OOO #96: Out of Office - Louisville
Back to back travelogues means I'm in a very good mood
One of the things I like most about living in the Midwest is the opportunity to visit places I would have have missed if I had stayed on the East Coast. Louisville is one of those places, and since it’s only a three-hour drive from our home, it made for an easy spring break trip with the baby.
Here’s a three-day weekend guide to Louisville.
Things to Do
The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory: If you enjoy baseball, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory should be the first thing you see in Louisville. During the factor tour, we saw Louisville sluggers being made in person and learned about what thought goes into making bats for the MLB (including the advantages of different wood types). During the tour, I held a fresh torpedo bat and a billet to be made into a bat for a Blue Jay. The museum is also a lot of fun; I learned more about Ted Williams, and Hank Aaron, and even got to hold one of Hank Aaron’s bats! The picture is not included because it looks like I don’t know how to hold a baseball bat or even know what baseball is, and that doesn’t need to be on the Internet.
Evan Williams Bourbon Experience: The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience was heavy on the local history rather than on the distilling process (and if you’ve been on one distillery tour, you get the gist of the process), which I appreciated. I enjoyed the bourbon tasting portion, as tastings really do give you the opportunity to taste the nuances of different ages, proofs, and mash. I ended up buying a box of their bourbon balls after trying one during the tasting.
Old Louisville Walking Tour: Historical walking tours always make me feel more grounded in the area I am visiting. This walking tour was architecturally-focused, as Old Louisville has the largest Victorian-era district in the country. The most interesting part for me wasn’t necessarily the houses but the small public gardens built into the neighborhood: several areas had houses facing away from the road and in toward each other, creating a quiet, verdant lane for people walk through. You should go on this tour if architecture is interesting to you… or if you’re an aesthete.
Hike in Jefferson Memorial Forest: I miss going on big hiking trips during spring break (in ‘21, ‘22, and ‘23, we went to Shenandoah, Zion/Bryce Canyon/Capitol Reef, and Joshua Tree, respectively), so I wanted to ensure that we went hiking during this trip. The Jefferson Memorial Forest was less than a half-hour drive from our Airbnb and is a beautiful spot. We hiked the Red Trail (with the short cut), which is listed as an “Easy” Hike (if you take the shortcut) but the hike seemed more strenuous than that. The hike drops you down into a valley and has you walk on steep and narrow paths along the hill, and I was very glad I was wearing my hiking boots (I even stopped to tighten them). It’s a great hike that’s close to the city.
Fossil Spotting at the Falls of the Ohio State Park: If I lived in Louisville, I would spend a lot of time at Falls of the Ohio State Park, especially as my son gets older. Not only are there Devonian Era fossils in the rocks along the river (which we did not get to see enough of, due to the damage from the recent flooding), but there are a lot of fun activities, such as boating, birding, and this junior paleontologist program which my son would DEFINITELY be subjected to if we lived in Louisville.
If we had more time, we would have gone to the Muhammad Ali Center.
Here are some photos from the trip: (1) Billets at the Louisville Slugger Factory (2) bat production at the Louisville Slugger Factory (3) the distilling process at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (4) Bourbon Tasting at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (5, 6) Old Louisville Homes (7, 8) Jefferson Memorial Forest (9) The Falls of the Ohio
Eating and Drinking
80/20 @ Kaelin’s is supposedly the birthplace of the cheeseburger; I made sure to get one (well, a black bean burger dressed as their cheeseburger) while in town.
We had a fun afternoon having drinks and eating at Hop Atomica. As we know, I am the queen of going to a brewery and ordering liquor: I really enjoyed my pear margarita! Their salads were super fresh and their pizza hit the spot. Mostly, the vibes were excellent and it was a fun place to hang out and relax.
There were very few places open around Downtown on Easter (which did not surprise us), but the Falls City Market in the Omni was open. We tried a flight of beer from Country Boys Brewing and were happiest with its Lemonade Lager.
Sunergos Coffee makes a really good chai latte!
Other
If you’re planning to stay Downtown, we really liked our Airbnb.
Museums and restaurants have odd closure dates (heavy on the beginning of the week). Be careful while you’re planning your trip; we didn’t get to go to the Muhammad Ali Center because it was closed all three days we were there (Easter was one of them).
If you like to buy groceries rather than eat out at every meal, you should go to the Kroger where they sew the Kentucky Derby winner’s rose garland.
Parking (especially in garages) is ample, but watch out for the One Way streets!
My second favorite driving view of an American city* is the view of Cincinnati from 71 when you’re approaching the city from the south. You crest over a hill and have about 5 seconds of the most breathtaking view of Cincy.
*The best view is still Pittsburgh coming out of the Fort Pitt tunnel.
That’s it! Have a great rest of your week!