Louisville - Day 2

Our second day in Louisville started out with clear, blue skies and heat. We'd been told that September can be hot in this part of the country and it's true! By the time we set out, it was 28 and humid. That quickly climbed into the mid 30s. Luckily, our morning/early afternoon was a guided tour of the city. A small school bus arrived to pick us up before 10 and we joined about 8 others on a really fun and informative ride around the city. The bus was new to the company so decorations were duct taped on!

The tour was given by two very engaging women who had an amazing amount of knowledge about the city. As we travelled around, we would see the sights and get out to take closer looks, sample food or see demonstrations. There was also a good supply of beer, wine and mixed drinks on the bus. Not sure if this would work in staid Toronto, but it was a great addition to the day. 

Our first stop was at a 123 year old mom and pop candy shop. They have been featured on a few tv shows and they continue to run the shop even though they could be retired. We got a lesson on how the candy is made and watched as a batch was being processed. They use a single machine to mold each piece of candy.

Here's the shop:

This copper kettle has been in the store from the beginning and makes one batch at a time. 

I was intrigued by all of the different molds that they had to make a variety of candy shapes.

This is the boiling sugar after green colour has been added.

There was a steady stream of customers coming in to buy candy when we were there. I believe we also purchased a few things.

Our next stop was across the Ohio River for a view of the Ohio River Falls and the Louisville skyline. The falls used to be a big deal in the 1800s because they impeded ship travel. Now they have been largely shut down and replaced by a dam.

Next, we visited a glass blowing studio where we watched them make a fancy bottle. The air conditioning in the studio viewing area was quite nice compared to the bus which had started to heat up a bit!

By that time we had sampled some wine and maybe beer so things were going well on the bus! A choclatier was our next stop. The owners were making a favourite in Kentucky called bourbon truffles. They have recipes that use different brands of bourbon in such a way that you can distinguish which bourbon was used. We sampled some and bought some to continue to refine our bourbon palates! I don't think that the ones we bought will be surviving beyond the next day or so. 

We had a chance to see more of the city as well when we stopped. This is a clock that sometimes has moving figures. The figures are famous Kentucky citizens who race around as if it was the Kentucky Derby.

Throughout the city there are art installations that are used as bicycle locking stations, benches etc. 

We next visited a place called the Butchertown Market. It's an old stockyard related building that now houses a group of stores and cafes. There was shopping available but my main concern was the bourbon sampling and the pimento cheese snacks!

Our final stop was Churchill Downs Race Track where the Kentucky Derby runs. Not being major horse race fans, we didn't know too much about it. But, it was an impressive building with a lot of history. I was hoping to get out to see the actual track but that didn't happen. We found out that people in Kentucky take the derby very seriously and the celebrations go on for a week. 

We did a quick turn around at the hotel after we were dropped off and headed out into Bourbon Country.  Our first distillery was the Jim Beam complex in Clermont, Kentucky. It was a massive place and the visitor centre was beautiful. And there was so much bourbon! The prices were tear inducing as many of the better bottles were at least $20 cheaper than we can get at home. 

 

There were also fields full of rack houses where the barrels are stored. The houses are not climate controlled as the bourbon ages best with changes in temperature. 

We visited the Bourbon Heritage Centre in Bardstown. It was a more historical place but also sold bourbon. As we were driving quite a bit more I didn't do any sampling. We really wanted to see the Makers Mark facility and headed off to Loretto. The drive was quite thrilling for me as it was a very narrow, hilly and winding road for most of the way. Afterwards, I found out that Marilyn didn't enjoy the ride quite as much. Too much like my video game I imagine! The sad part of this story is that we got there at 4:40 and the place closed at 4:30. Who closes a place at 4:30? This was all we got.

 

The trek back to the city was not as much fun as getting there. We decided to go and find dinner in Louisville rather than a small town. But, we went to a supposedly up and coming area and found very few people. I don't like being the only one in a restaurant! So, we headed back to the area near our hotel and found a microbrewery that produces German style beers. They had a bit of an eclectic menu and we ended up with jambalaya and a California cobb salad flatbread!

Looavul? Looeyville?

We set out this morning from Cleveland wearing shorts and light shirts after having seen the weather forecast for 32 degrees and humid in Kentucky. After about a half hour of driving it was 18 degrees and looked like this:

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.

Rock On!

We were up before dawn today as we set off on our first day of school trip. Oddly, we both still don't sleep well on the night before school starts. Maybe it will go away one year! The drive to Cleveland is only a little over four hours so we arrived in good time after a stop at Costco. I knew that our hotel was an old bank but we were really impressed when we saw the place. The original building was constructed in 1845 and served as a bank for most of its life. The building is quite amazing inside and out. 

Our outing for the day was a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I have to admit that I wasn't really to excited to go. I thought it would be a cheesy kind of place. And, I was wrong! There were seven floors of exhibits, displays, movies and audio presentations. 

The outside looks like a pyramid from the front. 

The displays had a lot of original instruments, clothes and music from decades of musicians.

We start off with Katy Perry's concert worn dress. I only took this one for our niece Paige.

If you have Katy, you also have to get Lady Gaga's "dress" from another concert.

And then there were the guitars! I'm not sure how the Hall acquired them but they certainly have an amazing collection. 

Here are a couple of Jimi Hendrix's left handed guitars. The second is his Fender Stratocaster.

An early picture of the Rolling Stones.

Janice Joplin's Porsche!

A decorated accoustic from Bruce Springsteen.

Clarence Clemmons' Sax.

There are many of the original written version of songs. I found these fascinating. This one is London Calling by The Clash.

The Supremes!

There's a whole room deciated to Elvis which has one of his custom motorcycles.

There's a great display based on The Wall by Pink Floyd. 

The final part that we saw was a concert experience. It's a separate room where you sit under the concert stage scaffolding and what a movie made of segment of concert footage from the 60s to recent events. All in all, it was amazing.

We were quite impressed to learn that our hotel was throwing a reception for people in the IHG rewards club. They kindly provided free wine, beer and snacks that we enjoyed before heading out to walk on 4th Street. There was a Cleveland Indians baseball game so the restaurants were fairly busy. After talking to a traffic cop, we ended up at the Winking Lizard which had the required local beers. We enoyed our dinner and are now back in our room watching the game and trying not to fall asleep too early!