Thursday, March 27, 2008

Why I love Louisville

Last week I left Ann Arbor to be hit by a big old snow storm and headed south to Louisville, Kentucky for 3 days of "mama-needs-a-break" time.

On this break I got to:
  1. See two friends from grad school at Northwestern who I haven't spent time with in way too long.
  2. Go to see four new plays at the Actors Theater of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, two of which were mind-blowingly fantastic, one which was interesting and had some great scenes/monologues and one which I didn't care for. (Which, for a picky, judgemental viewer like myself, is very high percentage of positive response.)
  3. Eat at a whole bunch of cool and quirky (and not outrageously expensive!) restaurants. Louisville is one of the few towns I've been to lately that has resisted takeover by the national chains. You can see the pride in the unique character of the town in the slogan that appears at most independent businesses "Keep Louisville Weird".
  4. Go to a cool yarn store and pick up a Rowan book I'd been coveting.
  5. Go to see two exhibits at an art museum, one on the Quilts of Gee's Bend and the other on Medieval and Renaissance items on tour from the Victoria and Albert Museum including one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks (a wee little thing! I had always pictured the notebooks as being more folio-sized rather than smaller than a pocket paperback.)
  6. Sit on my friend's back deck in the sunshine and feel the soft air of Spring around me. Despite the fact that it is supposed to snow here again today, I now have hope that we will get to experience non-hostile weather soon.
  7. Not have to multi-task for 3 full days (which, I confess, made Tuesday a little bumpy as I tried to get back in the mama-swing of things).
I'm going to try and make this break an annual tradition.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never been to Louisville but it looks like a really cool town, particularly the places you went.

p.s. lovely weather we're having, dontcha think? :)

Roja734 said...

I lived in Louisville as a teenager and still have family there and I adore Lynn's. You know the abandoned motel and restaurant on Jackson Road right before 94 East? I fantasize about winning a zillion dollars and turning it into a hip-cool motel with a Lynn's-esque restaurant out front. Louisville's a lot cooler than it was when I was a teen, but I'll still take Ann Arbor's summer over the heat and humidity of Louisville anyday.

Beth Royalty said...

I always saw Louisville as a drive-through town, between Atlanta and everywhere else, but am willing to give it a second look. Especially as I now live in St. Paul, MN. Who knew? Even here, this morning, the birds were singing and there was the sweet smell of almost-spring.

Anonymous said...

Hey, that's copied from the "Keep Austin weird" slogan! Cool. It's spreading. I wonder where else will be kept weird next?