Thursday, 7/28, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Travel to Hagerstown, MD

Forgot about something that happened at the hotel in Memphis the other night. 
Adina had been telling us that her tooth was loose.  So when the kids were
swimming and nudging each other, her tooth finally came out... but it sank to
the bottom of the pool!  While she and Naama went out to get Adina cleaned up,
Arie looked for it but could not find it.  Another girl asked what he was
doing, and then SHE starting looking as well.  A little while later, Arie
stepped on something in the pool and sure enough, it was the tooth.  Dang-it!  I
thought we'd be able save a couple of bucks since the Tooth Fairy can't pay
without an actual tooth.  So the Tooth Fairy arrived - interestingly, during the
same time as Karen was up late fighting with the lousy washer/dryer.  What a
coincidence!

"Skyline" in Louisville - at least from our vantage point in the car

Trolley thru downtown Louisville

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory is a ten minute drive from our hotel. 
It opens at 9:00AM, so we were able to sleep in a bit and get up at 7:00AM.  We
got there at around 9:15 and there was a 9:20 tour just heading out, but
fortunately they run every ten minutes, so we were able to get on the 9:30 tour.

They take you thru the actual factory where all the bats are made, anywhere
from 2000-5000 a day, depending on the demand.  First there was a demonstration
of the old way of doing it by hand, using an electric lathe.  It could take 30
minutes to finish one.  Then we saw the machines used today for the
retail bats and minor/college leagues.  They take 30 seconds to crank each one
out.  THEN, they show us the unique machine (only one in the world, produced in
Italy) that does the major league bats.  It's all computerized with each
player's specifications and the machine cuts it to those specs.  Also, in 30
seconds.  We saw where they brand the bats with the logos and player's
autographs.  Interesting - if the player's name is in all capital letters, that
means he does not yet have a contract with the company.  If a signature is on
it, he has a contract.  We got to hold a few bats - David Wright, A-Rod,
Jeter's Mother's Day bat (pink) to name a few.  Last was to see how they get
dipped into the player's preferred coating of stain and/or color.  (No pictures
allowed in the factory.)

They also show a short film with many players talking about their "relationship"
with their bats and the Louisville company.  The museum has displays of the
history of bat making and many famous bats - Hank Aaron's 700th homer, Joe
DiMaggio's bat during the last two week's of his hitting streak, and many
others.  And of course there is a gift shop.  Got the shot glass, but no bumper
stickers.

World's Biggest Bat

Actual game-used Mickey Mantle bat

Adina using "The Mick's" bat

Me and my Babe - er, The Babe

Josh using "The Mick's" bat

Cute sign for the plate glass shop next door to the bat factory

They give out mini-bats as tour gifts

So it was off to our final overnight stay.  We decided on Hagerstown, MD since a
Rewards Points room was available and it would leave us with *only* a four hour
drive on Friday.  Google showed Hagerstown as a nine hour drive.  But when we
headed out, the GPS showed it as 7.5 hours.  Point of information - experience
has shown that Google Maps seems to be about 30 minutes longer in drive time for
every 3-4 hours.  Four hours to Edison, but 3.5 on the GPS.  For a minute or so
we considered just going all the way back tonight, but then we figured why
bother?  It would mean driving at night for a few hours after a long day driving
already.

We stopped for gas in Grayson, KY, not far from the WV border.  The others went
in the store for some nosh, and I started filling up.  Then a guy who looked
Hispanic or Filipino walks up to me and asks if I'm Jewish.  (Seems to be a
trend now.)  I reply in the affirmative, and then he asks if I could read
Hebrew.  So I again say yes and he starts asking me about a certain word (Melech
- king) and if he wants to say "the king" (HaMelech - in Hebrew, adding the Hey
letter to the beginning transforms the general subject to a specific
subject) does the first letter get combined with the Mem (first
letter of Melech) when pronouncing it?  Wasn't quite sure why he was asking, but
I helped him out with the grammar and he thanked me and was on his way.  Then I
turn around, and see that I hadn't closed my car door, so I think maybe it was
all a distraction to swipe something from it.  But it wasn't - the guy was
legit.  Maybe it's my NY/NJ upbringing that got me worried.

Since the drive wasn't going to be as long as we originally thought, we decided
to look for something to do in West Virginia along our route.  There is REALLY
nothing to do there.  There is a glass blowing place, a glass museum, lots of
long train rides, some caves, but nothing unique to be worth our time.  So we
decided to just drive to the State Capitol in Charleston, which we were passing
thru anyway, and get a quick stretch and pictures.

West Virginia State Capitol, with statue of Abraham Lincoln in front, president at the time of their statehood

From there it was off to Hagerstown.  We stopped at a rest stop around 7:00PM
for a quick hot dog barbecue.  We finally finished them off!  Another half-hour
and we were at our destination and the kids went swimming.  We hope to head
out around 8:30AM to get back to Edison noon time.  We've already been invited
out for Shabbos/Sabbath lunch by our "odd" Adler neighbors.  "Odd", to
distinguish them from our "even" Adler neighbors on OUR side of the block (even
house numbers).  The "odd" Adlers live on the other side with an odd house
number.  (Credit goes to Arie for that gem.)