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Louisville -

Louisville is the historical seat of Kentucky (Frankfort is the capital). It was founded in 1778 and named after King Louis XVI of France, whose soldiers were aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War.

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Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory -

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Kentucky is the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. You can't miss the building: it's distinguished by a 36-m-tall (120 ft) replica of Babe Ruth's Louisville Slugger, which stands at the entrance.

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Factory tour and museum visit -

Visitors have the opportunity to tour the factory where the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat is made. Afterwards they can browse the museum, the prize exhibits of which include the bat used to hit Hank Aaron's 700th home run; Joe DiMaggio's bat from his 56-game hitting streak; and the bat used by Babe Ruth for 21 of his home runs in 1927.

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Muhammad Ali Center -

Louisville's most famous son is honored by this non-profit museum and cultural center, located in the city's West Main District. Founded in 2005, the Muhammad Ali Center promotes the ideals and life work of one of the world's greatest sporting personalities, who was also a highly respected humanitarian.

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Packing a punch -

The cultural center features exhibitions regarding Ali's six core principles of confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect, and spirituality. But the venue also packs a punch celebrating as it does his fighting prowess, with a mock boxing ring recreated based on his Deer Lake Training Camp, a much-photographed central display.

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Kentucky Derby -

Time a visit to the state during spring and witness one of the most prestigious horse-racing events in the world: the Kentucky Derby. Established in 1875, it takes place annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs outside of Louisville.

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Kentucky Derby Museum -

Adjacent to the racetrack is the engaging Kentucky Derby Museum. An absolute must-see for horse lovers and racegoers, the museum explores the history of the event from its inception in 1875. A series of films and interactive exhibits shows what goes into the breeding and training of a young foal and the path it takes to the Kentucky Derby's winner circle. The museum also conducts tours of Churchill Downs, which allow visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the venue.

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Louisville Palace Theatre -

Louisville's cultural draws include the wonderful Palace Theatre. This historic music venue opened in 1928 and over the years has hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, in 1941, and Ray Charles, in 1959. Tom Waites, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant (performing with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss), and Kentucky's very own Billy Ray Cyrus number among the more recent entertainers to grace its stage.

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Cave Hill Cemetery -

Among the permanent residents of Louisville's Cave Hill Cemetery is Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, the man who founded fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC). His gravesite is often visited by fast food aficionados.

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Belle of Louisville -

The oldest functioning Mississippi River-style steamboat in the world operates out of Louisville, the Belle of Louisville. Launched in 1914, the Belle offers a variety of seasonal cruises on the Ohio River.

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Speed Art Museum -

The oldest, largest, and foremost museum of art in Kentucky, Speed Art Museum in Louisville houses ancient, classical, and modern art from around the world, though the focus of the collection is Western art, from antiquity to the present day.

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Spending time in the Speed -

Among the treasures preserved at the Speed is Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Forty-Year-Old Woman,' painted in 1634.

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Louisville Zoo -

The marvelous, kid-friendly Louisville Zoo is noted for some very rare animals indeed, not least the endangered siamang (pictured), a noisy member of the gibbon family.

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Frazier History Museum -

Besides housing a remarkable collection of documents and artifacts that chronicle national and international world events, Frazier History Museum is the starting point of the ever-popular Kentucky Bourbon Trail. One-third of all bourbon distilled comes from Louisville, and this is an excellent venue in which to acquaint yourself with this iconic tipple.

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Kentucky Bourbon Trail -

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a program designed to introduce and promote the Bourbon whiskey industry in Kentucky. Along the route are several distilleries that welcome visitors with guided tours and tasting sessions. Pictured is the visitor center of the Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. in Lexington, which also happens to produce beers.

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Lexington -

The second-largest city in Kentucky, Lexington lies at the heart of the state's Bluegrass region. As well as horses, the city is renowned for a collection of historic architecture, exemplified by the History Center. It once housed several museums, but is now a multi-use commercial, tourist, office and event center. Incidentally, did you know that Hollywood film stars George Clooney and Ashley Judd were both born in Lexington?

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Kentucky Horse Park -

Lexington is known as the "Horse Capital of the World." Suitably, the Kentucky Horse Park allows visitors a chance to celebrate our relationship with this beautiful beast through education, exhibition, engagement, and competition. Pictured is the park's life-size statue of Secretariat, one of the greatest racehorses of all time and a Kentucky Derby legend.

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Daniel Boone National Forest -

Named for American pioneer and frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734–1820), the Daniel Boone National Forest encompasses a wilderness of sandstone cliffs, gorges, and ravines cut by rivers and streams. Its most famous feature is the Natural Bridge, a sandstone arch itself the centerpiece of the enclosed Natural Bridge State Resort Park.

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Wildlife and outdoor recreation -

Besides providing sanctuary for a wealth of wildlife, the park offers up numerous outdoor recreational pursuit options, including hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, boating, and horse riding. Pictured is the Van Hook Falls, a favorite Instagram location.

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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park -

The place where the 16th president of the United States was born is marked by a neoclassical memorial building, set on the former site of Sinking Spring Farm where the infant Lincoln lived with his family until he was two years old.

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Replica home -

Inside the building is a replica of the one-room log cabin where Lincoln was born in 1809.

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Cumberland Gap -

Southeastern Kentucky extends into the Cumberland Mountains. This is where the Cumberland Gap is located, a natural pass first used as a trading route by Native Americans and later rediscovered by pioneers moving west in the mid-18th century.

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Cumberland Falls State Resort Park -

Named for the 21-m-tall (68 ft) Cumberland Falls, the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, located southwest of Corbin, is embroidered with dozens of walking trails. The Cumberland River, meanwhile, is a well-known kayaking and white water rafting hot spot.

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Cumberland Falls moonbow -

The Cumberland Falls are one of the few places in the western hemisphere where a moonbow can frequently be seen on clear nights with a full moon.

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Mammoth Cave National Park -

Kentucky can boast one of the largest known cave systems in the world: Mammoth Cave. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, this subterranean wonder features more than 680 km (420 mi) of surveyed tunnels. The system is located at Edmonson, around 128 km (80 mi) south of Louisville.

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Newport Aquarium -

The scary but fascinating Surrounded by Sharks display at Newport Aquarium is complemented by the equally unnerving Deadly and Dangerous exhibit, where piranhas and venomous Gila monsters lurk.

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Sanders Café -

The aforementioned Colonel Sanders opened his first café and the original KFC, then known as Harland Sanders Café, in 1940 as part of a motel complex. The building still stands, located on Highway US 31E in Corbin. This is where he developed the famous KFC secret recipe, still a much-guarded formula. The café is now a museum, while next door stands a modern KFC.

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National Corvette Museum -

Avid petrol heads should motor over to the city of Bowling Green and the National Corvette Museum. Widely known as "America's Sports Car," the Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most iconic automobiles in the world—and there are dozens of rare and vintage models on display in the museum's coveted Hall of Fame.

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Fort Knox -

The General George Patton Museum and the United States Bullion Depository are both found at Fort Knox. The depository was made famous in the 1964 James Bond movie 'Goldfinger.' Image: United States Government 

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Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill -

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a landmark destination that takes you back to a time when this was home to the third largest Shaker community in the United States between 1805 and 1910.

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Center Family Dwelling -

Thirty-four of Pleasant Hill's original buildings are open to the public, including the historic Center Family Dwelling, once home to over a hundred Shakers. It was constructed of limestone quarried from the top of the palisades of the Kentucky River. The village and its expansive grounds, which also enclose a nature reserve, are located in Harrodsburg.

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Paducah -

Twenty blocks of Paducah's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The standalone McCracken County Courthouse (pictured) is where the fictional "Old Judge Priest" William Sutton Bishop presided, the character from Paducah-born Irvin S. Cobb's novels. Director John Ford twice made movies based on Cobb's Judge Priest stories—'Judge Priest' in 1934, and 'The Sun Shines Bright' (1953). 

Sources: (Britannica) (Belle of Louisville) (The Earth Site) (UNESCO) (Chicago Tribune)

See also: Authors who hated their movie adaptations

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