For work purposes, I returned to Louisville, KY, in June 2019. I'd been three times before, but it had been two years since my last trip. I was excited to return to this lovely, underrated small city. In short, Louisville has endless character and bourbon.
As I did in 2015, I decided to make this venture a road trip. So, I drove eleven hours from Philly to Louisville. Making the trip even longer, I set out early to explore portions Blue Ridge Parkway: a part of Virginia I had never seen. I jumped on the parkway in Front Royal and spent a few hours taking photos before heading west. With many hours left to drive, I made a few stops in West Virginia to break up the trip: antique stores and the Blenko Glass Factory in Milton, WV.
Louisville has grown up since I first visited in 2014. The NuLu area is much more developed. There's a new pocket of restaurants in Butchertown. And the Highlands is even busier than it was years ago. There's still not much downtown, but I did find a good coffee shop: Sunergos Coffee. I stayed very low-key during my work week; I went to yoga and took a few photos.
After my last day of work, I carried out a rather strange plan to drive four hours, and one time zone, west to St. Louis to go to a Phish concert by myself. I've been to a few shows alone, and I enjoy it. I had a ticket for a rearview seat, but I didn't care. It was my 40th show in 22 years. I dropped my luggage and cameras at my hotel and took an Uber to the show. The city had great energy, as their hockey team was in the Stanley Cup Finals. The crowd and the show were fantastic.
The following day, after grabbing pastries at Nathaniel Reid Bakery, I picked up my partner in crime at the airport and set out for a quick food-based exploration of St. Louis. We started with barbecue at Pappy's Smokehouse and custard at Ted Drews. Then, we did our best with brief stops for photos at the Jewel Box (a gorgeous greenhouse constructed in 1936, in Forest Park) and the Arch. Next, we ordered take-out pizza at an Imo's location. Imo's is a regional "pizza" style that is hard to describe as pizza: the crust is cracker-thin, and Provel (a combination of cheddar, swiss, and provolone) cheese is the highlight. It was like a variation on Dominos; I didn't hate it, but I'd only eat it if there were no other options for pizza. (sorry, St. Louis).
Next, we returned to Louisville for two nights. On our way east, we stopped at an 1800s utopian community in New Harmony, Indiana. I've had an obsession with utopian communities for a very long time. After teaching about New Harmony for years, I was excited to see the actual town. The community was short-lived (1825-1827), but the site has been preserved and, seemingly, become a spot for modern art/architecture. There's a Philip Johnson "Roofless Church" (1960) and a Richard Meier building, the "Athenum" (1979). While the visitor center was closed, we walked around the small town and took photos. Ominously overcast, the feeling was odd.
Back in Louisville, we returned my favorite spots: Holy Grale beer bar, Rye (now permanently closed), and Butchertown Grocery. In between bourbon tours at Buffalo Trace, Willet, and Woodford Reserve, we stopped in Lexington for a Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich.
Following the same path as my road trip six years ago, our next stop was Nashville. On the drive to Nashville, we stopped at the Kentucky Stonehenge (Munfordville, KY) and the Historic Wigwam Motel. Village no. 2 (Cave City, KY). These Wigwam Motels are classic 1930s/40s Americana. There were seven locations in the hotel chain, but only three have avoided demolition. While I have visited the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, I still need to see Village no. 7 in Rialto, CA.
In Nashville, we started with Hattie B's fried chicken. I went to Prince's the last time, and their original location was closed due to a fire. We revisited a lovely coffee shop, Barista Parlour, and checked into our Airbnb in East Nashville. With Bird scooters everywhere, we could easily walk to bars and scoot back home. We visited Mas Tacos Por Favore, Attaboy cocktail bar, and The Pharmacy. A dinner at Folk was especially memorable; since it's been more than a year since my last meal inside a restaurant, I think fondly of these special indoor meals.
The next stop was Asheville. On the way, we visited the World's Fair Park in Knoxville, TN. With only a quick one-night stop in Asheville, we focused on breweries: Thirsty Monk, Burial Beer Co., and Wicked Weed Brewing. The following day, we woke up early to drive the nine hours home. Our only stop was a Waffle House somewhere in Virginia.
In all, this was an excellent road trip. I can't wait for the next one: hopefully this summer.
