slugger Museum about 12:30 PM. Supposed to meet up with the rest of the group at 1:00 PM
• Use the extra time to take pics outside the museum, pose with the 120 foot baseball bat and checkout bat/home plates for Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.
• Visit the Slugger Gift shop and order two personalized 34” Louisville Sluggers. One for display and another to ship to the grandson. It’ll be about 14 years before he can swing it – but it is engraved with his Grandfather’s name.
• Pick up a couple other souvenirs (shirts, balls and mini-bats and a display rack)
• Chapel1 sees me in line at the cash register and brings me a 10% off coupon. Thanks.
• Our tour starts at 1:20 PM
• No pics are allowed inside the official bat production area. We get to see the Official bat of the Kentucky Derby (with all 134 winners laser engraved), the Carrie Underwood bat (she took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights on her ex’s 4 wheel drive).
• Shop produces one bat every thirty (30) seconds. Fed in as “billets” into an automated lathe. Minor league and Major league bats are handled separately. Each MLB player uses about 13 dozen (156) bats in a season – all individually made, labeled and unique to the player. Can make 24 replacement bats for a player in just 24 minutes.
• Bats are made of Ash or Maple and are colored and UV dried to order.
• There’s a pink bat for Mother’s Day and Breast Cancer Campaign. Each player gets one.
• Some MLB bats are cupped at the end. Cupping legally removes about ¾ ounce from the end of the bat --- purpose is to increase bat speed.
• MLB bats are limited to 42 inches in length and have no weight limit. Louisville Slugger makes about 80% of all major league bats. Rawlings is the next largest manufacturer. Aluminum bats are NOT made here.
• Back to the parking garage for more pics and hanging around
• Take some overhead pics from the 5th level of the parking lot looking down
• Haggis creeps up behind me with his “Viking Hat”. Nice horns and teeth.
• Convoy to the Shogun Japanese Steakhouse departs at about 3:40 PM
• LMPD again provides escorts to about 25 MMs. Motorhead350 is ahead of me and Pantheroc is behind me.
• A rogue Toyota stops at a red light and pinches off the last seven (7) MMs in the convoy. They catch up later.
• Line up in the restaurant parking lot. We surround a Mustang sitting there. Pat helps the lady load her groceries when she returns to the formerly “empty” lot
• Dinner at 5:00 PM. I order the Lobster and she gets the Salmon.
• Our chef is pretty talented and funny. “Choo Choo” with the onion volcano.
• Never empty glasses of ice tea. Maybe I shoulda ordered a beer.
• Ken’s Buddha drink looked kinda obscene.
• Everyone was overstuffed leaving the restaurant ---- everyone.
• Back to the parking lot and head to the hotel in a 7 MM mini-convoy.
• Why are they turning left at the light? Uh Oh, they are headed to the Liquour Barn …. Peel out to the right with JustBob following.
• Arrive back at the hotel around 7:00 PM or so.
• More milling around in the lobby, outside, and LCR games in the Marauder conference room. Came in the final 3 on my very first try at LCR. Zack won the big pot of money then took off for "parts unknown" with Mike, Knine and the entourage.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
• Up at 6 AM
• Coffee & juice in the hotel lounge
• DOOM. BigDogJim and MM2004 are parked in front of the hotel under the canopy again
• 9:00 AM Breakfast at the Hometown Buffet near the hotel (about 30 people show up – MM.Net foots the bill). Thanks MM.Net -- MM03MOK, MERCMAN, and BigDogJim.
• Back to the hotel to line up for the convoy to Churchhill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum.
• A 10:45 AM departure is approximate. Embassy in the lead. Mongoose riding caboose to keep all the ducks under control. MM2004 somewhere in the middle. I am behind Haggis/Ladyhawke.
• ~ 20 MM Convoy to Churchhill Downs. Arrive a little after 11:10 AM in the rain.
• Guided tour begins at 11:30 AM
• Browse the Kentucky Derby gift shop waiting for the tour to begin.
• Names of past Kentucky Derby winners posted along the roofline with the year. Derby winners are in Black. Triple Crown Winners are in gold lettering.
• Thoroughbred in the Paddock was a $4.7 Million winner over his career. But I forgot his name. He came in the money on 75% of his races – 1ST, 2ND, OR 3RD.
• The little statue at the circle is painted with the last year’s Derby Winner’s colors as a tradition. Last year’s winner was “Big Brown”. Silks are registered and can never be used again. Everyone has a unique color and pattern
• Only three (3) horses have ever run the Kentucky Derby in under 2 minutes. Everyone remembers “Secretariat” in 1973 (1:59 and 2/5 seconds). No one remembers “Sham” who came in 2nd to Secretariat at 1:59 and 4/5 seconds. Monarchos was electronically timed at 1:59:97 in 2001.
• Out onto the field. Stand in the grandstands near the 1-mile mark. I don’t think anyone sits on the bleachers for the race itself.
• The wife gets a call about a medical emergency back home with her brother. We depart in a hurry and let a couple folks know whats up.
• Back at the hotel about 12:45 PM. Talk to the desk clerk. Pack the bags and checkout of the hotel.
• Depart hotel at 1:20 PM
• Roll pretty hard doing 80-80+ the whole way home. Dry most of the way.
• Back home at 10:45 PM … total mileage 1,252 miles (about $107.83)
• Wow, what a trip !!! BTW -- Bernie's brother is doing much better. Still in ICU but stable and improving.
REGIONAL MARAUDER MEET, 26-29 March 2009
“Silks, Gloves and Bats” (The 4th Annual Louisville Regional)
Thursday, 26 March 2009
• 593 miles total. About 400 miles in the rain through VA and WVa. Dry in KY
• Ran the entire way at 75-80 MPH
• Haggis/Ladyhawke, Silverauder and SilverSurfer03 about 1 hour behind me at the I-64W junction in Charlestown, WV
• SC Cheesehead and 03mmmonroe about an hour or more ahead of us before the junction of I-75/I-64W
• Stop at the BP station near the hotel to top off for the weekend ($2.11 per gallon)
• Arrival at the Hampton Inn at 7:00 PM
• Cars already lined up under the hotel canopy for the dinner run.
• DOOM and BigDogJim are in Louisville, KY despite the calls and texts that I got enroute. Man was I surprised along with many others.
• Zack brought his Blue MM with new wheels. I like them – black with a chrome/polished ¾ inch edge. Very nice. The chrome lip makes the wheel IMHO.
• Quick check-in and luggage drop
• Convoy to the Gasthaus Restaurant (9 miles) about 22 people and 8 MMs initially
• Ken leads the convoy and makes the mandatory U-Turn on Blankenbaker Pkwy to head back to I-64W. Two of us at the back had to run the light to keep up.
• Excellent dinner at the restaurant (Weiner Schnitzel for me, the wife gets the Special and white wine). CBT and his daughter catch up.
• Hack Goby and his girlfriend ride rear seat of the Bluerauder on the way home
• Interesting maneuver on the way home at the I-64W junction. Thought the first 3 cars were gonna miss that exit.
• Meet whd507 and his 18 year old son in the lobby. He brought four altogether.
• Order two Louisville Marauder decals (in Blue of course) from Pat – for shipping to home.
• Hang out in the hotel lobby/lounge until about 11:30 PM. Where did the time go?
Friday, 27 March 2009
• Up at 6 AM
• Breakfast and coffee in the hotel lounge
• Head over to the Marathon Station Auto Spa “Touchless Car Wash” at 7:30 AM for a quick wash to remove road grime and bugs from the trip.
• Do a quick wipe down, ICE shine, and wheel wipe before 8:30 AM
• DOOM, BigDog and MM2004 are using the preferred canopy parking
• Begin MM line up around the hotel
• 9:00 AM departure time comes and goes
• Coordinating & waiting on the Louisville Metro police escort (4 cars this time)
• 30 MM Convoy to downtown Louisville departs at 9:10 AM (not bad for MM folks). Police leading and trailing and running ramp interference – terrific.
• 1stMerc is ahead of me. Zack is behind me. About in the middle of the convoy.
• I-64E to downtown. Exit at the 3rd Street ramp. FRS/GMRS radios help with lane changes.
• Pics of convoy enroute. Exhaust blasts in the tunnel, too.
• Arrival at the parking garage top floor overlooking the Louisville Slugger Museum at about 10:00 AM. Back-in parking only is the standard.
• Mill around in the parking lot, take lotsa pics
• Four Blue MMs together on the end. How did CBT get out of line?
• Group heads over to the Muhammed Ali Center for the tour
• 4 floors of Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali boxing career, community and international involvement, films/videos of major matches.
• The boxing ring films from overhead were very interesting.
• Stepped into the ring for some jabs at the bag and some photo ops
• Excellent photo shots from the glass front windows across the river into Indiana.
• Learned that Ali invented the “George Forman Grill” ;)
• Lunch on our own at a small Bistro on Main Street.
• Meet up with N40GL, SilverSurfer03 and TCBO1 for lunch downstairs.
• Head back to the Louisville Slugger Museum about 12:30 PM. Supposed to meet up with the rest of the group at 1:00 PM
• Use the extra time to take pics outside the museum, pose with the 120 foot baseball bat and checkout bat/home plates for Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.
• Visit the Slugger Gift shop and order two personalized 34” Louisville Sluggers. One for display and another to ship to the grandson. It’ll be about 14 years before he can swing it – but it is engraved with his Grandfather’s name.
• Pick up a couple other souvenirs (shirts, balls and mini-bats and a display rack)
• Chapel1 sees me in line at the cash register and brings me a 10% off coupon. Thanks.
• Our tour starts at 1:20 PM
• No pics are allowed inside the official bat production area. We get to see the Official bat of the Kentucky Derby (with all 134 winners laser engraved), the Carrie Underwood bat (she took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights on her ex’s 4 wheel drive).
• Shop produces one bat every thirty (30) seconds. Fed in as “billets” into an automated lathe. Minor league and Major league bats are handled separately. Each MLB player uses about 13 dozen (156) bats in a season – all individually made, labeled and unique to the player. Can make 24 replacement bats for a player in just 24 minutes.
• Bats are made of Ash or Maple and are colored and UV dried to order.
• There’s a pink bat for Mother’s Day and Breast Cancer Campaign. Each player gets one.
• Some MLB bats are cupped at the end. Cupping legally removes about ¾ ounce from the end of the bat --- purpose is to increase bat speed.
• MLB bats are limited to 42 inches in length and have no weight limit. Louisville Slugger makes about 80% of all major league bats. Rawlings is the next largest manufacturer. Aluminum bats are NOT made here.
• Back to the parking garage for more pics and hanging around
• Take some overhead pics from the 5th level of the parking lot looking down
• Haggis creeps up behind me with his “Viking Hat”. Nice horns and teeth.
• Convoy to the Shogun Japanese Steakhouse departs at about 3:40 PM
• LMPD again provides escorts to about 25 MMs. Motorhead350 is ahead of me and Pantheroc is behind me.
• A rogue Toyota stops at a red light and pinches off the last seven (7) MMs in the convoy. They catch up later.
• Line up in the restaurant parking lot. We surround a Mustang sitting there. Pat helps the lady load her groceries when she returns to the formerly “empty” lot
• Dinner at 5:00 PM. I order the Lobster and she gets the Salmon.
• Our chef is pretty talented and funny. “Choo Choo” with the onion volcano.
• Never empty glasses of ice tea. Maybe I shoulda ordered a beer.
• Ken’s Buddha drink looked kinda obscene.
• Everyone was overstuffed leaving the restaurant ---- everyone.
• Back to the parking lot and head to the hotel in a 7 MM mini-convoy.
• Why are they turning left at the light? Uh Oh, they are headed to the Liquour Barn …. Peel out to the right with JustBob following.
• Arrive back at the hotel around 7:00 PM or so.
• More milling around in the lobby, outside, and LCR games in the Marauder conference room. Came in the final 3 on my very first try at LCR. Zack won the big pot of money then took off for "parts unknown" with Mike, Knine and the entourage.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
• Up at 6 AM
• Coffee & juice in the hotel lounge
• DOOM. BigDogJim and MM2004 are parked in front of the hotel under the canopy again
• 9:00 AM Breakfast at the Hometown Buffet near the hotel (about 30 people show up – MM.Net foots the bill). Thanks MM.Net -- MM03MOK, MERCMAN, and BigDogJim.
• Back to the hotel to line up for the convoy to Churchhill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum.
• A 10:45 AM departure is approximate. Embassy in the lead. Mongoose riding caboose to keep all the ducks under control. MM2004 somewhere in the middle. I am behind Haggis/Ladyhawke.
• ~ 20 MM Convoy to Churchhill Downs. Arrive a little after 11:10 AM in the rain.
• Guided tour begins at 11:30 AM
• Browse the Kentucky Derby gift shop waiting for the tour to begin.
• Names of past Kentucky Derby winners posted along the roofline with the year. Derby winners are in Black. Triple Crown Winners are in gold lettering.
• Thoroughbred in the Paddock was a $4.7 Million winner over his career. But I forgot his name. He came in the money on 75% of his races – 1ST, 2ND, OR 3RD.
• The little statue at the circle is painted with the last year’s Derby Winner’s colors as a tradition. Last year’s winner was “Big Brown”. Silks are registered and can never be used again. Everyone has a unique color and pattern
• Only three (3) horses have ever run the Kentucky Derby in under 2 minutes. Everyone remembers “Secretariat” in 1973 (1:59 and 2/5 seconds). No one remembers “Sham” who came in 2nd to Secretariat at 1:59 and 4/5 seconds. Monarchos was electronically timed at 1:59:97 in 2001.
• Out onto the field. Stand in the grandstands near the 1-mile mark. I don’t think anyone sits on the bleachers for the race itself.
• The wife gets a call about a medical emergency back home with her brother. We depart in a hurry and let a couple folks know whats up.
• Back at the hotel about 12:45 PM. Talk to the desk clerk. Pack the bags and checkout of the hotel.
• Depart hotel at 1:20 PM
• Roll pretty hard doing 80-80+ the whole way home. Dry most of the way.
• Back home at 10:45 PM … total mileage 1,252 miles (about $107.83)
• Wow, what a trip !!! BTW -- Bernie's brother is doing much better. Still in ICU but stable and improving.