Thursday we slept in 'til 10:30 (very little sleep Tuesday night and long drive made for sleepy mle and Dan), then went to Bardstown Road to window shop and poke our heads into various stores. We were particularly enamored of the "Why Louisville" store, run by one of the guys who started LebowskiFest, and we also enjoyed some of the book and music stores. I tried on a dress in a swanky boutique (it was green!) but it just didn't look right. We met up with Todd again for lunch at an Indian place, then spent a while in EarXTacy and poked into some more stores.
This is not the longest avenue. They totally lied.
When EEK came home from work, we all changed into non-sweaty clothes and went out to meet the Traveling McMahans, Dana and Brian, who had just returned from their 3-week-long, year-in-the-making anniversary trip. We had a lovely patio repast of cheese and crackers, nuts, and pastis, which I'd never heard of, but loved. Dana is another past member of the same message board through which we know EEK (and each other!) so it was nice to finally get to meet her (and her husband) (and their doggie Truffle) and to hear about their amazing trip.
We had dinner at a restaurant that's got a Filipino Elvis sitting by the front door and then went to the Bourbon Bistro to taste some bourbon. EEK went with her old standby (Woodford Reserve), I had a glass of wine, and Dan did a tasting flight of "Old" bourbons. I only remember the name of one of them (Old Forester) and he let me taste them even though I'm not known for liking bourbon, but when in Rome, right? The Old Forester was even kind of tasty. Though the place was pretty swanky we felt OK in our casual clothes, and between stops EEK did her best to show us the town, zipping us around various Louisville neighborhoods in Nigel with his top down (ooh la la!).
Friday EEK played hooky from work, and we started off the morning (actually noonish) with brunch at this place with an overabundance of stuff to look at (and play with, they give you toys at your table!) After our meal, we headed over to the great big cemetery where they buried Colonel Sanders, though we were too lazy to pick up a map to show us how to get there. I heard rumors of there being a rotating bucket of chicken atop his grave, but wasn't willing to put forth the effort to actually see this 8th wonder of the world. Mostly, we wandered around in the heat and humidity sticking to the shade and looking at dead people. It's really only in cemetaries that I tend to realize how lucky most people have it now - we saw family plots with several headstones showing one date (presumably, baby born dead or living only a few hours) or very short times between birth and death. Nowadays, it's a tragedy when a family loses a baby at birth or within a few days (and it's so much more rare) whereas back in the day a lot of people had several kids in the hopes that a few would grow to adulthood. Thank goodness for modern medicine.
We threw pennies in a memorial fountain (dedicated to two successful bachelor brothers who apparently lived together and liked it that way), marveled at the elaborate monuments erected in memory of the deceased (penises! all of them!) and I poked my head into my first crypts (they only put people underground where I come from). One family had this very Greek-looking gazebo columny thing with a statue inside, which I thought was both excessive and beautiful. Then, we were way too hot, so we went back to EEK's to bask in some A/C for a while.
Dan's already written about our afternoon at the track, and my only thing to add is that a) I managed to drink about 2/3 of the beer before getting grossed out and giving up, and b) I totally called it when Put Away the Halo was going to win and he/she DID, and even though I had no money riding on the outcome (I'm just not a gambler) I still feel as though I should have bragging rights. Because seriously, despite the favorites in each race and the ever-shifting odds, it seemed like any horse could win in any given race. Which I guess is part of the fun.
After the afternoon at Churchill Downs, we got cheap burritos at Qdoba and took advantage of their free wireless. I got an email from an old friend from out of the blue, and found out that my coworker's kitty died. So I was both happy and sad when we headed out to see some live music performed by some of EEK's friends. The band that played after was too loud and bangy, so we went back to the Nachbar to chill out, and found that they also had live music - an old-timey-music style band (think O Brother Where Art Thou music as played by hipsters) which was passing through town and just asked Nachbar if they could play for a while. I really liked the music and ended up buying a CD, despite my distaste for the band's name (Special Ed and the Short Bus? Seriously?) The Nachbar takes good care of its regulars (and guests of regulars, wow, super generous pours!) and was a great place to spend a summer night.
8 comments:
Sounds mucho fun. The driving with no ac- I can totally sympathize. Did it in the Bonnie from VA to TX and then until it died. Black car, leather seats- no fun. I didn't think cars came without AC anymore.
And pastis- I've had that. I don't like licorice so it's not a favorite. I love the mixing it with water though. That's cool. Yay for meeting the internets!
Damn that's a lot of internets in one trip.
Yeah, I don't think they make cars without AC anymore. Although what's funny is that these days if you want a tape deck you have to tack it on extra as they're all built with dvd players.
Our car is a 2002 with no A/C. I haven't looked into how much it would be to put A/C in aftermarket and have no idea why the original owner would have bought a car without A/C. We survived OK, even in the heat and humidity.
At certain times, A/C would be nice. Mostly, all it does is guzzle the gas. We traded no A/C for driving from Salina, Kansas to St. Lou (~500 miles) on a single tank of gas.
Lynn's Paradise Cafe (the place with the toys) is where I take all out of town guests. There's only one Lynn's.
Oh gods, yes it does guzzle gas. But I really like feeling like a refrigerated slab of beef so I crank it up.
I am not surprised at the gas mileage you got though-they're freaking awesome, even with the AC on. Stick + no AC should be maxing out the mpg capabilities.
Actually, one thing I am going to make sure about on the next car is getting the windows tinted. The sun beating down mercilessly through the windows is actually what makes me more miserable.
I'm getting a Civic Hybrid, too...can't wait! The only point of irritation is that they don't make them stick anymore (discontinued in 2005) but apparently they've improved the tech to bring the gas mileage up to stick capabilities and I don't need the extra control in a land without snow.
Monks, I love the civic hybrids even more than the prius (have driven both for work). They just have too high a resale value still so we couldn't find an affordable one with decent mileage on it. I bet you will lurve it.
I found a 2005 on Craigslist SF for about 11K-which is the bluebook value on my car (gas). It makes me raise my eyebrows though-they tend to hold their value really well and are more expensive than gas Civics so why is it the same bluebook value as my (frills-less) Civic?
You're right about the demand though-my classmate who works up the street has one. She flew to Colorado to buy it and shipped it home and flew back...and it was STILL cheaper than buying it in CA because demand had gone through the roof last year.
The federal tax credit got dropped to $500 but I think California still gives you a sweet deduction.
Anyway-it's next year because the Econobox is (just barely) salvageable. I got the final estimate today-8,500 cost of repair AFTER I pay the deductible...due date is third week of August. With the bluebook value so high they won't total it. OTOH, I get the full overhaul since there was coffee in the car that got pitched over the whole car so I'm getting a brandnew exterior and upholstery and everything (the garage is really billing them for it). So the car should be in lovely condition for the end of the lease since I'm crossing my fingers this was a "once in a" fluke.
I priced the Civic Hybrid and since they throw in almost everything you want in the base MSRP price-I priced it out to about 25k (with the navigation system). Which is expensive for a Civic sized vehicle but I'm looking to keep it forever so after three years the savings are going to roll in.
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