Picked Mark up at the airport Thursday around noon and checked in at our hotel - Hampton Inn. We drove over to get some lunch at Troll Under the Bridge Pub. Saw PJ Carlisimo - doing a radio show. 

Then we went to the Louisville Slugger factory and took the tour. Interesting to see the bats being made since last time I was there was over Christmas and production was stopped. We went to Against The Grain Pub & Brewery (attached to Louisville Slugger Field) for dinner and to watch Miami get hammered by Villanova and Oklahoma handle Texas A&M easily. We sat next to two guys who were in town for bachelor party who were pretty annoying (one of them had a handlebar mustache, so that should tell you all you need to know). We couldn’t get sound on the TV (a running theme), so we left for the second set of games. 

We headed to Fourth Street and Sports & Social Club. We bowled a couple games while Oregon beat Duke and Kansas beat Maryland. Again, no sound, so I think we watched the end back at the hotel bar. 

Friday morning we went to the fitness center and walked to brunch. Put our name in at Wild Eggs and Toast. They both had long waits, so we went back to Slugger Field to get into the gift shop. Of course, it was closed and dark, so we had to go up to the team offices and get help from Shelby, a nice young woman who gave us a personal shopping experience. We bought some souvenirs, got brunch at Toast, then walked around Market Street - a great neighborhood of restaurants and shops. We also found Muth’s Chocolates (a Louisville legend), which was busy with Easter traffic. We got some chocolate bourbon balls, mojeska eggs, and recommendations for restaurants from locals. We also found deadly delicious chocolate chip cookies at a bakery/record store called Please & Thank You.

Next up was a drive over to Baxter Avenue - another cool neighborhood. We had dinner at Royals - fried/hot chicken (great!) and watched Virginia beat Iowa State and Notre Dame/Wisconsin (no sound). We stopped into a Mexican place to watch the Notre Dame beat Wisconsin (with sound) and each had a shot of tequila. Gonzaga fell to Syracuse and UNC beat Indiana - which I think we watched in the hotel room after a drink at Haymarket.

Saturday morning we woke up and went back to Baxter Avenue for half-hour massages which helped my sore right foot. Then we rented bikes and rode over the Ohio River to pick up tickets for that night’s game. We did a lot of biking - including through a beer fest with goat races and flea market; a ride through a sketchy neighborhood down to Smoketown USA. We had just eaten at Feast (awesome tacos, tots, and bourbon slushies) and they didn’t have TVs, so we vowed to return on Sunday. We biked back to the hotel and then out to Grind for great burgers - and watch Oklahoma trounce Oregon (no sound). Biked over to the YUM! Center and watched a great Villanova game against Kansas...and got to say, "Hey!" to the legend Bill Raftery (can't say I didn't scream, "Get those puppies organized!" and "Onions!")

Sunday morning we went back to the fitness center and back to Wild Eggs for another incredible meal - chicken-infused waffles, everything muffins,... crazy good. Lots more biking down to University of Louisville, through historic neighborhoods very reminiscent of Evansville. Turned out that Smoketown USA (and lots of stuff) was closed (Easter Sunday), so we ended up back at Against The Grain after another bike ride across the river. Good food, good music and beautiful weather. (Mark wanted to get a Louisville Bats hat for Isaac, but alas, Shelby must’ve gotten the day off).

We watched Syracuse come back to beat Virginia from our hotel room. I left before the UNC/Notre Dame game and Mark was heading back early in the morning.

NOTE: A lot of times I have to write these up from memory on the flight home or days after I get back, and I’m amazed as I transcribe this one now (six years later) that my most vivid memory of this trip didn’t even make it into my synopsis! I don’t remember which day it was, but we spent a considerable amount of time in the Muhammad Ali Museum - a terrific collection of personal memorabilia in a setting that managed to (bob and) weave his enormous personality with the history of the time in a very engaging setting.