Native Louisvillians pronounce the name as ’’Looey-ville’’ or ’’Lou-ah-vul’’, depending on how long their ancestors have been in the area. We can detect ’’foreigners’’ because of their pronounciation of ’’Louis-ville’’.
Louisville is located in what is considered north-central Kentucky along the Ohio River, which separates Kentucky from Southern Indiana. All along the riverfront are historic buildings and warehouses dating back to the 1700’s and 1800’s.
There are plenty of things to see and do in downtown Louisville. One of the most popular tourist sites is the Louisville Slugger Museum, where a lot of baseball bats and hockey sticks are made. The museum also has a 120-foot bat outside, which can be seen from a good portion of downtown. Nearby is the Louisville Science Center, which is housed in several 19th century warehouses, and has a four-story IMAX theater. Also within walking distance is the Kentucky Center for the Arts where you can see the Louisville Orchestra, Broadway shows, the Louisville Ballet and many other fine cultural shows. A few blocks further down is Actor’s Theater of Louisville, which is nationally known and always has reputable actors in their casts.
There are many river front attractions including the Riverfront Plaza, which is an outdoor park area right on the river where alot of free concerts and other fun events take place. There is the Belle of Louisville, which is a fully operational steamboat that you can take a river tour on. There is also the McAlpine Locks and Dam tours run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Six Mile Island Nature Preserve which is a nature and bird preserve where you can tour and hike.
Moving out of the downtown area, but still within city limits, you can find Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, as well as, the Kentucky Derby Museum. Nearby is Kentucky Kingdom, which is a large amusement park recently bought by Six Flags, the J.B. Speed Art Museum, and the University of Louisville, as well as, the Louisville Fair and Exposition Center where you can catch the state fair, concerts, horse shows, a University of Louisville basketball game, a Louisville Panthers (ice hockey) game, flea markets, car and boat shows, flower shows, and many other events, depending on the day, time, and season.
Further out still, you can find the Louisville Zoo, which is a spacious and beautiful park filled with lions, tigers, polar bears, and many other exotic animals. There is also the Louisville Motor Speedway where you can watch car races, and Valhalla, which is a golf course where a couple of PGA tournaments have been held.
Within short 45-minute driving distances of Louisville, you can visit the state’s capital (which is Frankfort), or to South Central Kentucky, which hosts many historical sites from the Civil War era. You can tour several bourbon distilleries and Ft. Knox to see where a lot of the country’s gold is stored. You can take a ’’dinner train’’ in Bardstown or visit My Old Kentucky Home, which was made famous nationally by Stephen Foster’s ballad by the same name. If you visit My Old Kentucky Home, then don’t miss ’’The Stephen Foster Story’’, which is an outdoor musical featuring many of Foster’s songs, such as, ’’Camptown Races’’, ’’Oh Susanna’’ and ’’Beautiful Dreamer’’.
As you can see, Kentucky has many attractions and a rich history. The Louisville area has also produced some very famous people like Cashius Clay, a.k.a., Muhammad Ali, Diane Sawyer, and for a few years, Tom Cruise. George Clooney and Johnny Depp also called Kentucky ’’home’’. Whether you are interested in history, nature, the horses, golf, theater, boating, or just having fun, Louisville, Kentucky is a great place to visit. The people are friendly and prices for hotels and attractions are very reasonable.