So for me, as a traveler and blogger, I tend to stay in a variety of hotels from chains to boutique. They are each unique in their own way and offer a variety of entertainment but, when I am planning on staying in an area for more than three days I tend to gravitate to the Homewood Suites or the Home2 hotels. They are usually centrally located and well-staffed. The staff are friendly and know a great deal about the area without seeming too scripted. The rooms are more spacious and offer a kitchenette that allows me to control what I eat a bit easier by providing a full-sized fridge as opposed to those tiny ones you get in a regular room. It feels like an apartment and allows for pets (they usually have a doggie treat jar in the lobby). There is the typical stuff like pool, fitness center, business center and breakfast (depending on location) and of course coffee, lots of coffee.
For my most recent trip, I booked the Homewood Suites in downtown Louisville (I've added a few pictures below which might surprise you to see this type of space in a Homewood Suites) which turned out to be the perfect location. It is just one block over from the Louisville Slugger Museum and Michter's Distillery, two blocks down from the Frazier Museum and around four blocks down from Whiskey Row.
During my wanderings, I also discovered a contemporary art museum that is a gem!
The KMAC museum is tucked away on W. Main St. and if you did not know to look for it you would completely miss it. It is nondescript and sits just down from the Kentucky Science Center (much harder to miss due to the fun mirror display out front). The KMAC is free to visit though they do have a donation box at the front. It features local artists from the region. During my visit, they had an artist showcase in honor of the triennial. The focus is on the goldenrod, the state flower (or to most allergy sufferers, the yellow plague). The flower is represented on Kentucky's flag and is probably one of the heartiest plants there is. It is vital for the ecology of the region as it feeds a wide variety of pollinators and we all know how important they are!
Anyway, back to the museum and art. The interior is painted white so as to draw your eye more to the art and less to the building you are in. Even the staircase is a work of art in itself with the use of copper, exposed brick and glass that is cut just right so as to create a rainbow prism on the stairs at the level where every youngster will notice and squeal. There are three floors and I recommend starting on three at the far back, working your way forward. It is a unique collection each with its own message about humanism, pollution, the world and how we are tied together as one (at least in the current exhibits). There are pieces that will send your mind reeling and there is a multimedia piece that will draw you in, relax and entrance you. It is a video collection of vocal performances mixed with a visual meditative film and had it not errored out during my visit I might well have stayed there. It was beautiful and compelling as each voice was distinct and so opposite of the next.
There were pieces discussing death and the after, pieces that showed how cultures are being perverted and dumbed down to inconsequential tourist items, pieces about how we assimilate and strip away a group's identity by slowly taking away everything that makes that group uniquely them. While it is a small museum, it is powerful in its representation and choice of art displayed.
What I think I loved most was that on the main floor, just behind the gif shop and with a view of the river is a creative space for kids. It allows them to not only experience art visually through tours but also through touch. They can come into this open space and interpret what they have seen, express who they are and connect with each other in freedom, no concerns about being messy or staying within some imaginary boundary; just create, freely, openly, and honestly which to me is the best form of art.
My next stop was the Louisville Slugger Museum because you cannot come to Louisville and not go here. It is a working factory! Initially, I had thought to just go inside the store, pick up a few items and be on my way but, once you are there it is almost irresistible to do the tour. I mean, let's be real, how often do you get to tour a factory floor and actually watch stuff being made much less get to touch the product in its different stages? So, we did the tour and it was worth every minute. Admission is reasonable (as of this post it was $16.00 per adult) and allows you access to the mini-museum along with the interactive tour. You can take all the photos you want in the mini-museum and they have a photo op space set up where you can hold a bat (not sure who the athlete was) and take photos. My favorite piece was the guitar (made from bats) and the plethora of older bats hanging above as an art display. They have a Lego display setup that showcases different stadiums and the four major teams the people of the area root for. Now, the interactive tour takes you through the factory, as I mentioned and allows you to hold the bats in their various forms. They explain the difference between ash, maple, and birch, why different players like different ones, the pros and cons of each type along with how the wood itself is harvested and why they select the trees they select. We also learned that the wood for all bats made in the United States comes from a single forest within the state of Pennsylvania. My disappointment was in learning that none of the manufacturers replant trees, instead relying on natural selection and letting nature do the management. I question the sustainability of this practice but, I digress.
As you walk through the factory you see the different styles of machines and learn how each functions, which ones are used for professional bat production and which are there to create the retail bats. We got to see the painting, staining, dipping and drying process which is all still completed by hand. On your way out they give you a free mini bat which I really enjoyed. The bats are a great item to keep and something you can gift to others.
In my next post I'll talk about Michter's Distillery because yeah, it was that good.
Homewood Suites -
KMAC Museum -
Louisville Slugger Museum -
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