Monday, April 22, 2013

A weekend tour of Louisville

Recently my work has taken me all around the midwestern part of the US,  & this weekend found me in Louisville, KY. It's the second time I've visited, & this time around my sister joined me for some entertainment & food. Mostly it was about the food & booze.
Digital art while waiting for the elevator
We stayed at the 21c Museum Hotel in downtown. It's super highly rated, & very 'cool.'  Lots of red plastic penguins slinking around, a modern art gallery in the basement (with installations throughout the hotel itself) & other odd touches to create a hip environment. While we were looking at the art gallery, L mentioned that a man was looking at our luggage we had abandoned inside the doorway of the exhibit - must have thought it was 'modern art.' It's always nice to be in a great hotel though, so I'd recommend it to a friend.
The public baths are quite the attraction - little videos on the mirror of blind dart-throwers' eyes. Hey that one there kind of looks like Kurt Russell! Also two way mirrors so those on the inside can see out, but Peeping Toms can't see in.
We, of course, went by Churchill Downs for a tour, which my sister noted was looking pretty worn down. We actually hit up Keeneland in Lexington for actual races & I really liked their track. Felt very open & old school. Plus it was full of action, so I'm probably biased on that decision.

Moonshine


The food! We actually didn't get to as many places as we'd have liked. The city shut down for the Thunder Over Louisville airshow/firework spectacle of craziness, which prevented us from doing so. Next time!

Avocado Dream from LIFEbar

Hillbilly Tea was amazing. We had some great tea-infused liquor and southern-style farm-to-table food. Also on the trip, I enjoyed my first real introduction to juicing. Lauren took me to LIFEbar, which is amazing. My green drink healed a hangover & a green avocado smoothie blew my mind.

      Speaking of the Thunder...
Woodford Reserve

And it wouldn't be a trip to KY without a little bourbon, right? We started our Sunday with brunch at an old house in a cute, quaint town that was DELICIOUS. True southern hospitality, as well. Then we headed into horse country to see the wide, fenced-in fields of bluegrass & sip some bourbon at Woodford Reserve. I cannot explain how beautiful it is. We kept commenting that the countryside here is so perfect it may have all been fake. I'm no expert bourbon drinker, but L liked it quite a bit.

Final race of the day at Keeneland
Then, as mentioned earlier, we had a horse track to get to!
So there you have it! L went back to the midwest, and I am continuing to travel on through Kentucky & Ohio.

Until next time, gotta go BUFFALO.

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