Monthly Archives: August 2011

You got me. I’m a sucker for music venues. Headliners Music Hall off of Lexington Road is another fantastic joint that makes me nostalgic for adolescent days like a bad episode of The O.C.

Cougar Express

The place can probably only fit 500 people max but somehow still manages to pull some great bands. On this night in particular, I was lucky enough to catch another performance by my new found favorite local band Cougar Express. I’m telling you guys, this band is gonna make it big some day. I think they also kind of remind me a little bit of the band Stillwater from Almost Famous for you movie buffs out there.

The Donkeys

The second band we got to see were The Donkeys. I can only describe them in two words, electronic folk. Pretty much captivates the Kentucky spirit in today’s modern era of music. Unfortunately they’re from Cali.

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady

Finally we got to see what we came for, The Hold Steady. This band has so much energy even a non-smoker will need a cig after the show. The lead vocalist Craig Finn gives it his all for the entire performance. If you’re into indie music you must check these guys out.

Me and some of the bros having a good time on the smoker's patio. Don't worry, I'm not into cancer sticks!

There’s even a little patio outside for the people who need some death sticks every couple of hours. Its a good spot to hang out with some of the band members if you time it right.

Louisville. Probably recognized for three things, The Kentucky Derby, Muhammad Ali, and baseball bats. So when I obtained some tickets to the Louisville Slugger Field from work I wasn’t going to miss out on a chance for a wonderful opportunity.

Now the baseball field is the home of triple A minor league baseball team the Louisville Bats. If your a native you might also remember the team as the RiverBats or the Redbirds. Regardless, this is minor league baseball at its finest. Now I’m not a baseball fan and I don’t quite understand how people can follow minor league baseball with all of the trades and bagillions of games, but that didn’t stop me from having a good time.

The field is right on the Ohio River with magnificent views and some pretty nice bars. And if you get there early enough on particular nights, you might even catch some dollar beers.

The stadium also got me excited to revisit the Louisville Slugger Museum which is only a few blocks away!

Oh the state fair. Only my best time of the year. Its the only time of the year that brings out my favorite type of people. I’m of course talking about the Kentucky girls in boots, daisy dukes, and ripped flannels. You’re never too far away from men wearing Winston Cup tshirts either. Its also the only time you can successfully clog an artery or two, plan in advance for your own triple bypass surgery and get a fried oreo for 5 bucks.

The Kentucky Fairgrounds are so massive I spent 30 minutes just looking for the carnies. The rides were much more expensive then I remembered as a kid so I didn’t indulge too much. But we did literally spend an hour just walking from one side to another. There is so much stuff to do I honestly don’t think you can take it all in in one day.

We eventually found the freak show tent, which will leave me nightmares for months to come but it was also a well spent 2 dollars.

After stumbling around we did find the Ear-X-Tacy tent where this local band, Cougar Express, was kicking ass and taking names. I will save my Ear-X-Tacy article for a later day for those of you Kentuckians who aren’t also Louis~Villians.

I must say though, this band reminded me of a mix between the Black Crowes and the Black Keys, but this isn’t a music review so I’ll spare you the details.

After roaming around for a few hours it was finally time for the main reason we came, the free concerts. And on this particular night we were so fortunate enough to have our presence graced by the one and only Nuge. His show rocked. And rolled. He’s in his 60’s but Stranglehold never sounded so beautiful. There’s not a bad seat in the retired Cardinal Stadium and everyone there is ready to have a rockin time.

On Saturday I was heading to Nashville to see a Tennessee Titans game (unfortunately Kentucky doesn’t have a pro-anything team, hopefully one day we will see the return of the Kentucky Colonels) via the back roads when my buddy suggested we stop and see the Jefferson Davis Monument.

I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t know that such a thing existed but I was immediately interested.

As we approached the site, we could see the obelisk from miles away. Apparently it is the tallest unreinforced concrete structure in the world and my is it a sight to see. There is no way a structure like this would exist outside of the South though.

The whole site is very CSA oriented and rightfully so for the birthplace of the only president of the Confederate States of America. The museum is full of CSA paraphernalia as well as person items of Jefferson Davis.

You can even go to the top of the structure, something I missed out on at the Washington Monument when I was in Washington D.C. but I can say the views from this monument are probably 100x better. That’s because they’re views of the great Commonwealth of Kentucky of course.

Even after returning home, everyone I’ve talked to hasn’t heard of this site. I don’t know how Kentucky has such a great hidden gem but it is definitely a must see.

Now this one isn’t technically in Kentucky. Or is it? I’m not quite sure where the state line runs and when you are in what state but I do know that to get to this awesome state park you have to drive through Hoosier~land and park in Clarksville.

It’s not really a big deal though seeing as you never lose sight of downtown and Louisville and due to the fact that the Falls had such a major impact on the city Louisville. In fact, the city probably wouldn’t even exist without the Falls. The low level water and rocky fossil beds of the Falls caused headaches for many Ohio River boaters requiring them to stop and rely on the indigenous Louis~villians for help and thus led to growth in the city.

My friend Chris struggling with the great ethical decision of whether or not to pay the admission fee

When arriving you are supposed to pay a $2 admission fee which you leave in a little drop box in the parking lot. I’m not really sure how often this is actually checked or if anyone really cares. During my visit, we only had a single dollar bill anyways so that was all we left in the drop box.

Come to find out the museum closes at 5 PM so there probably wasn’t anyone going to check anyways. So we set out and started roaming the grounds.

This place is really neat in the summertime because its dried up and you can see a lot more of the fossil beds. There were even people fishing the day we went. This led me to a great debate in my mind though, if you’re standing in Indiana, but fishing in a body of water that belongs to Kentucky, do you need an Indiana Fishing License or a Kentucky Fishing License.

Additionally, there are plenty of woods to walk around if privacy is your thing. This park is 220 acres of pure aesthetics that are worth spending an afternoon seeing at any given point during the year. On departure, there is a nice watering hole around the bend called The Levee. The Levee has skeeball and an outdoor pool table. I highly recommend.

I’ve lived in Louisville for 5 years now and most days I drive right past the monstrosity sitting on the corner of 4th and Broadway. The 16-story structure is a gratifying sight for the everyday Louis~Villians and chalked full of history. Tales of lions roaming free in the hotel and fishing in the lobby during the great flood of 1937 make this hotel so unique. Don’t try to book this one during the first week of May though because the celebrities and elite will leave it with no vacancy.

If you’re ever in downtown Louisville it is necessary to stop for lunch in the restaurant. Why? Ever heard of the Hot Brown? Turkey, Bacon, Ham, Tomatoes, and lots of savory Mornay sauce are combined for pure taste perfection. It was all meshed together in the Brown Hotel for the first time in 1926 and has been a specialty ever since.

Today was my first time ever stepping foot in the Brown Hotel and I must say I was quite impressed. Words cannot explain the orgasm in my mouth that the Hot Brown provided. I’m really kicking myself in the teeth for ever second guessing Cameron Crowe in choosing The Brown over The Galt House in his movie Elizabethtown.

Well the original plan was to wake up early in Western Kentucky and drive as fast as we could across the state so that we could check out the World’s Largest Yard Sale on highway 127. But… The weekend was so busy I slept for 12 straight hours and woke up around 9 AM Central Time.

We figured it would be too late and all the gettin’ woulda been picked by the time we got there so we brainstormed what to do with the rest of the day. We decided we would go pawn shopping and flea marketing for games and guns.

Where’s the best spot to hit up pawn shops you may ask? Near army bases. I cant really explain this phenomenon but the plan was to go up through Elizabethown, Radcliff and end up on Dixie Highway in Louisville. Through this route we would pass many pawn shops and another place on the bucket list. Fort Knox.

I don’t know how I’ve managed to live in Kentucky so long and never visit Fort Knox but I can say that Goldfinger is my favorite Bond flick(well maybe that or License to Kill because that one’s set in the Keys which is my other favorite place on Earth but that’s not the point).

Now you can’t actually go in Fort Knox and that’s just the way it is. But you can view it from a safe distance behind a fence. So we did precisely that. That’s about all we did.

On a side note, Fort Knox is my best justification for why Kentucky should secede from the Union. I mean, think about it, our economy would be doing better then the United States.

You can also check out the Patton museum, which I hear has the Fort Knox souvenir shop, but I will have to save that for another day.

The biggest thing I could find with "Fancy Farm" on it

Not going to lie. If I wasn’t with someone who knew the way or we didn’t have the marvels of today’s technology, there’s a small chance that I would have actually made it to the Fancy Farm Picnic. Well that is of course I didn’t start following the miles upon miles of campaign sign’s leading the way.

I was expecting just a farm in the middle of no where and just a big stage but apparently Fancy Farm has grown up through the years. There were plenty of structures around, most of which were serving some southern pulled pork. There’s even a little community around the farm and a baseball park(which is where we ended up parking).

Pulled Pork Bar-B-Q Nachos

After roaming the grounds for about an hour enjoying some of the 18,000 lbs of pulled pork, some lemonade(Fancy Farm is located in a dry county), some bingo and some festive games the political debates started.

Mitch Cracking Jokes

Mitch McConnell kicked things of with some hilarious low balls to the democratic party. I immediately began to understand the humor of this event. Rand Paul only continued with the jokes. I was expecting some good humor back from the Democrats but was sorely disappointed. All Democrat speeches had more cookie cutters then my mom uses when I’m home for the holiday’s.

Overall, Fancy Farm is a significant part of Kentucky politics that should be enjoyed by all of those with a good sense of humor during the first weekend in August.

So I’ve been wanting to start this blog up for a while. The blog will focus on my adventures through the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. After much thought, the clever title for these adventures finally came to me, “The Kentucky Fried Bucket List.”

The idea came to me from this book I picked up “101 Must Places to Visit in Kentucky Before You Die.” Unfortunately for the thrill seekers out there, this book is now out of print. But I’m sure a Google search or two might get you in the right direction.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again though, Kentucky is probably one of the most diverse states Commonwealths in the nation. It really has a little bit of everything… well accept for some beach front properties but there are some good substitutes. Regardless, the real point here is that there is by far more then 101 things that you must do in Kentucky before you die. Because of this, the blog will not be in the fashion of a checklist but more so just a running documentation of the sites as I see them. Anything I think worth mentioning will get its own entry which includes the first entry.

I couldn’t think of a better way to start my adventures through Kentucky off with than the Madison Theater of Covington. This is a hidden gem for people outside of Northern Kentucky but is a great time. The marquee on the building immediately shows me that this building has been providing an enjoyable experience for decades. Once you step inside its pretty simple though. There’s a bar area, standing space, and a stage. That’s really all you need.

This was my second trip to the Madison. The main act were the Cold War Kids and they were accompanied by Belle Histoire(another band you should check out). These bands didn’t disappoint either, the audio was great and the show was fantastic. Last time I saw Third Eye Blind and Low vs. Diamond. The same can be said for that experience.

If you ever do decide to make the trip, I highly recommend the parking garage around the corner. It never fills up and has wonderful views of downtown Cincinnati.