I was ready for another road trip and actually had somewhere to go. It was time to go sailing again in the British Virgin Islands with John McSherry (Mick), and I decided to drive down to his family’s home outside of Cincinnati before flying down to the islands.
Sunday, May 3: I left our St. Paul home and stopped by the University of Minnesota dorm room of John William (JW), Mick and Sue’s son, whom I sailed with in January on AIRSHOW’S sea trials (post link: DragonflyBoating—Jan 23, 2026 ). At JW’s, I loaded up a computer, monitor and clothes to transport down to Kentucky ahead of his end-of-semester move-out, then headed southeast, stopping in Lake City, MN, to check on Dragonfly, which we launched on May 1 into Lake Pepin. I drove another 670 miles to southern Indiana, with stops in West Lafayette, IN, to visit Purdue University and Tippecanoe Battlefield.
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811 between U.S. troops commanded by General William Henry Harrison, the Indiana Territorial Governor, and tribal coalition forces led by of Shawnee chief Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa. Tensions had been building over the ongoing American settlement of native homelands, and Governor Harrison and his 1,000 soldiers dealt the natives a decisive defeat, burning their villages and destroying winter food supplies. Harrison earned the nickname “Tippecanoe” and the Whig Party turned “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” into a campaign slogan and song for his and running mate John Tyler’s successful 1840 presidential campaign. He died from illness just 31 days into his term, the shortest serving president in American history and the first to die in office. Map link: Tippecanoe Battlefield, IN
Bonus Question 1: The stairs in the photo below are used to climb over the fence at the battlefield. What are they called? (answer at end of post)
Monday, May 4: After breakfast at my hotel, I visited Churchill Downs in Louisville, the home of the Kentucky Derby. It was only two days after 23-to-1 long-shot Golden Tempo shocked the field to win the 152nd Derby, and the track was closed to visitors while workers finished deconstruction of the infield. The interesting Kentucky Derby Museum was open, complete with a 360-degree movie about the historic event billed as “the most exciting two minutes in sports.” Fun fact: Thoroughbred foals are fitted with a halter the day after they’re born to immediately accustom them to their lives as racehorses.
Next I visited the boyhood home of boxer Muhammed Ali. Born Cassius Clay Jr. in 1942 in segregated Louisville, he began his boxing training at age 12, and won a gold medal at age 18 at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. In 1964, he defeated Sonny Liston in a major upset to win the world heavyweight championship, converted to the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammed Ali, denouncing Cassius Clay as a “slave name.” During the Vietnam War, he declared himself a conscientious objector, refused to serve in the army and was arrested and convicted as a draft dodger. He appealed, and his conviction was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was not allowed to compete for the 43 months that his case was pending. After his successful appeal, Ali won 27 more fights, and reclaimed the heavyweight title in 1974 when he defeated George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
In downtown Louisville I toured the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, manufacturer of major league and amateur baseball bats. As an avid childhood baseball player, I fondly remember my first Louisville Slugger—durable and effective, or so I believed. Founded in 1884 by 17-year-old Bud Hillerich, the company has been making bats in the area ever since. During the 30-minute factory tour, I learned that all of the lumber comes from forests around Warren County, Pennsylvania, near the New York border, and that the wood shavings and sawdust are sold to local farms as turkey bedding. At the end of the tour, we all received a free mini-bat, which the factory’s precision lathes churn out in under a minute. In front of the building is the world’s largest baseball bat, a 120-foot, 68,000-pound version of their famous product.
I took a stroll down Louisville’s Main Street and then to the Ohio River, admiring the quirky public art, passing the Muhammed Ali cultural center, and viewing the state of Indiana on the opposite shore. Map link: Louisville, KY
My last stop in Louisville was the gravesite of Zachary Taylor, our 12th president. A descendent of the venerable Lee family of Virginia and the son of a prominent plantation owner, he became a career army officer who rose to the rank of major general. He became another national war hero following successes in the Black Hawk, Seminole and Mexican-American Wars, was a reluctant candidate before he won the 1848 election, and was the first American president elected without holding any previous political office. Taylor died of stomach illness, possibly cholera, just 16 months into his term, the third-shortest serving president in U.S. history. Bonus Question 2: Who was the second-shortest serving president? (answer at end of post).
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I’ve been to many national cemeteries, and it always moves
me to see these huge fields of military graves. War sucks. |
After leaving Louisville I drove to Frankfort, KY, the seat of state government, and of course I first visited the capitol, which was closed for renovations. Frankfort, population 29,000, is the fourth smallest U.S. state capital city and was likely named for settler Stephen Frank, who was killed by natives in the 1780s on the Kentucky River. The location, a popular river crossing, became known as “Frank’s Ford.” In the Frankfort Cemetery overlooking the river, I stopped at the gravesite of 18th-century pioneer and frontier hero Daniel Boone, whose larger-than-life persona was part reality and part myth. Fun facts about Boone: He didn’t wear a coonskin cap; He never attended school, apparently sanctioned by his Quaker parents; He was captured and adopted by the Shawnee people, who were impressed with his wilderness survival skills; His remains may actually still be in Missouri, where Boone died in 1820 at the age of 85. Map link: Frankfort, KY
After I was done sightseeing, I arrived at the McSherry-Jones farm, aka Flyaway Acres, near Walton, KY. I was in time to watch the end of Sue’s training session with Irabel, one of her dressage horses at the impressive facility, with an indoor riding arena and seven horses stabled in two barns. Sue’s pride, passion and love for her animals were on full display as she finished her ride, groomed Irabel and then prepared the next mount, all while explaining what she was doing and patiently answering my questions on all things equestrian. Afterwards, we ate dinner with Sue’s mom, Anita, and cousin, Denise. Mick made martinis and cooked chicken wings and thighs in the outdoor pizza oven that he built himself. Map link: Walton, KY
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| Sue and Irabel |
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| The pizza oven is the white dome on the left |
Bonus Question 1 Answer: Stiles are constructed to allow humans to climb over a fence or wall while preventing livestock from crossing over. They were commonly used in rural areas where animals needed to be contained, and were once legally required in many parts of the United Kingdom where public rights of way passed through private farmland.
Bonus Question 2 Answer: James Garfield, our 20th president, served 199 days before he was assassinated in 1881, making him the second shortest serving U.S. president.
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