Louisville and Cincinnati Travel Advice

[Vagabond]

I am headed to Cincinnati for an event this coming weekend and hope to spend the day on Friday in Louisville, particularly in Old Louisville.

Are there any places in or around Old Louisville that I should not miss? And does anyone have a recommendation for a good place to go for lunch? My inclination is to spend as much time outdoors as possible, but I might stop by the Speed Art Museum.

If I do make it to Louisville, I won't have that much free time time in Cincinnati itself. I have previously been tot he Underground Railroad Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Contemporary Arts Center. I would appreciate any recommendations for bookstores and cafes, especially in Over-the-Rhine.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Eat the chili.

 

[ChelleC]

If there's still a Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincy check them out.

 

[Prancer]

If I do make it to Louisville, I won't have that much free time time in Cincinnati itself. I have previously been tot he Underground Railroad Museum, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Contemporary Arts Center. I would appreciate any recommendations for bookstores and cafes, especially in Over-the-Rhine.

Have you been to Eden Park in Cinci (aside from going to the Art Museum)? The conservatory there is small but nice and they are having their annual butterfly exhibit right now. That's sort of outdoors and the park itself is huge.

For bookstores, there is a Joseph-Beth. If you want to check out a bookstore in Over-the-Rhine, try Smith & Hannon or the Iris Book Cafe (a two-fer for you). The Iris Cafe is kind of a used bookstore/health food restaurant/coffee shop hangout. For cafes in OTR---hmmm. It kind of depends on what you are looking for. B&A Street Kitchen is a nice neighborhood restaurant/coffee shop.

My favorite bookstore in Cinci is Duttenhofer's on the University of Cinci campus. They have new and used books and interesting, eclectic stuff. It's not OTR, but it's fun to go in and rummage.

I can't help you much with Louisville.

 

[paskatefan]

For Louisville - the Churchill Downs Museum & the Muhammad Ali Center

 

[Coco]

Apparently, in Louisville there is a famous sandwich called a hot brown.

 

[rfisher]

Eat the chili.

If you like chocolate and cinnamon in your chili and pour it over spaghetti.

 

[Prancer]

If you like chocolate and cinnamon in your chili and pour it over spaghetti.

Cincinnati chili is a Greek sauce served over spaghetti, so if you like Greek food (especially pastitsio), you will usually like Cincinnati chili.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Apparently, in Louisville there is a famous sandwich called a hot brown.

It's an open-faced sandwich.

Hot Brown - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[CassAgain]

We were in Louisville on a Monday night last summer--not a lot was open, but we had a good time. The highlight was probably walking over the Ohio River bridge into Indiana and back--very nice park and little shops on both sides.

 

[overedge]

It's been a long time since I was in Cincinnati, but Union Terminal, the former train station, is absolutely spectacular. https://www.cincymuseum.org/union-terminal/

 

[Rob]

My fave restaurant in Cincy is Zula right off Washington Park.

In Louisville, there are Shops, restaurants, traditional architecture on Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill, or the Frazier Museum or Conrad-Caldwell House Museum, or if you drink, try the bourbon tour at Angel’s Envy. It’s downtown.

 

[Rob]

And you probably know about Graeter’s Ice-cream.

 

[Susan1]

And you probably know about Graeter’s Ice-cream.

We always had to stop there on the way home from the rinks. (Adult women sticking their tongues out to show each other how big the chocolate chunks were. hee hee )
Now there are Graeter's shops up here (Centerville) and you can also buy pints at Kroger. Not as much fun.

 

[Prancer]

We always had to stop there on the way home from the rinks.

Did you (or Rob) ever go to Farrell's in Cinci?

Graeter's is my favorite ice cream, but Farrell's was so fun.

 

[Rob]

Did you (or Rob) ever go to Farrell's in Cinci?

Graeter's is my favorite ice cream, but Farrell's was so fun.

There was a Farrell’s in MD near where I grew up so yes, I went there all the time. Loved it! Zoo, Pikes Peak, loved the sundae with Spanish peanuts. My BIL and family live in Cincinnati so we go from time to time. Is there still a Farrell’s there?

 

[Prancer]

There was a Farrell’s in MD near where I grew up so yes, I went there all the time. Loved it! Zoo, Pikes Peak, loved the sundae with Spanish peanuts. My BIL and family live in Cincinnati so we go from time to time. Is there still a Farrell’s there?

No, long gone, but I had some memorable times there. My poor husband did a Pig's Trough once and thought he was going to die, only to be told that so many people had done it that they stopped giving you a reward for it .

If you like alcoholic (or even nonalcoholic) ice cream, you might like Buzzed Bull Creamery. They make everything fresh for you using liquid nitrogen and have some fun flavor combinations--and coffee, too, now that I am thinking about it. It's in Over the Rhine.

 

[Rob]

No, long gone, but I had some memorable times there. My poor husband did a Pig's Trough once and thought he was going to die, only to be told that so many people had done it that they stopped giving you a reward for it .

If you like alcoholic (or even nonalcoholic) ice cream, you might like Buzzed Bull Creamery. They make everything fresh for you using liquid nitrogen and have some fun flavor combinations--and coffee, too, now that I am thinking about it. It's in Over the Rhine.

Mmmm love ”adult” ice cream!

 

[Coco]

Farrell's was the best. We had one in the mall near where I grew up in Michigan. Best place for a kid's birthday. The hallway of candy as you left!!!! The stuff of dreams.

 

[KCC]

It has been quite a while, but I remember loving Arnold's in downtown Cincinnati and the Blind Lemon in Cinci's Mt. Adam's neighborhood. Arnold's used to have a guy that played the spoons and the Blind Lemon had random pickup fiddle/banjo groups that gathered upstairs and played on for a long time. I'm sure that's all in the past, but it looks like both of these spots are still fun places to grab food & drinks.

 

[Susan1]

Did you (or Rob) ever go to Farrell's in Cinci?

Graeter's is my favorite ice cream, but Farrell's was so fun.

Oh Wow. The Fudgana (sp)? It was just a hot fudge sundae with bananas, but when you go to a different city to an ice cream place you don't have at home. it sticks It was by Tri-county Mall, so if we got to go shopping down there, that's where we ate. Long time ago, huh? When I went to Tucson in 1988, they stull had one there, but I didn't want to make a big deal of it, so I didn't say anything.

My poor husband did a Pig's Trough

My cousin Danny did that when they lived in Michigan, with all the bells and whistles and people watching and cheering.

Is this retro Cincinnati time? Bombay Bicycle Club (coconut shrimp). And they had a summer salad dressing that I loved so much, they filled up a big styrofoam cup and put it in a box with ice (for free) for me to bring all the way back up here. It was made with lemon yogurt and orange juice. I tried to do it myself when Yoplait still made lemon yogurt, but I couldn't get it exactly right.

I still have my Dick Clark's American Bandstand t-shirt. (Kind of like Hard Rock Cafe, but older stuff. There is a Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati now.) Johnny Rockets is gone too.

If we're talking food now - Montgomery Inn. The original and the Boathouse. One year some of us in the skating club went to the Boathouse before Stars on Ice and walked to Riverfront Coliseum on a path along the river (behind all the other buildings) in the dark. That was so neat. After that when a boyfriend and I went to the Boathouse on a Saturday, I had to face away from the floor to ceiling windows cause I was getting seasick looking at the river.

There's the revolving restaurant in Covington. I know I'm not as cosmopolitan as all you guys, but anything different we didn't have up here was special.

Outside - Cincinnati Zoo (Columbus is better, but you won't be there). Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington (between Louisville and Cincinnati). Newport Aquarium (inside). People have passes, but once was enough for me. The penguins and seahorses were the best part and they aren't even fish. You can walk under sharks. o.k. I'm done!

 

[Vagabond]

Now, where can I find a good time machine to visit those ice cream parlors of years gone by?

 

[Susan1]

Now, where can I find a good time machine to visit those ice cream parlors of years gone by?

Where are you? Graeter's has shops in the midwest and in all grocery stores. Plus you can order it and have it shipped. We don't even have Friendly's anymore.

 

[Vagabond]

Where are you? Graeter's has shops in the midwest and in all grocery stores. Plus you can order it and have it shipped. We don't even have Friendly's anymore.

I am in California.

I actually make my own ice cream but will try to slip in some field research during my trip.

 

[Susan1]

I am in California.

I actually make my own ice cream but will try to slip in some field research during my trip.

Ben and Jerry's White Russian ice cream has been in their flavor graveyard for years. I must have been the only one who loved it.

 

[Vagabond]

Maybe they could rebrand it as True Ukrainian.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Maybe they could rebrand it is True Ukrainian.

Or The Dude Abides if they can work out marketing permissions (and maybe royalties).

 

[Susan1]

Maybe they could rebrand it as True Ukrainian.

It couldn't have had real Kahlua in it, could it, and be sold in the mall food court, for kids to buy? It never said "you must be 21 to buy this".

 

[pollyanna]

For Louisville - the Churchill Downs Museum & the Muhammad Ali Center

And the Louisville Slugger museum and factory

St. James Court and Belgravia Court in Old Louisville have architecturally beautiful homes

 

[Vagabond]

It couldn't have had real Kahlua in it, could it, and be sold in the mall food court, for kids to buy? It never said "you must be 21 to buy this".

If they did use a coffee liqueur, the alcohol burned off in the manufacturing process.