louisville

my birthday gift from my boyfriend was a weekend in louisville, ky. now, as a rule of thumb, i make fun of most states which border my native tennessee -- kentucky being one of them. but we were pleasantly surprised by louisville and how much fun we had.

i recommend the louisville slugger factory and museum, even if you are not a baseball nut as i am. you will be wowed by the machine that cuts the bats in a matter of seconds. you might also find amusement in the fun facts your tour guide will share with you, such as most of the adjustments made to the bats at the players' requests don't do a damn thing to improve their performance. i got to hold an albert pujols bat . you're also given a minature bat as a souvenir.

also, churchill downs rocked, even without the ponies. the museum there has some really nifty interactive exhibits, including one where you can make an ass of yourself trying to ride a fake horse the same way a jockey rides a real one. i mean it when i say ass.

downtown has a fairly new entertainment district called fourth street live! (emphasis not added by me). its a city block that's closed off to traffic and full of trendy bars, restaurants and clubs. it's a little touristy, but i love touristy sometimes. the makers mark lounge, though not what you would expect, did have every kind of bourbon you could ever imagine and then some. howl at the moon, a piano bar chain, was a hoot. or a howl.

six flags kentucky kingdom is the ghetto of six flags, or at least the five i've been to. but a ghetto six flags is still better than the libertyland amusement park i grew up with in memphis or lake winnie, chattanooga's pretend amusement park. i gather that the park was not a six flags until about eight years ago, and it's obvious what six flags has added on. it's got a waterpark in the middle of it, and on days that are 90 degrees and above (as it was when we were there), that's where the crowd is. which means there are no lines anywhere else in the park. sweet.

ok, that's all the free advertising i'm offering for today.