Louisville!

[DERBY]

Hey!

I moved to Louisville a few months back for a new job. I thought it would be nice to offer myself up to help any fellow Bulls that plan on coming into town. If you've got questions about the city, accommodations, or other events post them up here and I'll try to answer them!

I'm definitely going to be at the game so if you're looking to tailgate make sure to let me know. I don't know a lot of people here but I might have a friend or two from work along with me. It's always fun to have a group to have a good tailgate in the lot before a game!

[The BullRush]

There's about 5 in my group traveling to the game and would appreciate any tips, i.e. bourbon tour, things to do outside the normal travel magazines, tailgating tips. We will have a rental car and will be staying about 1/2 mile from the stadium. Are there any other sections of town that are a must see? we are an older group (lower 40s) but are there any campus venues worthy of visiting, i.e. bars?

[DERBY]

There are a few distilleries within 10 to 15 miles of downtown. I recommend the Woodford Reserve tour if you don't mind the drive, it's about an hours drive away near Lexington. There's the normal tourist stuff you can do like the Louisville Slugger Museum and the giant underground cavern tour. The football stadium is right near churchill downs but I don't think there are any horse races happening on the weekend of the game.

The area south of the stadium and racetrack is safe but kind of shady without much going on that would be worth checking out. Most of the interesting things to do are either to the north in the downtown area or to the east which is more the college residents part of town. There's some cool historic hotels downtown that have nice bars and some good local eats nearby. The city has a great local restaurant scene so there's plenty of opportunities to try some exotic foods or to get some interesting spins on traditional fare like BBQ. I'd definitely recommend trying some local fair instead of eating at any chain restaurants.

If you're looking to go out for drinks there isn't really a main drag for bars right on campus. The campus is nice though so give it a drive through just to check it out. There are random bars scattered through the surrounding areas but the best spot for bar hopping nearby is on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. It's only a few miles from the stadium and it's got a pretty good stretch restaurants and watering holes. Most of the UL students go out on Bardstown or at 4th Street Live, which is right downtown. I don't really like 4th Street Live too much, it's just a few night clubs mixed in with some "bar and grill" type places, usually attracts a ton of frat bro type guys and it is kind of a tourist trap. I haven't been there on a gameday though so maybe it's a different experience during football season. There's plenty of bars on every corner though and the craft brew scene in town is great. If you like trying new beers it's easy to find local stuff and some interesting brews in pretty much every bar you go to. If you'd like I can suggest some of my favorite places but I'd just suggest checking out bars and restaurants on the Yelp website and you'll be able to find something good that is close to where you're staying.

I haven't been to a game yet so all I've got about parking near the stadium is second hand knowledge. I've been told that the fairgrounds right next to the stadium has a good tailgating scene and reasonably priced parking. If you know where the stadium is as your pulling into the lot then you can drive your car to the edge of the lot on the stadium side and it's supposedly a reasonably short walk to the game. There's no shortage of paid parking lots though so if you show up early to tailgate you shouldn't have trouble finding a parking sport for $10 bucks that will be pretty close.

Hopefully that helps. If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask!

[The BullRush]

Thanks. This is great stuff. We will check out Bardstown Rd & Woodford Reserve. Any information on your favorite places for craft beers would be appreciated. Looking forward to the game. Go Bulls!

[GaUSFBull]

Thanks for the info, Derby. Looking forward to checking out Louisville and hopefully watching our Bulls beat the Cards.

[GaUSFBull]

Where is this underground cavern tour you speak of?