There I was, minding my own business, doing what I do best, sleep, and Pops (Michael Kaltenmark/@MSKaltenmark) woke me up. 4am. He woke me up at 4am!

It was time to hit the road. The Big Dawgs Tour is finally underway.

So he loaded Butler Blue III (Trip) and I up, we picked up our colleague Tom Otero (@lockebyproxy) and before I knew it, the Built Ford Tough Blue Mobile had taken us from Indy to our first destination: Louisville, Ky.

Lynn’s Paradise Cafe

With such an early departure  there was a lot of stomach growling by the time we got to Louisville, so as soon as we hit the Kentucky border, we made a stop at Lynn’s Paradise Cafe. Trip and I charmed the locals and took photos as the guys ate their breakfast.

This guy is totally my style.

Patti Nickel of the Lexington Herald Leader said of Lynn’s:

“If Salvadore Dali and Dolly Parton were to team up to open a restaurant, they might come up with Lynn’s Paradise Café”

Art museum or restaurant?

Lynn’s is such a fun little place with wild and energetic decor. Opening in 1991, Lynn’s Paradise Cafe has been showered with almost as many accolades as me, including Esquire Magazine‘s “One of the Four Most Fun Restaurants in America” as well as being featured in articles from Southern Living, USA Today, The New York Times, Bon Appetit and The Atlantic Monthly.

It’s also been featured on “Best of” on the Food Network, CBS’s “Travels with Harry” and “The Oprah Show.”

If you go to Louisville and pass up a chance to eat at Lynn’s, then I’m not sure how you can live with yourself. Go there!

WHAS Great Day Live

Our next stop was at WHAS Channel 11 for their fun morning show, Great Day Live. Go ahead and watch our Peabody-worthy interview from Great Day Live.

http://www.whas11.com/great-day-live/video/Butler-Big-Dawgs-tour-hits-Louisville-185057431.html

Talk about a fun interview! Great hosts, got in a dig at IU, and afterwards, we were stopped multiple times on the streets of Louisville by those who had seen us on the show that morning. They loved it!

Oh, and wouldn’t you know it, the University of Louisville Cardinal was in the studio to preview their big game with the Kentucky Wildcats, so of course, we made sure to grab a little photo with him. Nice little birdy, that Louie.

Louisville Slugger

The Louisville Slugger Museum was the highlight of our stop in Louisville and thus, merits its own post. You can read that post very soon!

Churchill Downs

The Law Firm of Blue, Blue & Barbaro

After the Slugger Museum, we decided to pay our respects to another famous animal, Barbaro, at Churchill Downs.

You may remember Barbaro and his decisive Kentucky Derby victory in 2006, only to be followed by a nasty leg-break in the following race, thus ruining his chance of a likely Triple Crown.

Broken leg or not, Barbaro had already captured the hearts of America, a little something I know about now in my old age as well. Rest in peace, Barbaro. You’ve earned it.

And with that, we were back on I-65 and pointed south for Nashville. Oh, so much more we could’ve done had we more time to kill in Louisville, but we’ll have to save that for another visit.

Our thanks to those who showed us such great hospitality in Louisville. We had a wonderful visit!

For additional Big Dawgs Tour photography, please visit our Flickr Tour gallery.