I have to say I really had little knowledge of Louisville other than it being the home of that great American tradition, the Kentucky Derby. Upon arrival I quickly realized that I had landed in a most unique place due mostly to the uncompromising hospitality and amiability of the local populace. I'd been there 4 days and had yet to meet a grumpy local! How charming! Louisville opened its arms to me and I couldn't have been more delighted.

My arrival was adeptly facilitated by Ashley Cecil, a very lovely young woman with a passion for art and social activism, who seems to be able to juggle an enormous amount of responsibilities at one time. She quickly settled me in and proceeded to acquaint me with Louisville's burgeoning art community. The arts in Louisville are incredible - it's a shame that the rest of the country knows little of this. I was impressed not only with the quality of public art, museums, galleries, hotels and facilities, but also by the quantity. This place is oozing art! Cutting edge and international - a bastion for the edgy & hip.

Best Place to Find Cool Bumper Stickers for the Outside of Your Car, and CDs for the Inside - At a time when indie record stores were dropping off the map, John Timmons decided he needed to move into a building big enough to need its own map. Ear X-tacy grew from the 500-square-foot store it was in 1985 into the 10,000-square-foot music wonderland it is today. With countless listening stations and riveting in-store performances, the shop puts a high premium on musical discovery

National Jug Band Jubilee Brings America's Happiest Music back to its old Kentucky home. Dedicated to preserving jug band music at its late 19th century home - Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville's outstanding quality of life has earned a national award - the U.S. Conference of Mayors awarded Louisville First Place in the City Livability Awards. Louisville won the large-city category, besting competition that included Las Vegas, Seattle and Orlando.

The American Water Works Association, meeting this week in Atlanta, named Louisville's water the "Best of the Best" in its annual tasting competition.

"Louisville's water is clearly superior," Abramson said. "Now the rest of the country knows that, too."

The IdeaFestival (IF) is a world-class event that attracts leading and highly diverse thinkers from across the nation and around the globe to explore and celebrate innovation, imagination and cutting-edge ideas. But don't let these big words scare you. There is something at this event for everyone and it is affordable - sometimes free.

I'm proud to announce that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will keynote the 7th annual Forecastle Festival, July 25th - 27th on the Riverfront in Louisville, KY. Kennedy, named by Time Magazine as one of the "Heroes of the Planet" for his successful efforts to clean up the Hudson River, currently serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper organization, as well as president of The Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Pace University School of Law's Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of the environmentally-programmed Ring of Fire show on Air America Radio.

Robert will address the audience at 2:30pm Sunday, July 27th, to be followed by an all-star cast of musicians, including The Del McCoury Band, Ekoostik Hookah, Dr. Dog, Gran Bel Fischer, and many more. For complete line-ups, please visit: http://www.forecastlefest.com/lineup.php

In addition to the keynote speaker, Forecastle plans to include (2) stages powered exclusively by solar energy - one of the first major festivals in the Midwest to do so. The festival will also include a culinary menu consisting of 100% all-natural food, grown exclusively by Kentucky farmers.

Join the Southern Foodways Alliance as we travel to Louisville, Kentucky, home of the "most exciting two minutes in sports," and the arguable birthplace of the old fashioned.

We'll play dainty, an only-in-Louisville game, in the streets of the city's Schnitzelburg neighborhood. We'll gather in the Rathskeller, beneath a tooled leather ceiling, to toast the work of Minnie Fox and the African American cooks she honored in the Blue Grass Cookbook.

We'll taste Benedictine spread and Henry Bain sauce. We'll sip brown whiskey from the state's best distillers and red wine from grapes raised by a onetime tobacco farmer. We will dine on fried catfish at the All Wool and a Yard Wide Democratic Club. And farm-fresh fare at Lilly's. We'll sample bourbon-marinated smoked fish. And bourbon barrel-aged sorghum.

The region's best scholars will show us the way, providing context and amplification. Smart talking and great eating (and drinking), that's what we promise.

"In 1977, Diamond released an album titled I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight, which included the selection "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." He had composed its music and collaborated on its lyrics with Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. The song was covered by Barbra Streisand on her album Songbird, which led Gary Guthrie, then Program Director at WAKY Radio in Louisville, Kentucky, to combine the two recordings in a virtual duet. The popularity of the virtual duet motivated Diamond and Streisand to record the real thing, which was a number one hit in 1978 and became his third song to top the Hot 100 to date."
- A Diamond in the Rough

"What a fun day! Wouldn't mind staying here longer - there's a lot to do & see. Add Louisville to the list of places I'd like to come back to"

"After futzing with my bike for a bit at the hotel, I hightailed it back to the Visitor Information Center to join an hour-long walking tour of downtown.  Led by Charlie, a retired history teacher, it went back over parts of the Main Street area I'd been to during the day and also showed me things I hadn't seen before.  Definitely worth doing."

"The highlight of the tour was the inside of the 21C Museum Hotel - a luxury boutique hotel that welcomes the public in to view its museum-quality collection of contemporary art on its ground floor and basement (even in its ladies' room!).  Loved the poured concrete floors! Another "must see."