National Corvette Museum in Kentucky

As we were traveling through Kentucky with the Riedels, we spent an afternoon at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Why is the Corvette Museum in Kentucky, you might ask? Because it is right across the street from the plant where all the Corvettes are made.

As you might guess, the National Corvette Museum is full of Corvettes, and a few other cars, too. Yes, I did take photos of just about every car in the museum. No, I probably will not share every single one of them. But in this first post, here are a couple of highlights.

For a few of the Corvettes, I forgot to take a photo of the sign by the car. This one was the case, which is a shame because looking back through the photos it is one of the ones that I liked the best. This car is from 1966 or maybe 1967. Maybe someone will correct me, and I will update the post. (Update: This is a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. Thank you, Elliott Fong!) I do like this classic car look. But then I like most all of the Corvette looks.¹

But by far my favorite car in the museum was this 1969 Manta Ray Corvette. This was a show car with a bold look and interesting curves that was an influence on Corvettes for several years afterward. And, it just looks cool.

Look at that Manta Ray front end! I think I might have had a Hot Wheels or Matchbox car that had this styling. One of the other cool things about this particular car was that it was on a turntable, so that we could get a look at it from all angles.

At the Museum

Here we are, the Riedels and the Burnses, inside the Corvette Museum. We all picked out a car from those new Corvettes waiting to be picked up by their owners. But no one would let us drive them. They also took an “official” photo of us when we arrived, but this selfie version was a little less expensive.

Outside the museum, we also found the Michelin Man standing in a corner of the parking lot. He seemed to be amused by Laura.

We had a fun visit, and I will be sharing a few more photos in the future, too.

Just Things

Those Corvettes are cool things! However, the truth about them, and about other cool things, is that those cool things are just things.

There is nothing wrong with having cool things, because they are cool, after all. But it is all a matter of priorities.

Cool things start to become less cool when you start putting them in front of other things, especially people. Are you spending more time pursuing whatever cool thing than you are spending with those you love? Are you spending money on whatever cool thing that could better be used for something else? Are you wanting that cool thing just so that people will think you are cool? Those are all good questions to ask.

Put people first. Love people more than you love things.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

About the Photos

I had anticipated that the lighting would not be all that strong in the museum, so I was sure to have the 35mm f/1.8 prime lens on my camera. As it turns out, the lighting was a little better than I might have guessed, but I was still happy to have the wider aperture.²

Also, this might go without saying, but the selfie photos were taken with my iPhone instead of my camera. That has been our standard mode of operation lately.

Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Raw Therapee and GIMP.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Rokinon 35mm f/1.8
Date: June 21, 2024
Location: National Corvette Museum, Kentucky