Josie eats Kentucky Proud

Josie, at 4 and a half months old, has started eating solid food! Our pediatrician gave us the go-ahead on Thursday, so for two days, she has been eating rice cereal and apples, along with her regular breastfeeding. It's the cutest thing to watch her eat. She is getting the hang of the spoon, and seems to enjoy the tastes so far.

I was determined to breastfeed, and with that same determination, I am now a baby-food-making machine. (All bias aside) Josie is cute enough to be the Gerber baby, but she wouldn't be the best spokesbaby because she's eating homemade food. So far I've only steamed and pureed apples, but I'm having a ball. Only the best for Josie, I went to Paul's Fruit Market, a local produce market specializing in "Kentucky Proud" products. Now I'm finishing up a batch to freeze in ice cube trays for convenience later.

Next up - bananas! (Which, btw, you don't have to cook!)

Feature City: Elizabethtown, KY

We have several malls here in Louisville, housing large department stores like Macy's, Dillards, and J.C.Penney. One not represented, however, is Belk, the department store that dominates most of the Central Virginia area. If I want to shop at Belk (maybe I have a Belk return, or my mom is visiting and has a craving to swipe her Belk card), the closest store is in Elizabethtown, less than 60 miles south of Louisville. So I'd like to take a trip down there and make a day of it. First of all, Elizabethtown is featured in the movie "Elizabethtown" with Orlando Bloom, which has been saved in our DVR for a few months now. (I really do want to watch it, but only when I know I won't fall asleep...) The Etown website declares, "We're more than a movie," so I'm eager to find out more about it for myself. The Kentucky Heartland Festival in August sounds particularly appealing. Road trip, Josie!

Cheering on the Cards

There's one thing I've learned about living in Kentucky:  you have to choose a sports team.  And not just any team - the choice is between the University of Louisville Cardinals or the University of Kentucky Wildcats.  Whether you're a diehard sports fan or you don't know the difference between football and baseball, everyone likes one team or the other.  Generally, I'm a Cards fan, mainly because I usually hang out with other Cards fans, and also because I don't have very close ties to the state except for those in Louisville.  (If I lived in Pikeville or Paducah, maybe I'd be a UK fan - hopefully we'll never know, haha.)

So if most of the people in Kentucky choose to support choose one or the other, I imagine there must be a lot of Cards fans.  Particularly excited Cards fans because the women's basketball team has made it to the NCAA Championship Game!  My loose fan support is swelling with Kentucky pride!  

Go CARDS!

Dying to dine

I desperately want to go to dinner HERE.  How fun!  I've been meaning to ride a train somewhere, and I'm always looking for food these days, so it's the perfect combo.

If I went for lunch, I would get:

My Old Kentucky Prime Rib Sandwich (Slow-roasted, thinly sliced prime rib of beef, stacked on a hoagie roll, topped with sauteed onions.  Accompanied with au'jus and a baked potato.)

If I went for dinner, I would get:

Roast Loin of Pork (Seasoned Pork Loin roasted to perfection served with a bourbon mango glaze.  White rice and our over roasted vegetables accompany this generous portion of boneless pork loin.)

No dessert in either case.

Note:  These are not my first choices, but are my only choices because every other entree is made with cheese.  In a perfect world (where I could/would eat cheese), I would get the lunch Kentucky Hot Brown or the dinner Parmesan Crusted Tilapia.  And of course dessert would be the Derby Pie.  YUM.

F.A.T. Friday

Throughout the year, people can experience a trolley hop on the last Friday of each month to travel up and down Louisville's Frankfort Avenue. There are tons of places to shop, usually offering extended hours, and the local food is second to none.  From art galleries to pubs to live music, Fridays on Frankfort Avenue showcases much of the best Louisville has to offer!

www.fatfridayhop.org

Kentucky's 3rd Largest City

At the end of August, my cousin will join the ranks of Virginians who left the Old Dominion for Kentucky! I cannot wait to visit her right down the road (only an hour and a half from Louisville) in Owensboro, Kentucky. I have never been to Owensboro and have really never heard anything about it until I heard this news of her move. Quite surely you also didn't know that Owensboro...

1. is Kentucky's 3rd largest city
2. holds the title of "Kentucky's Festival City," hosting over 20 festivals throughout the year, including BBQ, PumpkinFest and Bluegrass festivals
3. sits on the Ohio River bordering Indiana, just like Louisville
4. is home to more several universities: Brescia, Western Kentucky, Kentucky Wesleyan, and Mr. Jim's Beauty College (!) to name a few
5. has it's own song

Up, up, and away!

If I had a list of things to do before I die (which officially I do not), I would have to list a hot air balloon ride. Granted, I'm scared of heights, but no matter. Back in Virginia, I remember seeing two or three balloons in the early morning on a fall day, just above the Blue Ridge horizon. Or maybe it was spring. Anyway, I always wished I could have a turn!

Now that I'm in Kentucky, I have the chance to see many more balloons in action at the Great Balloon Race. The race started in 1973, with only 7 balloons. This year, nearly 50 balloons competed! What a sight!

The Thunder Rolls

Thunder Over Louisville is this Saturday, kicking off the annual Kentucky Derby Festival, 2 weeks of events leading up to the 2 most exciting minutes in sports: The Kentucky Derby.

Thunder is the "pinnacle of pyrotechnics" and is the largest fireworks show in North America. Literally hundreds of thousands of people come to Louisville and Southern Indiana to see the incredible event. Thunder costs Louisville about $1 Million, but generates over 30 times that as income for the city!

The show is housed on the Ohio River in between Louisville and Indiana, using the bridge as a stage and spotlight. More than 70 events follow Thunder in the Kentucky Derby Festival, culminating in the Derby on the first Saturday in May.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

It's a crane taking down the Superman ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom! According to local news, the ride is being disassembled - the same ride that severed a girl's feet last summer. The ride has also been removed from the Six Flags website, although this might not be recent news. I don't know if anyone has ridden the ride since the terrible incident, so maybe they took it off the website last year. What would the rating be if they had kept it listed? Mild, Moderate, or Max?? Max doesn't begin to describe what Kaitlyn experienced...

I was always a little reluctant to ride fair rides (particularly after a flying bolt left me bleeding one summer during my middle school years), but was generally more trusting of more permanent amusement park rides. That is, until I heard about this poor girl and that fateful trip to Six Flags. If I ever go to Six Flags (not likely), I hope they have really good shows. And maybe a good funnel cake.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the grass really blue?
Not really - the grass is green, but it produces bluish buds that make the rolling hills appear to be blue.

I thought it was The Commonwealth of Virginia , not Kentucky!
Evidently, Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania are all commonwealths. According to the Kentucky State website, a "commonwealth" means a "government based on the common consent of the people...Kentucky, once part of Virginia, chose to remain a commonwealth when it separated from Virginia."

Wait, Kentucky was a part of Virginia?
Yes! The Kentucky state website explains, "Kentucky was originally declared to be a part of Virginia and was made a separate county of that state in 1776. Soon after the end of the American Revolution, a separation movement began in Kentucky. In 1792, after nine conventions to discuss the separation, Kentucky was made a separate state and was admitted to the Union as the fifteenth state. Isaac Shelby was chosen as the first governor. Kentucky's first constitution was drafted in April and May of that year (the constitution was rewritten in 1800, and again in 1850 and 1891), and Frankfort was chosen to be the site of the state capital. In 1818, the westernmost region of the state was annexed, following its purchase from the Chicasaw Indians." So now we can joke that I never actually left Virginia - haha!

Is Louisville a big city?
Depends on who you ask and when. If you asked anyone before 2003, they would have probably said it was about average. But 2003 was the year that the City of Louisville merged with Jefferson County to create Louisville Metro, which now boasts the title of 16th largest city in the US. Some would now argue that the merger is cheating and that it's actually not that big. Seems big to me, but with a small town feel.

Cats or Cards?
The big rivalry in Kentucky is between the University of Kentucky (in Lexington) and the University of Louisville. These two large schools seem to depend greatly on the success of their sports teams, represented by the Wildcat and the Cardinal respectively. 99% of Kentuckians strongly prefer one team over another. The jury is still out on which team I favor.

Why is UofL's mascot the Cardinal?
Like Virginia, Kentucky's state bird is the cardinal. You will come to find there are more similarities between the two states...

How far is Louisville from Charlottesville?
Some say 7 hours, some say 9. Depends on who you ask, how you drive, what your bladder can hold, and if you have a dog.

And it's only 2 hours from Indianapolis?
Yes, Indianapolis is 2 hours north and Nashville is 3 hours south. St. Louis is 4 hours west and Charleston, WV is about 3.5 hours east.

Doesn't it rain more in Kentucky?
More than in Virginia? Not likely, but this year, definitely not. For approximately all summertime, we had no rain. 0". We do get tornadoes though.

Are you in the Central Time Zone?
Surprisingly, no. The time zone line wiggles its way around Louisville to keep it in the Eastern Time Zone. Compared to Charlottesville, we have about an hour more of sunlight every day. In the summer, the sun is just going down at 10:00pm!

When can I come visit?
Anytime!