St. Louis, Louisville, St. Louis

Elisa is wondering if there isn't some kind of "Luis" motif going on here with the cities she's been visiting...she arrived in St. Louis on Monday, March 15, and then on Tuesday, March 16th the two of us drove off to Louisville, Kentucky. It might all seem in honor of her father, but that is all rather coincidental, of course. We went to Louisville to the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and had a great time. We loved our hotel, with its wonderful view of the Ohio River. The first night there, we ventured out to dinner, and discovered the superb Jeff Ruby's. We had no idea at the time that the restaurant's website claims "culinary entertainment", but Elisa exclaimed, as we were escorted to our table "This is just like Sex and the City!" It is a cool restaurant, and the food is delicious. We had been talking in the car about fried chicken (yes, Kentucky fried chicken) and being someone's favorite meal and all, well, I had to order chicken! And I was warned that they make their chicken fresh, and so it would take more than half an hour. As we were in no hurry, of course I was willing to wait. And it was delicious...roasted with lots of rosemary. Elisa loved the moment when I asked one of our young waiters (the one whose job was to ensure that we always had a good supply of ice water) where the ladies' room was. He held out his arm to escort me there, and off we marched, rather merrily, while I tossed a look to Elisa over my shoulder. Some friends were at the same conference and really wanted to go there the next night, and after much arm twisting, I agreed. This time Elisa and I tried the sushi, and were again delighted.

Our third night in Louisville we went to a bar in the hotel called 'Jockey Silk' which offers who knows how many different kinds of bourbon, and I discovered that I quite like the taste! It brings back many memories of my Dad indulging on a Saturday evening Manhatten when I was growing up. Louisville is a fun little city. They cordon off part if 4th Street (isn't it convenient that our hotel was at one end of 4th Street?) on special occasions and weekends to offer live music and general hanging out. We stopped there on Saint Patrick's day evening and I drank my first ever green beer. I was listening after we got back from Louisville to Paddy Maloney of 'The Chieftan's' fame being interviewed on my favorite NPR show 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' and he confirmed that St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is nothing like it is in the U.S. Green beer indeed!

I really did attend a conference in Louisville...and put my head up at exactly the right moment to see Sarah Kegley just about to enter a room to attend a talk. I managed to shout "Sarah!!!", and we chatted briefly, making plans to meet up that evening (the Friday). Sarah, Elisa and I went out for a meal and a lengthy and highly enjoyable chat. Elisa and I also did a bit of sightseeing in Louisville, including a wonderful "Kentucky Show" at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. I was all set to move to Kentucky after seeing it, what with the blue grass, beautiful horses, great music and friendly people. Louisville probably has too many parking garages sprinkled around its downtown area to attract, however (maybe the huge river makes it difficult to construct underground??). We did have a pleasant walk around, seeing the glassworks, the outside of the 'Louisville Slugger" factory, and various statues and buildings.

We drove back to St. Louis on Saturday - it is a very pleasant 4 hour drive through Indiana, Illinois and over the bridge to Missouri. Along the way are glimpses of an immense, flat and very fertile Illinois with its stretches of corn crops, more of the same in Indiana, although as Kentucky nears the land becomes very rolling and green, with some impressive bedrock hills.

Alas! Elisa went back to Boston on Sunday...we will be going there in April, so something to look forward to! In the meantime, I now enjoy St. Louis with Diana...visits to the library at SLU punctuated by lunches with her...and some shopping, like to buy her some shoes and me a pyjama. Yes, this weekend a friend is driving from Kansas City to St. Louis to pick me up, and we'll take off north for Rockford, Illinois for a reunion/pyjama party with young and very dear friends from elementary and high school. Looking forward to it!