Off to Louisville

Our expedition to Louisville began with a picnic in Cherokee Park - a long time family tradition. Cousin Edie directed us to her favorite spot which was high on a hill surrounded by huge beech trees. We were surprised to find so many really big old beech - many of the old trees in this park were destroyed by a tornado in 1974 but somehow these survived.
The devilled eggs and pink lemonade were prologue for the real reason for our trip - exploring Cave Hill Cemetery.
Cave Hill Cemetery is both large and old. It started in 1848 when the area was rural and "away from the bustle of city life". Now its 296 acres are an island of green in a very urban metropolis. It is an arboretum as well as a cemetery, with over 500 varieties of trees, including the largest Ginkgo I've ever seen.

We began by looking at the cave after which the cemetery is named. Cool air blew out of the entrance and the spring was flowing. The spring apparently formed this cave, but other caverns exist in the limestone under the ground.

We took time to try to make sense of the map of the 16 miles of roads looping and curling among the monuments.

We did successfully find various of our family grave sites.

We found some of the famous folk buried here.
but we got thoroughly lost looking for others.

Even lost, there were many interesting monuments to look at - some for their elaborate carving;

some for their architecture;

and some for their tranquil garden setting.
There is lots more to see here - we'll have to return another day to untangle those confusing roads and find more of the treasures here.