7/3/2026 – Louisville, KY – Partly Cloudy – Warm – 92F

It was, as expected, a long night. The noisy AC was still running when I got up.

We were told that the busses would depart the hotel for SDF at 9:00 AM.  I was up around 6 AM so we would be ready to go down to breakfast in the restaurant (second floor) at 7:30 AM when the place opened. The instructions were to bring down our suitcases and keep them with us while we had breakfast.  Instead, when we got down there, Brody and crew took our bags to the bus. I was not in the best frame of mind after two sleepless nights plus all of the craziness over the last few days – nobody’s fault but my own. 

Walker's Exchange was packed with our fellow cruisers, one of which told us “good luck” as he was exiting the restaurant.  We found a nice table for two against the window. I ordered a waffle with fresh strawberries and a coffee and Ellen has two eggs. Service was slow even though I think the restaurant brought in extra help.  The manager actually stopped by our table to tell us our food was in progress and she would make sure we got it as quickly as possible.   

The food did come soon after and my waffle was not covered with fresh strawberries but with super sweet strawberry pie filling. It was too late to do anything about it so I simply ate the topping free parts of the waffle.

We left the hotel at 9:00 AM and headed to our bus. Our flight AA4704 had a 11:06 AM departure time and we would probably get to the airport around 9:30 AM.  When we got there, the bus did a strange thing; the driver passed by all the departure gates, left the airport, got back on the same highway, and returned about five minutes later.  Maybe, there was no place to park the big bus and unload all the baggage.  He did pull over and unloaded all those bags by himself (a $5 tip).

SDF is a small airport and all of the gates are in the same terminal. American Airlines is next to United. We printed boarding passes and bag tags at the kiosk and dropped the bags off.  The TSA Pre-Check entrance was not very far and there were very few people in line.  In fact, a TSA Agent was helping move the bags through the scanner. Ellen was swabbed for explosives and I just went through the metal detector. Usually, I get the special scanner but not today.

SDF was all decked out for America250. 

Ellen checked out a store in the area near the gates and found a Kentucky T-shirt on sale (I certainly don't have one of those).

Our gate, B2, was the first one beyond the security area. We found a seat and waited for the boarding call.

The incoming plane arrived on time and was cleaned and ready for us to board. 

We are once again on an Embraer 175 and in 19C and 19D Cabin Extra Seats.  The plane pushed on time, was put into take off configuration, 

and soon, because it’s a small airport, we were in the air.  

The flight time is about 90 minutes so the only service is water and snacks (I chose the Biscot instead of pretzels). 

The flight tracker (available through AA's free WiFi)  indicated a storm free flight path.

The flight was pretty smooth as we passed over Lake Michigan over the North Shore Suburbs (maybe over our place)

and continued so until we were on approach – must have been windy because the planes wings tipped a few times and we also got a few decent bumps.  

The plane landed on time and parked at G8.  This part of ORD looked unfamiliar and also involved a good walk to Baggage Claim.  This time, both bags came out.  I responded to a text from American Taxi that we had our bags.  It only took about five minutes for our cab to appear.  It was strange to be flying home in the morning on a domestic flight.

Traffice was light (it was morning) and the 30 minute ride home was quick.  The doorman helped us with our bags.  The condo was warm but all the plants survived.

It was certainly a different kind of cruise.

7/2/2026 – Louisville KY - Mostly Sunny and hot - 95F

7/2/2026 – Louisville KY - Mostly Sunny and hot - 95F

As I expected it would be it was a major "fever dream" night. Got up at 7 AM very disoriented. Four hours of sleep and a one hour time change will do that to you. I recruited enough neurons to deal with the shower, which went a long way in waking me up.

I got some wonderful shorts of the terrific view from Room 1223.

   

8:30 AM - got dressed and went to the Restaurant, Walker's Exchange, 

on the second floor for breakfast. I had the "Triple Stack" (pancakes and blueberries) and two OM with coffee. 

It took a little while to get my order but the pancakes were fluffy and huge.  The eggs were just right and the coffee was strong. At 9 AM, ET texted that she would come down in a few minutes. She ordered avocado toast (huge) and had some of the pancakes as well. Neither of us finished our meals - just too much food but a perfect breakfast. The restaurant has a pretty nice outdoor eating area, which nobody would sit at in this heat.

We also found out that the morning tour of Churchills Downs had been cancelled due the late arrival from Evansville.  We had made up our minds that we would not be in any shape to take that tour so good on us.

Several members of the crew were staying at the hotel and assisting passengers. We spoke to Brody and found out that we could get on the afternoon tour of "The Kentucky Derby Experience", which meets at 1:30 PM.  We would be in much better shape by the afternoon.

We decided to find the amazing fountain and statues we could see from our room,  You have to sneak through the closed restaurant to access the inner courtyard of the hotel.. We couldn't get to the statues but we did find the fountain (or actually a waterfall).  I got a picture postcard shot of Ellen at the fountain.

Lunch today was in the 3rd Floor Ballroom. It was buffet style. At first I thought there was nothing for us to eat but later discovered that breaded cod was on the menu. I tried it along with some cherry tomatoes from the foofoo salad. Apple pie and coffee completed the meal. The lunch came up short for me.

We boarded the American Cruise Lines bus for the 30 minute ride to Churchill Downs. It was eally hot in Louisville today. Before we formally started the tour, I took some exterior shots

including a picture of the statue of Barbaro, the 2006 Derby Winner. Sadly, Barbaro was injured in his next race, The Preakness, and had to be euthanized.  His ashes lie beneath the 1500 pound bronze memorial - it stands just outside the gate.

We, as a group, walked inside the museum to join our guide. From there it was back outside to see the iconic grandstand and track. 

The Derby is held in May - spectators must be pretty well cooked both in the stands and the infield (total attendance of 165,000 - including about 60,000 reserved seats). We went back inside and saw "The Big Race", an immersive film on a 360 degree screen with booming surround sound. 

Lack of sleep and a lot of noise catalyzed a headache.

The group then went to a Q&A with a jockey while I went to cool off on one of the many benches available. Ellen texted me to come to the jockey thing (serving mint juleps). I couldn't find her but she found me. I had a little trouble understanding the jockey and he ran long but the juleps were good.  

No visit would be complete without some roses (The Derby is the "Run for the Roses".

We had a few minutes of free time before getting back on the bus. I got a picture of the gravestones of five Derby Winners (the earliest being from 1933).

On the way back from Churchill Downs, we drove through the Univerity of Louiville campus and I got this shot of the "Silver Wishbone" on the Speed Art Museum grounds,

We also passed by the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts,

as well as a magnificent mural very close to Galt House.

11:06 AM - checked in for tomorrow's flight on the AA app. Changed seats to 11A and 11C, which were free again. I'll have to try that every time at check-in.

We met with Jennifer from ACL to find a cruise for August using the half price offer resulting from the shortened itinerary. We wanted to do Alaska but flights from Juneau to ORD are crazy. One or two connections - early morning or early evening - hours of flying and sitting in airports.  Not feasible. Other cruises were sold out and the free air fair perk was not available on cruises 60 days or less away.  We'll check out next year and find another option for August.

Our cruise group was in the bar before dinner and we could order on the ACL tab.  I ordered a "Blackberry Bourbon Smash" 

and Ellen has some kind of spiked lemonade.  I tried to order some soft pretzels but they couldn't be put on the tab.  My drink was very good (and colorful).

Dinner was again in the ballroom. This buffet did not have an entree we could eat. I spoke with Brody and he spoke to the hotel and two salmon dinners arrived at our table. I don't know they cooked the salmon so fast. The Salmon was drizzled with BBQ sauce, which we scraped off. The veggies were too spicy. The rolls were good and the Cesar Salad was excellent, the best salad and maybe food item at dinner all cruise. Dessert was a cake with white chocolate filling.

I was whipped, my leg was hurting so I wanted to go to the room.  The room was hot because it has a western exposure. We turned the AC down to cool off the room but it didn’t do the trick. It ran all night. The AC unit is very noisy (the same unit we have at home, which is a lot quieter).  So, even with ear plugs, there will be little of no sleep for me.

On the plus side, we did see a beautiful sunset over Louisville and the Ohio River.

Lights out earlier tonight at 10 PM.

7/1/2026 - Near Mt Vernon IN - Mostly Sunny - 94F

 7/1/2026 - Near Mt Vernon IN - Mostly Sunny - 94F

This was supposed to be an Underway Day taking us to Louisville KY.  Instead, American Heritage is "docked" next to a barge instead of sailing on the Ohio River. The nearest town, Mt. Vernon, is on the other side of the river in Indiana. Do boats have emergency flashers? I wonder.

How did this happen?  At about 4 AM, I woke up to a huge bump.  According to the captain who came on to explain the crash, Heritage collided with a towboat that didn't heed the right of way and didn't respond to radio communication.  The collision was major and scary - strong enough to wake me up. We were told that the Heritage can't sail until the USCG comes aboard and checks things out. Didn't get much sleep after that.  (NOTE: The collision must not have been below the water line or we would be off the boat at this point.  One person told me that the boats deck railing was damaged forcing a safety issue - can't sail like that.  There were other hypotheses put forward: The boats collided in heavy fog (no fog in the early morning; the towboat broke its moorings and tugs were not able to keep it from striking the Heritage. Mute point - we are stuck here for now).

I was in the Sky Lounge for breakfast.  Taking no chances, I brought up a box of Special K I had in the cabin (none available in the lounge). I couldn't sit outside because, for some reason, everything - seats, tables, and deck - was soaked. I wonder if that wasn't some kind of post-collision safety protocol.  All I could do is get some pictures including the closest town, Mt Vernon, IN.

Ellen and I went to the Restaurant for the rest of breakfast. My veggie skillet looked good on paper but didn't really taste good.  Good think I had the Special K earlier and the bagel that came with the skillet. Ellen had French toast, which is always good.  During breakfast, the Captain announced that the Coast Guard was on their way to assess the damage to the Heritage with an ETA of two hours.

9:30 AM: Now up in the Sky Lounge waiting for the Coast Guard. The USCG does have authority over the major rivers in the US and has specialized boats that can deal with sandbars, shallow water, and other issues associated with rivers.  

We hung out in the Sky Lounge (Ellen reading 

and me sketching 

and listening to Pandora, which I like better than Rocket Player) until lunch. 

We special ordered egg salad sandwiches this morning and they were there in the Restaurant when we got there.  We had the sandwiches with Sun Chips, from the Sky Lounge, which made for an acceptable lunch. The egg salad is better than the tuna salad. We didn't stay for dessert - nothing really jumped out at us.

We are now in the Paddlewheel Lounge (normally very noisy but the paddlewheel is not running so it's quiet). Decaf and a fig newton - perfect dessert.

Another ship, the "Miss Sheila" pulled up next to us.  The boat, owned by Archer Daniels Midland, the Agricultural Processing Giant. It's a towboat and someone, maybe a crew member, told us that she dropped off USCG Inspectors (people did get off the boat). Perhaps those bespoke USCG River vessels were not needed.

No updates at 12:54 PM.

2:00 PM - no update

Some Math.  On the Ohio River, the distance to Louisville is 193 River Miles. At max speed, it will take more than 20 hours to get there. At best we might get there tomorrow afternoon sometime,, assuming of course, we got the "all clear" from the USCG.

The Plan. Here's the plan that finally came over the PA System: The boat will sail to Evansville, IN. Passengers will board our own busses for a two hour ride to Louisville. They will stay in a hotel for two nights. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be complimentary. Excursions will leave from the hotel tomorrow at the regular time. On Friday morning, passengers  will get bussed to the airport. Sounds like a good plan.  Sounds pretty straightforward.  Timing details were missing.

The details came in a letter to our stateroom,  It also contained information regarding fare adjustments and future cruises.

I hadn't heard anything about the timing so I asked the Restaurant host about dinner. He said dinner was at 4:30 PM probably to get people on their way. The part of the plan wasn’t announced – I could tell by the confusion in the restaurant.

American Heritage did push away and started sailing up the Ohio River.  

Math (continued). The distance from Mt Vernon IN to Evansville IN is 33 River Miles - at current speed, which is probably less than the 9 MPH she usually pulls, it will take about four hours - that means we will get to Evansville around 8:30 PM.  And maybe get to Louisville by 11:00 PM. 

Well, that's not quite how it shook out. We did have dinner - we special ordered two pastas this morning - tomato sauce and pesto sauce. There was no tomato sauce (how can that be?) so we both had pesto. My salad w ranch dressing was tiny - a garnish size. The macaroni with pesto was inedible. I ordered a second salad, which was smaller than the first one. No idea what was going on - had the kitchen run out of lettuce?  We had sour cream cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

We went to the room to pack and get our bags outside the cabin. It seemed urgent to do so.  We packed and were concerned about luggage tags. In the meantime, we found out that we wouldn't get to Evansville until 8:30 PM.

Johnathan Len actually put on his second show (I'll bet he was surprised). 

It was a good show. 

We went to the room and luggage tags were on the door (name misspelled). I had also made tags per Brody's advice. I tagged the bags and put them out.  We watched the sail in and docking.   

The entire crew - including the captain - unloaded the bags and moved them to the busses in a kind of "baggage brigade" process.  One person would push two bags a ways to another person, etc.  There were at least 280 bags,  It look a while.

Long story short - we didn't disembark (Deck 5 to Deck 1, in that order) until 10:45 PM. I don't think we even scanned out and walked a fair distance across a bridge to the busses. It was dark and crew members used flashlights to illuminate the walkway. 

We sat on the bus for 40 minutes for reasons unknown. The driver looked ready to go but then she disappeared.  We finally got underway and went only one block and stopped. It seems that two people were found sleeping on the boat. We waited for them to get on the other bus so I guess we are convoying. 

11:47 PM - we are rolling but it's unclear when we will get to the hotel. I watched the progress on Google Maps.

The bus was comfortable enough and it did have a bathroom in the back.  The bus was dark. At the 90 minute mark I got up and found the door to the bathrom.  It was quite an experience because the ride was very bumpy and I was holding on by pressing against both walls.  There was no hand sanitizer or sink in this bathroom and I had lost my little bottle in Paducah.  I tried not to touch anything in the bathroom.  I did manage to get back to my seat in the darkened bus.  Outside, it was pretty pitch black with only the full moon providing any light.

I was relieved when the bus turned on to a highway that said "Louisville".  We drove through the dark and deserted downtown area until we came the Galt House Hotel - our destination.  

We were told we would be taking our bags to our rooms.  We retrieve our bags from the sidewalk, got room keys from crew in the lobby, and hopped into the first elevator we could.

1:50 AM - We finally entered Room 1223 in the Galt House Hotel

Louisville is on EDT - 2:50 AM. 

Lghts out at 3:00 AM.

6/30/2026 - Paducah KY - Sunny Hot - 94F

 6/30/2026 - Paducah KY - Sunny Hot - 94F 

(Heat Index 110 -114)

The boat docked quietly at Broadway Ramp Landing

Port Information. Paducah, Kentucky is a UNESCO Creative City, known for its quilting heritage and visual arts.  Paducah sits at the convergence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers.  It boasts the “National Quilting Museum” as well as other museums in the area near the wharf.  Paducah was also known as “Atomic City” for its Uranium Enrichment Facility. The plant, which used “gas diffusion” to separate U235 from U238 for use in reactors (not bombs), closed in 2013 and is under remediation to reduce the radioactivity levels.  In 2025, the city had approximately 26,700 to 27,100 residents.

Another restless night - lots of ups and downs. No reason.

Up early enough to get a shower (badly needed in this humidity).

Breakfast starter in the Sky Lounge at 7 AM today. There was no Special K (amazing but confirmed by Emma) so I had two small Raisin Brans plus coffee. Ate my breakfast on the open deck and enjoyed the views of both Mississippi and the wharf area.  I wanted to stay out there longer but it was already warm and getting warmer.  I was up early enough to get the sunrise.

We both went to the Restaurant for the real breakfast. We both had pancakes and eggs (ET banana, HMT chocolate chip). Very good. The food rota has shortened because we had pancakes two days ago. The pancakes were back to their delicious form after a brief break last time.  

We are going to do the "Paducah Loop" today, a 30 min ship run "hop on hop off" circuit.  There are five stops on the loop: 

The National Quilt Museum 

Lowertown Arts District 

Civil War Museum 

Paducah Railroad Museum 

Inland Waterways Museum

Slathered in sunscreen, we scanned off the boat around 9:25 AM. I got a nice picture of the American Heritage from the top of the cement wharf ramp 

before we boarded the American Cruise Lines bus.  The Inland Waterways Museum (located across the street from the wharf entrance) was just opening We will go there as the last stop on the loop.

We drove through an opening in the Flood Wall, which runs for several blocks.  On the side facing the city, the wall is covered with murals depicting various events in the history of Paducah.  

The first stop, The Railroad Museum, hadn't opened yet, so we decided to do the whole loop to see what was involved. The "Artist's Quarter" was next - home to several antebellum homes.

Only one original two story home remained because, during the Civil War, Confederate soldiers would use the second story to fire from; the Union soldiers were ordered to burn all two story homes. There were no restaurants or grocery stores or even gas stations. We were also told that there were no drug stores or pharmacies in the area. A couple of cute coffee shops did have customers at outside tables.

On the second time around we stopped at the National Quilt Museum.  

Along the walkway to the museum, there is a monument to Lewis and Clark, although Sacajawea did not join the two explorers when they were in this region, she is included in the sculpture.  

In the 30 minutes we were in the nice air conditioned and well appointed museum, we saw incredible quilts. They looked like paintings but they were made from tiny pieces of cloth. One particularly amazing quilt was actually made from wood. 

I took a lot of pictures, some of which are down below. Admission is $20 per adult - included on this tour.

My personal favorite was a take on Vermeer's classic. This was called "Girl with a Pearl Onion" creative.

We did not stop in the Artist's Quarter - heat was intense and the area was not that interesting. The Quarter was created as part of the Paducah's Artist Relocation Program (ARP), an urban revitalization initiative that transforms blighted areas into thriving creative hubs. Launched in 2000, it recreated the historic Lower Town neighborhood (a part of the city considered dangerous and not visited by town folk) by offering artists incentives to purchase, restore, and live in the area.

Next stop: The Railroad Museum. Trains all over. 

Model trains and train related road signs filled the place. Had to get out of their earlier than 30 min because the place was musty. We sat outside in the heat but not that long.

The last stop was the Inland Waterways Museum. 

\

The highlight here was the boat simulator. I drove a speedboat down the Ohio River and under a bridge.  Low tech but fun.

Since this final stop is close to the landing, Ellen walked back to the boat – 

she went quickly to void the sun and the heat. I would follow. As I began the walk, I saw Omer walking briskly on the other side of the road, most likely trying to catch his plane to his next gig. 

On my way, Brody, the Excursion Manager, asked me if I wanted a ride back in the golf cart (a rental to complement the two the ship had). I got a chance to see some of the murals that line the back of the flood wall and I avoided heat stroke.  One mural I really liked was the "Atomic City" one.

Barody took the long way back to the boat but soon I scanned in and joined Ellen in the cabin. The AC felt wonderful.

Lunch for both of us was the “American Cruises Tuna Melt” sandwiches - tuna on an English Muffin with melted Swiss cheese on top. ET liked her but I've had better tuna. I had a side of coleslaw and broccoli salad (not great).  I did have a Corona which was perfect for dealing with the heat

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and some very good chocolate pie.

For the first time ever on a ship we played Bengo aka Bingo at 3PM in the Sky Lounge. I was one of four winners in Game 1 and claimed a nice white logo cap (perfect size). Only the second time I won anything on a cruise (I won a pen once on a gig and the cruise director said I could keep it).

After cooling off in the room, we had dinner in the Restaurant.

We both ordered seared salmon (nothing for us on the menu) and I had another iceberg wedge with ranch dressing. My salad was good but our salmon entrees were very over.  The NY cheesecake with peach compote saved the dinner.  

Ellen tried the Moscato - not sweet enough for her.

During dinner the boat went through the Smithland Locks, which raised the boat about 6 ft. As we exited the locks, the ship hit something - the impact was significant - perhaps the wall. No explanation was offered.

The headliner tonight is local singer Johnathan Len (lives in Paducah) and his show "Juke Box Memories". 

He jumped from the American Melody (it passed us coming from Paducah) to the Heritage when she docked.  He has been doing American Cruises for six years (250 shows, I think he said) after being a teacher and then a journeyman entertainer. He was an opening act for a country singer.

Even though he's 44 years old, he's into 50s and 60s music. His song list included just about every singer from that era, including The Shirelles, Bobby Darin, Beach Boys, Platters, but the showstopper was Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans".  He also shared snippets from his background. It was a very entertaining show.

Lights out at 10:30 PM.