Louis who? I suppose the best place to start would be with the pronunciation of the city's name. It's not /loo-ee-vil/, absolutely not /loo-iss-vil/ but correctly /Loo-uh-vul/. Pretend you have a chaw of tobacco or a sip of smooth Kentucky bourbon in your mouth, and you will say it just like a native. Proper enunciation will save you a bundle on cab fares when in town as the cabbies will assume you're a native. By the way, Louisville was named after King Louis XVIII, the ruler under whom the French monarchy toppled and heads rolled. We suck at naming things...For example, the local revenue commission used to be called The Sinking Fund. We just obtained an ECHL ice hockey team and what fierce moniker did we choose? The River Frogs. Gotta Derby Louisville's main claim to fame is the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown pinnacle of thoroughbred horse racing. If it weren't for the Derby, the city probably wouldn't be much more than a Stuckey's and a gas station. The race takes place every year on the first Saturday in May (May 4 this year), and is preceded by a week long array of festival events and drunken debauchery. We paint our houses, buy big hats and "pretty up" for the visitors and celebrities. Then, we act like we really enjoy mint juleps, and "Derby" as hard as we can stand it. In Louisville, "Derby" is a transitive verb (e.g. "I can't Derby as well as I used to," or, "I was way Derbied-out by that time.").Other gonzo famous stuff Aside from the equine world, Louisville's other claims to fame include being the hometown of Hunter S. Thompson, Diane Sawyer and Muhammad Ali. We make a damned good baseball bat too. Actually, the Louisville Slugger factory was located across the river in Indiana for over a decade (taxation dispute), but recently moved back home to the land of Bluegrass. There's a museum now at the company's current home, a must for any loving the kitschy, with the biggest corporate phallus since the Oscar Meyer weenie wagon. Oh yeah, the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporate headquarters rest here too (mostly tax-free), granting us worldwide fame and respect. Add bourbon and tobacco and you've got Kentucky's economy. We're almost as good as New Orleans residents at drinking and give ourselves until 4 a.m. to practice in public at the bars. Most liquor drinkers have savored Maker's Mark Whisky, but there are a number of now-fashionable single-barrel bourbons crafted in this state: Knob Creek, Baker's, Booker's, Basil Hayden's, Blanton's, Rock Hill and Evan Williams. It has to be made in Kentucky to be called bourbon, otherwise it's just whiskey. While we're on the subject of drinking, bar closing times vary city by city. Also, there are many dry counties in Kentucky, so be careful if you're looking to party. Bourbon County, for instance, is dry whereas Christian County is wet. That's sort of like our Catholic all-girl high school, Sacred Heart, whose entrance is on Cherry Lane and the exit is on Crabbs Lane. Back to the point, Louisville's bars can stay open later than any other city in the state ('til 4 a.m.) and they may also stay open until 6 a.m. on Derby weekend -- which means 24 consecutive hours for drinking.
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 After more than a decade in Indiana, the Louisville Slugger factory is once again located in the Bluegrass State.(Photo by Elaine Ford.)
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