Trip Review: Louisville and Cincinnati

This past weekend my girlfriend and I took a trip to the northernmost southern city, Louisville, Kentucky, for a quick getaway as well as a chance to add a MLB stadium to our growing list (Cincinnati is only 90 minutes away). Unfortunately the Reds-Cardinals game we were planning to attend on Sunday afternoon was moved to Sunday evening recently, which conflicted with our flights, so we ended up staying an extra night in Louisville.

Louisville

Fun fact about Louisville’s airport: the baggage claim plays the Churchill Downs horse-racing trumpet song whenever bags start coming out. I asked the Hertz desk attendant if this got annoying. She claimed it was cute.

We stayed at the Hampton inn Louisville Downtown, probably the best Hampton I have stayed in. The staff was attentive and very friendly, and went out of their way to meet our needs and make sure we were comfortable and happy. It is also conveniently located walking distance from many of Louisville’s major attractions. I highly recommend this hotel.

Our first stop after checkin was a relatively large bar built into the basement of an old building in a back alley off the main road. We ordered pretzels with “beer cheese”, a cheesy sauce made with multiple types of cheese, milk, and some other ingredients. Pretty darn tasty. I also had a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, which I can only describe as a very sweet, thin beer. It’s made by placing beer in an emptied-out bourbon keg. Oh, it’s also very alcoholic.

For dinner I was recommended the “hot brown”, basically an open-faced turkey sandwich with lots of melted cheese on top. Delicious. Due to our intense calorie intake, the waitress was unable to convince us to try dessert.

Troll Pub Under the Bridge

150 W Washington St

Louisville, KY 40202

Food: 9

Speed: 10

Price: 7.5

Parking: Street

Louisville Slugger Museum

On Saturday morning, after a necessary stop at Dunkin Donuts of course, we made our way over to the Louisville Slugger Museum. As lovers of the game, it was hard not to be enthralled with the walkthrough of the factory where the bats are made. You even get a minibat souvenir at the end, which, had you been willing to purchase it anyway, would have more than made up for the $11 tour ticket. There were also a number of exhibits, including scientific ones explaining how bats work and how they’re made. The highlight was using Dustin Pedroia’s bat model in the batting cages they have.

Fun fact: Louisville Slugger is the bat brand used by 60% of baseball players in MLB.

Post-museum it was lunchtime. Unfortunately downtown Louisville shuts down on weekends, and as far as Louisville restaurant hours go, Google Maps is not well-updated. We ended up walking about 10-12 blocks by a number of restaurants that were allegedly open, only to discover they were closed.

Luckily, right next to the museum is a coffee shop called Mrs. Potter’s that resembles an unfinished basement. Fortunately the food doesn’t. We were delighted with our chicken and fig-and-prosciutto sandwiches.

Mrs. Potter’s Coffee Lounge

718 W Main St

Louisville, KY 40202

Food: 9

Speed: 7

Price: 8.5

Parking: Street

Muhammad Ali Museum

Little did I know that one of the hidden gems (hidden to me at least) of Louisville is this expansive museum on the life and career of Muhammad Ali. What I found most interesting about the museum is that it did not, as most museums do, paint its subject as a perfect person. It showed both Ali’s strengths and weaknesses as a human being. The museum is very interactive, with multiple boxing exhibits, and also is full of videos, making it lighter on the reading and easier on the visuals.

Louisville Slugger Field

My personal highlight of the day was our front-row section on top of the home dugout for just $11 per ticket. This field is home to the Cincinnati Reds’ AAA affiliate, the Louisville Bats. It is a fan-friendly and open-air stadium that was both easy to get around and comfortable to sit in. Plus Louisville seems to always have perfect baseball weather. Despite what I’m sure was a devastating loss to the Durham Bulls, the crowd was still able to maintain high spirits thanks to Buddy the Bat (the purple animal mascot) and the dancing bat boy.

Postgame froyo was of course a must for this health-conscious but sweets-loving couple (or maybe I’m just referring to myself). Louisville has a trendy area southeast of downtown called Germantown. Bardstown Road, the main drag in this area, is home to many boutique shops and fun nightlife. Lula’s, the place we stopped, is home to the most expensive frozen yogurt I’ve ever seen. $7 for my normally $4-$5 froyo. I couldn’t complain though, as it was also some of the best froyo I’ve had.

Churchill Downs

No trip to Louisville would be complete without a visit to the world-famous home of the Kentucky Derby. Well, ours would have been complete without it except that the Reds game was moved so we had some extra time. The Hampton has box tickets they sell for $9 apiece. While I was not dressed for the occasion (I did not have my Sunday best packed in my suicase) this didn’t take away from our enjoyment of this beautiful arena. Surely a must-see for any lover of the South. One note: research parking options beforehand, as we were fooled into paying $10 for parking significantly further away than the $5 parking right next to the entrance.

Cincinnati

After a few races we had some time to kill before our flights, which were out of Cincinnati. Just as in Louisville, Google Maps restaurant hours failed us again! We attempted to visit 3 Skyline Chilis before finally arriving at an open one in Clifton. For those unfamiliar, Skyline is Cincinnati’s world-renowned chili chain. For $6, a chili-covered hot dog and a chili sandwich could be had, and they did not disappoint. One recommendation, however: do not order the chili by itself, as it is a bit thin for individual consumption. The whole meal took about 15 minutes. Incredibly fast service.

Skyline Chili

290 Ludlow Ave

Cincinnati, OH 45220

Food: 8

Speed: 10

Price: 10

Parking: Lot (free)

Cincinnati’s other famous food chain is Graeter’s, which serves up homemade and hand-packed ice cream that is simply divine. The line, even during the downpour we had to walk through to get to it, was all the way to the door. Certainly worth it for some coconut chip ice cream. And not those square chocolate chips you see in most ice cream. Real bits of soft chocolate.

Wenneker Stamps of Approval?

Louisville - YES

Louisville is a cute town to visit. It’s got a decent number of things to do, and in general the people are nice and the weather is warm. It is a very small town, even by my standards of loving small towns, and so may not be for everyone in terms of nightlife. Still, a weekend there is very enjoyable and I would recommend it if you like southern charm and easy movement around town.

Cincinnati – NO NOT YET (edit)

I wanted to come back to Cincinnati to give it a second chance since last time I came through I found the downtown area to be grimy and not very attractive. Unfortunately nothing changed. As much as I love the small and/or forgotten cities (Cleveland is one of my favorite places), I just couldn’t learn to love Cincinnati. I will say though, that I did like the Clifton area by the University of Cincinnati and recommend going up there if you decide to visit.

Edit: A native Cincinnatian posted a comment on my wall after reading my review here and she outlined a number of things that I missed out on in the city. The few hours I gave Cincinnati are not a fair shake, I agree. So I'm withholding judgment until I'm able to explore more of the city.