Dream Trips: Wimbledon

As the great white shark swims slowly past my cage, my heart feels as if it's up near my tonsils. My head is light, and my breathing is fast. Despite the regulator jammed in my mouth, I manage to yell "Wow!" (and a few less wholesome exclamations). I've traveled 18 hours by boat to Guadalupe Island, Mexico, for just this moment. About 180 miles west of Baja California, Guadalupe is one of the best places in the world to see great whites. They migrate to the warm, clear water here after spending the summer feeding off the coast of California. In his six years of organizing these trips, Paul "Doc" Anes says he's never had an expedition in which he didn't spot any sharks. Over a dinner of seared tuna and Land Shark Lager on his boat, he shares stories of seeing an 18-foot female great white that "looked like a school bus" and smaller, acrobatic males that caused huge splashes by leaping out of the water and landing on their backs or bellies. Indeed, the first shark that we see is a male--nicknamed Scar because of his mangled dorsal fin--who once jumped out of the water to bite off a boat's anchor. I'm proof that anyone can go swimming with great whites, even if not everyone would. I've been scuba diving only once before, but participants don't need to be certified, because the cage doesn't descend much below the surface and the breathing apparatus is attached to an air tank that's on the boat instead of on the diver's back. I climb into the cage after just one short lesson. Anes uses the heads and tails of the tuna we ate for dinner as shark bait. But the sharks don't devour the leftovers right away; they inspect them carefully first, as if they're foodies in a trendy restaurant. After determining that the bait is edible, the great whites attack it with explosive, slashing movements. Though the length of the sharks is impressive, their girth astounds me even more. The great whites are as big around as minivans and look like submarines with teeth. But it's their eyes that leave the deepest impression. They aren't black, as they appear in photos and on TV. The irises are midnight blue, and the pupils glow orange like coals in a fire. As the mighty creatures cruise by, their eyes track you, watching you just as closely as you're watching them. Where to see great whites Neptune Islands, Australia Champion spear fisherman Rodney Fox was attacked by a great white shark in the 1960s and spent the next 40 years taking folks to dive with sharks. His company, Great White Shark Expeditions, runs year-round boat tours from Port Lincoln, 175 miles west of Adelaide, to the Neptune Islands, about four hours away. Meals and diving gear are provided; wet suits can be rented. 011-61/8-8363-1788, rodneyfox.com.au, $1,750 per person (three days), $2,635 (five days). Shorter tours can be chartered. Farallon Islands, California The Farallon Islands, near San Francisco, have been a shark-diving destination since the late 1990s, when the BBC produced a documentary about great whites there. Incredible Adventures runs daylong shark-diving trips out of San Francisco on weekends from September through November. Meals and gear are provided. 800/644-7382, incredible-adventures.com/sharks_farallons.html, $875 per person (divers), $375 (topside watchers). Cape Town, South Africa Apex Predators, run by documentary filmmakers Chris and Monique Fallows, operates shark-diving trips from mid-April through mid-September. Tours depart from Simon's Town, just outside Cape Town, and range in length. Gear and meals are provided. 011-27/82-364-2738, apexpredators.com, $220 per person (one day), $1,100 (five days). Guadalupe Island, Mexico San Diego Shark Diving Expeditions runs tours from late August to November. Divers board the boat in Ensenada after a three-hour bus trip from San Diego. Meals are provided; gear must be rented. 619/299-8560, sdsharkdiving.com, $2,750 per person, double occupancy (five days), $3,150 (seven days).

Nothing says romance like being on a secluded beach with someone you love. But how do you find a spot where you can re-create the famous From Here to Eternity kiss without putting on a show for a dozen gawkers? Many charter operators offer boat excursions to hidden coves and tranquil cays in the Caribbean where couples can spend a day on their own private beach. The operators will include food, drinks, and snorkeling gear--if you need it. "Honeymooners definitely keep themselves busy," says Kermaine Lightbourne of J&B Tours in the Turks and Caicos. All that alone time doesn't come cheap, however. Tours run anywhere from $225 for a full day in the Turks and Caicos to $700 for just a half day in the Bahamas (the boat holds six, but that cuts into the privacy). Prices may also fluctuate depending on the cost of fuel, so check in advance. Privacy is easy to find if you make it the point of a vacation--such as spending a week in the Bahamas' Out Islands--but these day trips are ideal if you have little time or you'd rather have someone else handle the planning. All you have to do is bring plenty of sunscreen. Providenciales, Turks and Caicos J&B Tours Full day with lunch, beer, wine, beach chairs, snorkeling gear, and umbrella. 649/946-5047, jbtours.com, $225 for two. Silver Deep Full day with lunch, beer, rum punch, water, snorkeling gear, umbrella, and beach chairs. 649/946-5612, silverdeep.com, $275 for two. Bahamas Brown's Charters Half day with water, soft drinks, and snorkeling gear. Nassau, 242/324-2061, brownscharter.com, from $500 for six. Hunter Charters Half day with water, soft drinks, and towels. Paradise Island, 242/364-1546, huntercharters.com, $700 for six. Tortola, British Virgin Islands Island Time Full day with ice-filled cooler and towels. 284/495-9993, islandtimeltd.com, from $370 for four (or you can just rent a small powerboat for $195). Grenada Caribbean Horizons Full day with lunch, juice, and snorkeling gear. 473/444-1555, caribbeanhorizons.com, from $580 for two.

With towering headlands covered in jack pine, a crescent of white sand bisected by a creek, and slabs of red granite half submerged in the surf, Black Brook Beach is the kind of coastline that inspires artists and poets. In me, however, it was inspiring only frustration. "You sort of kick, then hit the ground with the ball of your foot, kick, and do the other side," said naturalist Bethsheila Kent of Walking the Wildside Nature Tours. She was demonstrating the Scottish step dance known as the strathspey while humming a merry little tune. "Like this?" I asked. Bethsheila shook her head, sending her ponytail flying and her crystals clinking. She did the move again, and I followed suit. "Don't wave your arms," she said. "You look like a windmill." I had hired Bethsheila for an interpretative walk through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We had just hiked Jack Pine Trail, or most of it anyhow. At the trailhead, someone had posted a hand-scrawled warning: "Bear and cubs spotted at noon." Bear-and-cub encounters are highly dangerous, so when Bethsheila caught a whiff of eau de Yogi--truck driver with undertones of dung--she turned us toward the beach. This gave me the opportunity to initiate a dance lesson, which she probably wasn't so qualified to teach. The majority of people on the island of Cape Breton are descended from the 50,000 Scots who migrated to Nova Scotia in the early 19th century, but Bethsheila is not of Gaelic stock. Like me, she's of Jewish, Germanic, Eastern European descent. She was born and bred on Cape Breton, however, speaking with the requisite Scottish lilt and possessing a love of the place that's every bit as ferocious as a mama bear. I'd wanted to rent a house near sand and sea with my husband, Nick, and our 3-year-old, Willa. I'd heard that Cape Breton has good food and, thanks to the Gulf Stream, water almost as warm as that off the Carolinas. Four months before our late-July trip, only a few rentals were available. We chose Heritage House, a former schoolhouse that had been turned into a one-bedroom chalet with a giant sleeping loft. At $1,000 a week, it was a little on the expensive side, but it was described as being in the woods and across the street from St. Ann's Bay. Unfortunately, the house was also 50 feet from the Trans-Canada Highway, and the water nearby wasn't swimmable. (Locals hooted when I asked.) The rough-hewn beams and sleeping loft were almost charming enough to make up for the 1960s Ultrasuede chairs, 1980s-style futon couch, and ugly posters. Heritage House's location, however, was excellent: right at the start of the 185-mile scenic route known as the Cabot Trail and a 15-minute drive to the adorable village of Baddeck, which is on the shore of the Bras d'Or (pronounced bra-dor), Cape Breton's big saltwater lake. We spent our first day in town, buying provisions, watching the sailboats, and stopping at the High Wheeler Cafe for coffee, cookies, and bumbleberry pie. We considered a visit to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site (he summered on Cape Breton) but rejected that potentially edifying experience for Kidston Island, where Willa led Nick and me through the tall reeds to an 1872 lighthouse that's still in use. We had dinner at the Lobster Galley, where the menu promised the island's best seafood chowder. It was delicious, full of scallops, lobster, and haddock in a tangy broth. We sat on the patio while Willa ran in the yard and the setting sun painted the gypsum cliffs pink. The next day, we set off on the Cabot Trail. The forested portion that runs along St. Ann's Bay is known as St. Ann's Loop, with shops peddling locally woven baskets, pottery, and such. I prefer crafts that I can wear, so just off the loop, I slammed on the brakes outside Sew Inclined. As soon as I walked in, milliner Barbara Longva plunked a velvet-and-fur number with a feather--"Our John Cabot," she said--on my head, followed by many others. I was getting a contact high off the smell of wool. The family was restless, so I bought a black cloche with a plaid flap and we were back on the road. The Cabot Trail weaves in and out of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We paid the $7 admission and headed to Ingonish Beach, where platformed paths lead through the woods and out to the Atlantic. The ocean was fairly rough and full of jellyfish, so we hiked to the lake, which was so warm that we swam until our fingers turned pruney. Then, at the ranger station, we watched a puppet show featuring the park's animals--moose, foxes, whales, coyotes, eagles, and lynx--before stuffing ourselves on homemade fries at Beinn Mara Beachside Takeout. In the late afternoon, we drove to the top of the cape while Willa napped in the car. At Bay St. Lawrence, on the northern coast, Nick and I felt as if we were at the end of the world--which, it turns out, is actually a creepy sensation. So we hurried over to the Keltic Lodge complex in Ingonish Beach, where we had deliciously light snow-crab cakes at the Atlantic Restaurant. Fiddle music--and dancing to it--had always been an integral part of Cape Breton's Scottish heritage. But after the rise of rock and roll, that tradition seemed to be going the way of Gaelic. A 1971 documentary, The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler, spurred a renaissance that continues to this day, and a number of music festivals and concerts are held around the island. The hugely popular nine-day Celtic Colours takes place every October, while the Broad Cove Scottish Concert is held on the last Sunday in July, when we were in town. I don't know why, but hard-driving violin music sends me into a tizzy. I rushed us through breakfast at the Coal Miners Cafe in Inverness so we could make it to the concert. Sure enough, when fiddler Buddy MacMaster and the piano-fiddle team of brothers Robbie and Isaac Fraser played, my feet were bouncing off the grass like it was a trampoline. I needed to dance. I was like Billy Elliot, but without talent. I studied a pair of girls, how they kept their upper bodies ramrod straight as they kicked and hopped. Willa joined them, stomping around like a punk in a mosh pit. But she's a little kid, so people found it charming. When Nick left to take Willa to the beach at Port Hood, where the water truly is 75 degrees, I stayed behind, determined to find my own lord of the dance. Things looked promising when two brothers in their late 50s performed a rousing dance and spoon-playing recital. Afterward, one made his way through the crowd. "I wish I could dance like that," I said wistfully to him. He snaked an arm around my waist and asked if I'd be at the dance later in Dunvegan. When I said no, he flashed me a bawdy smile and replied, "Too bad, lassie. We coulda had some fun." Over the next few days, I tried other avenues. We went to the Highland Village Museum in Iona, an animated exhibit that shows the evolution of the cape's Gaelic settlements. In addition to mingling with folks in "ye olde" costumes, visitors can attend demos of oatcake baking, fiddling, and dancing (we missed it by two hours). At The Red Shoe Pub in Mabou, there's a euphoria-inducing chocolate sticky toffee pudding, nightly music, and occasional dancing--but no lessons. On our second-to-last night, I got desperate and drove to a dance in Judique, only to chicken out in the parking lot. And that was why, while Nick and Willa were on one of Donelda's Puffin Boat Tours, I was trying to wheedle a dancing lesson from my hiking guide. On our final night, after fish cakes and beans (a Cape Breton specialty) at Lynwood Inn, Nick, Willa, and I went to a ceilidh, which means "to visit" in Gaelic and is pronounced kay-lee. Ceilidhs are a winter tradition: Locals drink, sing, and play music in someone's kitchen. In summer, tourist-friendly public ceilidhs are held nightly in one town or another. The Baddeck Gathering is held in the parish hall every summer evening, starting in July. This being a tourist thing, I expected fiddle lite. Instead, I got local stars Shelly Campbell and Robbie Fraser switching off on fiddle and piano, playing so hard that the entire room seemed to be sweating. Anna MacDonald of Trad Dance began step dancing, and I sensed possibility. After a few sets, she announced that she'd be leading a Scottish-dancing lesson. I looked imploringly at Nick, who gave me the OK. I turned to Willa. "You can watch four Blue's Clues and eat as many fruit leathers as you want if you sit quietly while Mommy and Daddy dance," I said. She took the bribe. Nick and I shuffled to the front. Anna showed us what seemed like more of a square dance, and I was a little disappointed. But then Shelly lit up the fiddle, and Robbie pounded the ivories. I felt a tingle of anticipation zing in my chest and travel down my legs, which were already tapping to the beat. I took Nick's hand. Anna started the calls. And it no longer mattered whether we were doing a strathspey or a pirouette or a pogo. We were dancing. Lodging Heritage House Baddeck, 866/522-9958, capebretonisland.com/stanns/brigodoon, $885 a week Food High Wheeler Cafe 486 Chebucto St., Baddeck, 902/295-3006, pie $4 Lobster Galley Hwy. 105 at Exit 11, St. Ann's, 902/295-3100, chowder $9 Beinn Mara Beachside Takeout Ingonish Beach, fries $2.75 Atlantic Restaurant Keltic Lodge, Ingonish Beach, 902/285-2880, kelticlodge.ca, crab cakes $11 Coal Miners Cafe 15832 Central Ave., Inverness, 902/258-3413, omelet $8 The Red Shoe Pub 11573 Rte. 19, Mabou, 902/945-2996, redshoepub.com, sticky toffee pudding $6 Lynwood Inn 441 Shore Rd., Baddeck, 902/295-1995, lynwoodinn.com, fish cakes and beans $8 Shopping Sew Inclined 41819 Cabot Trail, Wreck Cove, 902/929-2259, sewinclined.ca Activities Walking the Wildside Nature Tours 902/295-1749, naturewalks.ca, full-day tour for two $225, with lunch Cape Breton Highlands National Park 902/224-2306, pc.gc.ca, $8 Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site 559 Chebucto St., Baddeck, 902/295-2069, pc.gc.ca, $7 Celtic Colours International Festival 877/285-2321, celtic-colours.com, from $15 Broad Cove Scottish Concert broadcoveconcert.ca, $10 Highland Village Museum 4119 Hwy. 223, Iona, 902/725-2272, museum.gov.ns.ca/hv, $9 Donelda's Puffin Boat Tours Englishtown, 877/278-3346, puffinboattours.com, $35 Baddeck Gathering St. Michael's Parish Hall, Main St., Baddeck, 902/295-2794, baddeckgathering.com, $10 Trad Dance traddance.com, hour-long lesson from $20 Renting in Cape Breton Locals say it takes an hour to get anywhere, but an hour and a half is more likely. If you plan on spending much time in the national park, Chéticamp and Ingonish are optimal places to rent. For a beach holiday, consider west-coast towns like Mabou, Port Hood, and Inverness. If you want to stay on the lake, look in the towns around Bras d'Or Lakes Scenic Drive, as well as in Baddeck and St. Ann's. It's worth checking broad websites (cyberrentals.com, vrbo.com) and more specific ones (cottage-canada-usa.com, capebretonisland.com, baddeck.com). Try to book nine months to a year in advance, especially for June to October. Ask a lot of questions, such as "Is the house near swimmable water?" and "How far off the road is it?" The weak U.S. dollar means that Canada isn't the value it once was. Moreover, Nova Scotia's 14 percent sales tax is no longer refundable to foreigners. Some owners are adjusting their prices (since our trip, Heritage House has dropped from $1,000 to $885 a week), so go ahead and bargain.

Day 1 First, there's drinking. Actually, first there's a tour--and then there's drinking. After flying into Louisville from our respective cities, my friend Cathy and I gun it east to Versailles to visit the Woodford Reserve, one of the distilleries on Kentucky's Bourbon Trail. (Others include Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey.) During the 75-minute tour, our group peers into a 7,500-gallon vat of bubbling gold liquid--a mash of fermenting corn, rye, and barley--and inhales the honeyish aroma in the warehouse where the bourbon is aged in charred white-oak barrels. At the end, everyone gets a half-ounce shot of small-batch bourbon to taste. We're taught how to sip like professionals, alternating sips of bourbon with water to douse the fire on our tongues so we can better taste the flavors of pepper, nuts, and caramel. To soak up the alcohol, we go for a gut-buster of a lunch at Melissa's Cottage Caféon South Main Street. I can't resist ordering the Hot Brown, a signature Kentucky dish. Found all over the state, it's an open-face roast turkey sandwich that's been smothered with bacon, tomatoes, and a thick layer of cheese sauce, and baked. I'm overwhelmed by the size of the plate--it's the length of a football--and melted cheese is bubbling over the edges. After lunch, we drive over emerald hills to the 1,200-acre Kentucky Horse Park, just outside Lexington. The park is a bonanza for horse enthusiasts, with two equine museums and various horse shows. It's also a retirement home of sorts for famous racehorses, such as Cigar, who won nearly $10 million in the mid-1990s. Near the grave of legendary Thoroughbred Man o' War, posts are set up 28 feet apart to illustrate how far the horse once leaped. A grade-schooler gamely tries to match the feat. Too late for the twice-daily parades of more than a dozen breeds, we seek some consolation­ in the gift shop. A shelf of Breyer model horses prompts Cathy to recall Silky Sullivan, her childhood toy horse. Inspecting a soap dish that looks like a saddle, she proclaims, "This is the best gift shop ever!" We've reserved a pair of rooms at The Inn at Shaker Villagein the country's largest restored Shaker settlement. The community was built in Harrodsburg in the 19th century by the idealistic Protestant sect, which practiced celibacy, even after marriage. (It relied on converts to survive, but there are only a handful of Shakers left today.) At dinner in the Trustees' Office Dining Room, piles of Southern fried chicken, pickled watermelon rinds, and lemon pie--baked with slices of lemon in it, peel and all--are served on candle­lit, reproduction Shaker tables. The more than 80 guest rooms and cottages on the grounds are decorated in the simple Shaker style, with added modern amenities like Tempur-Pedic mattresses--a major improvement over the corn-husk mattresses that the Shakers once used. Lodging The Inn at Shaker Village 3501 Lexington Rd., Harrodsburg, 800/734-5611, shakervillageky.org, from $85 Food Melissa's Cottage Café167 S. Main St., Versailles, 859/879-6204, Hot Brown $11 Trustees' Office Dining RoomThe Inn at Shaker Village, 3501 Lexington Rd., Harrodsburg, 800/734-5611, chicken $19 Activities Woodford Reserve Distillery 7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles, 859/879-1812, woodfordreserve.com, tour and tasting $5 Kentucky Horse Park4089 Iron Works Pkwy., Lexington, 800/678-8813, kyhorsepark.com, $9 in winter, $15 in summer Day 2 Cathy and I start the day with a mountain of carbs--doughnuts and sugar twists at Hadorn's Bakery, a family-owned institution in Bardstown that's been around since 1935. We bring some of the pastries with us in the car, rolling up the windows to trap the intoxicating aromas inside. Since we're in Kentucky, I really want to see the place where Abraham Lincoln was born, the log cabin in the woods we all learn about in school. But the 16-by-20-foot cabin at the Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek isn't Lincoln's­ home at all--it's a reconstruction of the home of one of his childhood friends. A park ranger explains that nobody knows what happened to Lincoln's real boyhood home. I feel cheated until he says that Lincoln's family did lease the 30-acre plot. We hightail it over to Mammoth Cave National Park for a tour of part of the world's most extensive cave system, which stretches for about 365 miles. Cathy freaks out over the insects on the walls until the guide tells us they're just crickets. Along the way, a little girl asks whether there are any eyeless fish in the cave. Sure enough, some of the shrimp and crayfish living in the dark cave rivers are blind. Although she'd probably rather be back at the horse park, Cathy indulges me later with a visit to the National Corvette Museum, near the Bowling Green plant where the cars are made. It showcases many of the iconic Corvettes that have been produced over the past 55 years, including a 1960s Stingray coupe. In the gift shop, I buy a mini red '57 Corvette that reminds me of my childhood toys. In my humble opinion, this is the best gift shop ever. Food Hadorn's Bakery118½ W. Flaget St., Bardstown, 502/348-4407 Activities Lincoln Boyhood HomeHwy. 31E, Hodgenville, 270/358-3137, nps.gov/abli, free Mammoth Cave National Park1 Mammoth Cave Pkwy., Mammoth Cave, 877/444-6777, nps.gov/maca, from $5 National Corvette Museum350 Corvette Dr., Bowling Green, 270/781-7973, corvettemuseum.com, $8 Day 3 The town of Berea exudes a certain old-fashioned charm. Over ginger-and-pecan scones at Berea Coffee & Tea Co., we watch a college-age woman knitting on a sofa. I read a story in the Berea Citizen about a horse named Bliss who escaped from a farm earlier in the week and trotted through town. At the Appalachian Fireside Gallery, I consider purchasing some corn-husk bookmarks, but opt for a knitted baby's cap instead. Since our shopping has been limited primarily to gift shops, we head 90 miles northwest to Shelbyville, known for its antiques. But Cathy, who goes antiquing frequently, fails to find anything worthwhile--until we reach the Ruby Rooster. She coos over the impressive array of figurines made of celluloid (a once-popular plastic that's now rarely used) before buying a 1920s cake topper shaped like a pixie blowing a horn. We're all shopped out, and Sixth and Main Coffee house lures us with the promise of free Wi-Fi and iced lattes. I log on to Hotwire and bid on two rooms at the Best Western Envoy Inn & Suites in Louisville, a pretty good bargain at $71 apiece. It's not quite time for dinner, but we have to stop at Lynn's Paradise Café, a quirky Louisville restaurant. Mannequins' legs dangle over people's heads in the dining room, and a sign in the lobby invites people to enter their ugliest lamps in a contest. (The categories are "born ugly" and "made ugly.") I recharge with a vanilla milkshake, while Cathy sips on a Pegasus Pimm's, a specialty drink made with gin, Sprite, cantaloupe, oranges, and cucumbers. After strolling the Ohio River waterfront, we hit Fourth Street for another drink. Cathy, who has the preternatural ability to sense when a celebrity is nearby, suddenly shouts, "That's Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows!" Lo and behold, the singer is strutting down the street. He's evidently in town for a concert the following night. At the Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge, a bar and restaurant owned by the distillery, Cathy has a perfectly poured mint julep while I drink a Kentucky Cocktail, a mix of bourbon and the local Ale-8 One ginger soda. The food is not as good as the drinks--my steak is a tad overcooked. We go for a nightcap at Proof on Main, the bar at the luxury 21c Museum Hotel, which displays contemporary paintings, sculptures, and video installations. Tired and a little bit tipsy, we gaze warily at artworks by Michael Combs, including a hand-carved buck's head wearing a black neoprene mask. Lodging Best Western Envoy Inn9802 Bunsen Way, Louisville, 502/499-0000, bestwestern.com, rooms from $59 Food Berea Coffee & Tea Co. 124 Main St., Berea, 859/986-7656, bcandtco.com Sixth and Main Coffeehouse 547 Main St., Shelbyville, 502/647-7751, 6amcoffee.com Lynn's Paradise Café984 Barret Ave., Louisville, 502/583-3447, lynnsparadisecafe.com, Pegasus Pimm's $7 Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge 446 S. Fourth St., Louisville, 502/568-9009, makerslounge.com, steak $32 Shopping Appalachian Fireside Gallery 127 Main St., Berea, 859/986-9013, kaht.com/multiple/appalachfireside.htm Ruby Rooster Antique Mall514 Main St., Shelbyville, 502/633-0001 Nightlife Proof on Main21c Museum Hotel, 702 W. Main St., Louisville, 502/217-6360, cosmopolitan $9 Day 4 The first thing you notice about Churchill Downs is the scent of old money. And the higher you climb in the complex during the tour of the bettors' club rooms, the stronger the smell becomes. On the fourth floor, we visit the Aristides Room, where a seat runs about $600 during the Kentucky Derby. Oil portraits of jockeys hang in gold frames on the walls, and leather-padded chairs are arranged around elegant tables where the bettors sit on race day. Near the Millionaire's Row dining room is a 30-foot-long model of Churchill Downs with 4,000 handblown glass figurines. I'm just glad it's not my job to dust it. Louisville gave the world the best--and most famous--boxer of all time. While some of the exhibits at the Muhammad Ali Center focus on Ali's fighting career, the rest are dedicated to his views on public service, self-improvement, and peace. Cathy lies on a chaise lounge and stares up at the ceiling, where a larger-than-life image of Ali talks about the importance of charitable work. In another corner, a silhouette of Ali in the ring is projected on a screen so visitors can shadowbox against the Greatest. I throw some punches, and Cathy snaps a photo of me appearing to get knocked out. I could blame the doughnuts, fried chicken, and bourbon over the past few days--but that probably wouldn't be fair to Ali. Activities Churchill Downs/Kentucky Derby Museum 704 Central Ave., Louisville, 502/637-7097, derbymuseum.org, tour $10 Muhammad Ali Center 144 N. Sixth St., Louisville, 502/584-9254, alicenter.org, $9 Finding Your Way State Route 60 runs parallel to Interstate 64 between Louisville and Lexington and is a much more scenic drive. In the spring, traffic on the two-lane roads around Versailles can be unpleasant because that's peak season for visiting the area's horse farms.