Thunder Over Louisville is an event I've been interested in for many years. It is the kick off event for the Kentucky Derby Festival that begins two weeks prior to the derby itself. It is billed as the largest fireworks show in the Midwest.
I presented the idea of going to Erik and supplied weblinks for his research. He agreed it would be cool and a good opportunity for his photography interest. So we had some debate over scheduling and gas prices (ridiculous!). In the end we determined we could make this happen. By the time we did make that decision no hotels in that immediate area were available at a reasonable rate. We decided to drive back afterwards and stop somewhere in Indiana if we were too tired.
The trip started off with us sleeping in later than planned. I had had a super busy week and was just exhausted. I was so excited about our trip though - we love our little getaways. We packed a cooler, lawn chairs, lawn blanket, camera equipment, my backpack with a 2nd shirt, hoodie and a wool blanket.
We had a really good drive down I-65. Expected more traffic than we actually ran into. We noticed somewhere below Shelby County that signs were up stating I-65 would be closed at 8pm for Thunder Over Louisville. As we drive into Louisville we can see the great lawn and it isn't too crowded yet.
Now, in our research for this event we found a limited amount of info that helped us. For instance, no clear directions given for getting off the interstate (yes, we figured it out easily enough). We did find info on parking in garages near the waterfront. The fireworks were to be set off west of I-65 and the 2nd Street bridge was closed. We saw advice about packing patience, bringing coolers, toilet paper for the Thunder pots (their term not mine), food vendor info, and several other things.
Most important, I think, was that the Thunder website suggested waiting to leave the area due to heavy traffic. That was so right! We walked around the carnival area that was set up and operating all day so Erik could get pictures of the rides (one of his favorite things to do) and then slowely made our way back to the garage, which was a reasonable distance, not too far at all.
I was frozen from the winds coming off the river. We sat in the car for I don't know how long trying to warm up and waiting for traffic to die down. We left roughly around 11;30pm and had no problems getting out and back to I-65 to come north.
The fireworks were truly the most amazing display I've ever seen. I highly recommend going just watch the weather because we froze! It was worth it overall.
We didn't make the drive back home that night. About Scottsburg, IN we were just too wiped out and spent that night there. All in all it was a great road trip. We'll consider going again next year, with better planning, like a hotel room in Louisville!
