Tour Diaries #3 – The ‘Villes
After walking in Memphis and sampling the likes of Alabama and Georgia, the third instalment of the tour diaries takes us through the ‘Villes – Louisville, Knoxville and brief second stint in Nashville (because you can never have too much of such a good thing).
WINNERS
· The Muhammad Ali Centre in Louisville. Granted, he was prone to more than his share of hyperbole in the 1960s and 1970s, but it’s easy to forget the more typical plight of African-Americans at that point in time. He offered a ray of hope to so many people who had previously believed that their voice could not (and in some cases, should not) be heard.
· The Louisville Slugger museum – some very cool old baseball bats, as well as a guided tour of the factory floor where they are made.
· Churchill Downs racetrack, along with the Kentucky Derby museum. Crowds were bigger than I’d anticipated, they played music between races to keep things lively and the museum was good fun. The scenes on Derby Day must be riotous.
· Nick coming up with a couple of successful trifectas at the track to come away with a nice littleprofit.
· Our initial foray into college hoops action, courtesy of Louisville (who made the NCAA ‘Final Four’ last year) hosting Pikeville in a pre-season game.
· A Louisville radio show devoted to Trading Post-esque ads for second hand merchandise, which delivered some of the unintentional comedic highlights of the trip to date.
· Nick earning a new moniker of ‘Bags’ Tedeschi. We’re pretty sure that he only buys souvenirs so that he’ll have an excuse to buy another bag and lug it around in airports, hire cars, etc.
· High school football in Knoxville – Alcoa High School (seven-time defending state champions) to be specific. Grabbing a spot on the concrete bleachers only a few rows back from the fence, being able to hear much of what went down on the home team’s bench… it was a very authentic experience. Of course, that comes with its downsides (see losers section).
· Tennessee Volunteers’ college football. Their team may not be the same calibre as the Alabama Crimson Tide, nor may they take football as seriously. The stadium was smaller; the empty seats more discernible; the home team less convincing in victory against an inferior opponent. And yet, it was a far more enjoyable experience. We all loved their fight song ‘Rocky Top’(and may or may not have requested it more than once at Tootsie’s Bar in Nashville the following night), the game turned into an exciting 55-48 shootout and the Vols won me over.
· Tootsie’s bar on Broadway in Nashville (again). Good enough to be mentioned twice, especially as it was packed from about 4pm on Sunday afternoon and offered another rollicking evening of good music and beers going down at an alarmingly rapid pace.
LOSERS
· Whitecastle takeaway. For some reason, the excitement was palpable as we reached Bowling Green (between Nashville and Louisville) last Wednesday to try it out. The disappointment was certainly evident afterwards.
· The Kentucky equivalent of the TAB (the only way we could bet) ripping punters off by setting its market at 128 per cent (i.e. for every $128 bet, they return $100 in winnings and keep the remaining $28).By comparison, the TAB in Australia sets its win/ place markets to 117 per cent.
· Five bets at Churchill Downs – four placings, no winners. Sting’s Racing Selections clearly get no better when switching hemispheres.
· Some of the more unsavoury elements of high school football, namely head coaches humiliating their players with massive sprays after an error, and parents yelling out for their team to ‘bury him’ or ‘knock his head off’ in respect of an opposing player. At the end of the day, high-schoolers are still kids – an aspect that appeared to be overlooked too often.
· Not being able to get beers at college football games.
· Evil fits of the hiccups at 2am – my throat was still burning 24 hours later.
· Making wrong turns when trying to race out to the airport at 7am in a rental car, not too many hours after our partying concluded in Nashville. Thankfully, despite a bit of stress along the way, all parties (and their gear) made it on the flight to San Antonio yesterday.
· The decision to have a margaraita at lunchtime the next day – may as well have put a lit blowtorch down my throat.
US CITY POWER RANKINGS
1. Nashville
2. Tuscaloosa
3. Knoxville
4. Memphis
5. Louisville
6. Atlanta
The Texas swing of the tour (San Antonio, Austin and Dallas) is now underway, with San Francisco and Las Vegas to come after that. The fun will no doubt continue.
Thanks to Jason Kempin/Getty Images North America for use of the photo
