It was foggy for a couple of hours as we went up and down rolling hills that rose up to 1400 feet. The fog and assorted construction made for an interesting drive. Eventually the fog lifted and we made good time on the route to Louisville. We did see quite a few religious themed signs in fields that assured me that I was doomed. Maybe not Marilyn, but me for sure! Here is my favourite.
The weather in Louisville was, as promised, hot and humid. Although, we felt that the humidity wasn't as bad as it can get at home. After checking in, we tried to figure out the correct way to say Louisville. I knew it wasn't Looeyville as we have always pronounced it because of the baseball bat, the Louisville Slugger. We asked a number of people and got a number of answers. This sign, taken this evening, gives an idea of what we heard.
The top choice, Looavul, seems to be the favourite so far but we'll see what tomorrow brings. But, whatever you do, don't say Looeyville!
We started walking around soon after unloading our stuff. The city has many old and interesting buildings that have been refurbished.
Initially, we were going to take a free trolley ride around the historic part of downtown. It looks like a good ride but it took too long to arrive so we went to a bourbon tasting instead. Here's what the trolley would have looked like. We saw it go by later!
Our first bourbon event was called the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. Quite fancy. It turns out that Evan was the first distiller in Kentucky and he set up shop on the shores of the Ohio River very near the current building. There was a great multimedia show about the history of bourbon and how it's made today. Then, of course, there was the sampling in a recreated 1960s style bar. We tried some very smooth bourbons that you can't get in Ontario. Luckily, I was able to purchase a bottle of the good stuff. It's about half the price that we'd pay at home.
The fountain is not filled with bourbon but a number of bachelor party types have tried to drink it anyway.
These are tanks of mash that will end up producing a barrel of bourbon that will then be stored for about 10 years. The bourbon made in this facility uses a secret recipe that's not found in any of the big distilleries.
There is a display of small bottles that were used during the Prohibition times to sell bourbon and other spirits. There was a law that said alcohol could be sold only for medicinal purposes so they made labels saying that the alcohol cured pretty much anything!
After our bourbon experience we walked back to the hotel and planned where to go for dinner. There's a place close by called 4th Street Live. It's a small but glitzy pedestrian section of a street with lots of restaurants and bars. It looked interesting but most of the places were like something you'd find in any downtown. This is a view of 4th street later, as we walked home from dinner.
We looked in a Dining magazine that I'd been sent by a local and found an interesting looking place in the theatre district. It is called Marketplace Restaurant and, not surprisingly, it was built in an old market building.
Noticing that they had an extensive list of local draft beers, we decided to forego wine and support local workers. I had an amazing IPA called Hoptimus Prime which, as the name suggests, was very hoppy. I loved it, Marilyn hated it. But that's ok, she had a Kentucky Bourbon Ale which was aged in old bourbon barrels.
Our starter was a great platter of salami, olives, pickles, cheese, bread and onions. We were glad that we decided to share it!
Marilyn had a really good shrimp and grits dish with asparagus, pickled onions and tasso ham.
I had boneless short ribs with polenta, greens, white beans and pickled cabbage. Needless to say, I ate it all!
As great as the food was, I think our favourite part of the evening was more about the music. As it happened, on Wednesdays a trio performs in the restaurant. There was a pianist, a bass player and a singer. They played low key jazz tunes as we ate and it was amazing. We realized that we need to go to more restaurants with live music! Then, as we were having coffee, the pianist came over and started to chat. He was an older gent who, it turned out, was a music teacher for 30 years. That got us chatting about our jobs and how we were from Canada. He smiled when he heard that and told us about taking his concert band to Toronto for a competition in 1983! We talked about Toronto a bit and learned some of his story. He asked if we had a request and Marilyn said, Blue Moon. Soon after, he sent the singer over and we talked with her for a bit as well. After their break, the first song was Blue Moon and it was dedicated to their new Canadian friends. As we said thanks and started to leave, they played a bit of O Canada. We walked out smiling.
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