What a great Derby and what a great group of folks came last year!

Kentucky Derby 2009

And in the tradition of Derby, all the guests dressed up in their finery to go to the races.

Kentucky Derby 2009

Kentucky Derby 2009

Kentucky Derby 2009

We look forward to our 2010 Derby guests who will be arriving in a few days!

Linda Williams, Innkeeper
Old Bridge Inn
131 West Chestnut Street
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
(812) 284-3580

LOUISVILLE, KY – Louisville’s historic steamboat is receiving an award from a national engineering group. The New York-based American Society of Mechanical Engineers is designating the Belle of Louisville as their 2010 Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark at a special ceremony on the Belle of Louisville, Friday, April 23, beginning at 6:30 PM. Congressman John Yarmuth and Waterfront Development, President, David Karem, will be present to acknowledge the Belle’s contributions to history.

The ceremony will be from 6:30-7:00 PM in the Belle of Louisville’s ballroom. After visitor’s and media depart, the invited engineer’s and guests will enjoy dinner and a two-hour cruise.

And what great timing, as the Great Steamboat Race is next Wednesday.

The Great Steamboat Race is an annual event, taking place the Wednesday before the first Saturday of May, three days before the Kentucky Derby as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival. It takes place on the Ohio River as it runs between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The race is normally between the Belle of Louisville and the Delta Queen, although other steamboats have participated. The first race was in 1963.

The race begins underneath the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge. Both steamboats race to Six Mile Island, where they turn around to return to the bridge, which is also the finish line. The distance is 14 miles, with an average speed of seven miles per hour (11.27 km/h) for each boat.

The Delta Queen won the first four races, after which its owners refused to race again until the Belle became more competitive. The Queen is a larger boat, with more powerful engines.

As of 2007, where the Belle of Louisville won in a controversial decision by the judges, the Belle has had 22 wins over 19 wins for the Delta Queen.

The winner each year gets to have the “Golden Antlers” until the next race.

• Julia Belle Swain in 1975 and 1976 (the latter of which it won)
• Natchez IX of the New Orleans Steamboat Company in 1982 (which it won).
• Spirit of Jefferson raced in 1999 in the Belle’s stead while the Belle was recovering from sabotage.
• Belle of Cincinnati was a contestant in 2002, and followed as an observation boat in latter years.

The previous two are not actually steamboats, as they run by diesel power instead of steam, and now go along with the actual steamboats as a venue for spectators.

Popular viewing areas for the race are the old Water Tower in Louisville, and along Utica Pike in Jeffersonville, especially at Duffy’s Landing.

Now that the Delta Queen is permanently docked at Chattanooga, TN, it is still a great steamboat race.

This year’s race puts the Belle of Louisville up against the Belle of Cincinnati. The Belle of Cincinnati is looking to win this year’s re-match after a loss last year. The boats begin boarding for the race from 4:45 to 5:40 p.m. on April 28, with the vessels shoving off at 5:45, followed by the race at 6 p.m. The event is always popular during the Kentucky Derby Festival.

For more info on the Belle of Louisville or her little sister, the spirit of Jefferson, please visit The Belle of Louisville and Spirit of Jefferson – http://www.belleoflouisville.org

Another Thunder Over Louisville has come and gone, and so have the wonderful guests who stay here for the event, year after year. In case you are unfamiliar with the event, “Thunder” is one of the nation’s largest fireworks displays, air shows, and is the event that kicks off the Kentucky Derby Festival. We are geographically very close to the event and have a ring-side seat, so to speak.

During Thunder, this beautiful bridge transforms to a…

…glorious ball of fire!

Rated as one of the top 100 events in North America, the Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies is truly a sight to behold. And each year, more than 500,000 eager thrill-seekers do just that.

The day-long event kicks off the two exciting weeks of events that are part of the annual Kentucky Derby Festival. The Thunder Air Show dazzles the crowd with more than 100 planes, aerobatics teams, daring sky diving teams and breathtaking stunts.

When it gets dark, the Thunder rolls. The fireworks will feature the latest in pyrotechnic power from Zambelli Internationale, America’s “first family of fireworks”. Eight 400-foot barges assemble on both sides of the 2nd Street Bridge to form the stage from which the fireworks spectacular ignites.

The breathtaking and mind-numbing 28-minute show includes Thunder’s signature one-mile “waterfall” effect off the bridge, making the fireworks seem to rain down forever. And in the crowd’s memory of the show, it does!

After more than a decade, the show remains the largest annual pyrotechnic display in North America. Seen by approximately 1-million U.S. Armed Forces, Department of Defense civilian employees and their families stationed in 176 countries and aboard 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea via a July 4th rebroadcast on the American Forces Network, it is the state’s pride. A Discovery Channel documentary on fireworks shows says it best:  “Thunder is the Grand-daddy of them all!”. Photos and Copy taken from www.thunderoverlouisville.org

Wonderful Guests

We have wonderful guests who come back to stay with us year after year for Thunder, and it is like a family renunion when they all get here. One group is from the Bedford, Indiana area, and consists of siblings and their spouses. Another group are the descendents of Dr. Charles and Nora Hancock, who owned the house from 1896 tuntil 1960. These groups have bonded and formed friendships over the years and look forward to the event and to seeing each other, as do we.

We are truly blessed as a bed and breakfast to have so much repeat business (not just for this event), and are very grateful to our guests for choosing us!

Here is one menu:

Here at the Old Bridge Inn, we are pet friendly … but please ask before you show up at the front door with your pet.

Like many of you, we travel with our dogs when we go away and know how important it is to be able to find accommodations that allow pets. Pets are a big part of our life, and we also belong to a rescue organization, the Animal Protection Agency of Jeffersonville, IN (APA).

I would love to tell you about my dog Rosie (or Rosetta), our Border Collie mix. But, to tell you her story, I have to tell you the story of the agency that rescued her so that I could adopt her.

Black Border Collie Mix

Rosie was in another shelter, in a nearby town, that went under, and the animals started dying. The Animal Protection Agency (APA) of Jeffersonville, IN, which is a no-kill shelter, went there and absorbed all the remaining animals into their shelter. The dogs were put into foster care until they were adopted, and the cats were put into their shelter.

Linda Hughes, one of the founding members of APA, had Rosie for 18 months before I adopted her. Linda reluctantly parted with dear Rosie, who now has her own room at the B&B that she shares with our other canine, Jack – another story for another day!

Rosie spent the first 18 months of her life in a small crate and as a result of that, she has bad hips. You would never know she has bad hips, though, because she is the happiest dog in the world, who smiles constantly, and brings love and joy to all she meets. She is also very verbal. Rosie throws her head back and says, “WOO WOO WOO.” “Hello, how are you, my name is Rosie and it is very nice to meet you!” Rosie spends her days in her room with Jack, walking with Jack and my husband Robbie to the Ohio River, and generally leading the good dog life.

We keep our dogs separate from the guests and spend as much time with them as possible, giving them a minimum of 3 long walks a day. They are available to meet the guests upon request.

Come see us!

Last night, I had a phone call from a very polite gentleman looking for a room later this month … just for himself, one night. I could tell from our conversation that he did not realize he had just called a bed and breakfast. He immediately apologized for having done so. I asked him if he had ever thought about staying in a B&B (i.e., could I bring him over to our side). He was not ready to on this trip, especially, he explained, since he did not have time to enjoy breakfast, the room, or the historic building. He was polite enough to bookmark our website, www.oldbridgeinn.com, for future reference, and we ended the phone call.

I have many, many first time bed-and-breakfast-goers frequent my inn, and I am always excited and honored that they have chosen us to test the waters, so to speak. I am excited that the newcomers to our industry are being open minded enough to at least try one out. Most B&B-goers are excited about the house (often historic), excited about breakfast, excited about all the things to see and do, and lastly, excited about the pretty room they are going to sleep in.

The most common misconception about a bed and breakfast is that there are only shared bathrooms. This is totally false! Most all urban bed and breakfasts have rooms with private baths – some with whirlpools.

Here at the Old Bridge Inn, we have 5 guest rooms, all with private baths. One of our guest rooms is in the Carriage House, and we get a lot of first-timers that reserve the Carriage House Suite, as they know they will be the only ones in that building. This goes along with the second biggest misconception about bed and breakfasts: those who are afraid to stay at one think that they will not have any privacy at a B & B. This, also, is totally and utterly false.

Carriage House Suite

For example, we bought this house just to have a bed and breakfast. We have our own space to hang out, and are out of the guests’ way intentionally, as we do not want to be sitting out front by the guest exit, watching folks come and go, as that could make them feel like they had no privacy. We tell our guests when they check in that we are available to them if they need anything, but they must either call or knock on our door. They are given the phone number again and shown the door. We, the innkeepers, also have our own private entrance away from the guest area.

The second part of the privacy issue is this: they don’t build houses like they used to. Our walls are very thick, and cannot be heard through, unless one is screaming, of course. Our 1836-built house is as sound as they come, and it has a lot of very interesting history to it. The man who moved his new bride here in 1897 is a descendant of John Hancock, who signed our country’s Declaration of Independence.

Bed and Breakfasts often are on the cutting edge of guest amenities, such as cable TV (a TV in every room), Wireless internet (Wi-Fi), the finest soaps and shampoos, gourmet breakfasts, and a quiet, secure place to stay (i.e., no one checking in after midnight who will be staying over your room, or other guests jumping up and down all night.)

So, if you have ever considered staying at a bed and breakfast but were afraid to, please consider all the reasons listed above and at least give one a try. Bed and Breakfasts are as varied in decor and history as are our personalities as innkeepers, but we all have one main ingredient in common: HOSPITALITY.