March in Louisville, KY

Back from a visit to see family and friends in Louisville, KY and also have a few photos here of the "other" river city. Photo at left is of Louisville from the Indiana side of the Ohio River. Louisville is where this journey started from; a road that took me from Kentucky (actually Indiana right across the river) to North Carolina, and now to Richmond, VA. Louisville reminds me a great deal of Richmond...one reason being that it is a river town (nickname "The River City"). Home of the Kentucky Derby, in a few weeks the Kentucky Derby Festival will be in full swing. On these shores Thunder Over Louisville will happen; a massive air show and fireworks display.
Louisville is a big sports town; featuring mostly minor league sports and the University of Louisville. The building under construction at left is the new arena for U of L which will replace Freedom Hall (which was in use since 1956) at the Fairgrounds. The new Arena will be state of the art and is one massive building. Sure it will also have other uses such as concerts and other events, and I am looking forward to seeing the inside when it is completed sometime later this year (at least that is the plan). It is right at the foot of the Second Street Bridge, one of three that span the Ohio River from Indiana to Kentucky. More are planned, but still in the works.
Louisville like Richmond likes to rework buildings. Many buildings are put to other uses and these I believe are an example of that (though also could be planning to tear these down). Former warehouses, they were mostly restaurants and nightclubs. Spent many hours listening to music in The Soundstage, Eddie Donaldson's, and City Lights in these buildings which are also very old by the way. Unlike Charlotte, Louisville is a city which recycles the past, and that makes for a very interesting town.
I like how it has a history beyond a few years ago.

This ballpark is the home of the Louisville Bats, the AAA team. Some years ago they set a minor league attendance record with over a million when they were at the old ballpark at the fairground. Using the old front of the building that was there, they built a ballpark downtown, and this is a really nice place to catch a game in the spring or summer.

As I mentioned, Louisville recycles. This is the Humana office building, which was formerly the Belknap Hardware building (Belknap went out of business a few years ago) and Humana took it over. You see a lot of that as I have noted, many old buildings are converted to such uses as condos and new businesses. It is usually a fun town, with a lot of things going on both on the river, and downtown. I also enjoyed this trip visiting sights on the Indiana side, right across the Ohio River. Like with Louisville, Indiana is a good mix of old and new, with a lot of things to see and explore. It is a fun place to visit, a not bad place to live, and a great American town. I had a fantastic four days there, and am looking forward to my next visit.