Louisville, the Center of Bourbon Country

Louisville, Kentucky, is nestled in a unique location, a short drive from the neighboring states of Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois, making it a great weekend getaway for Southerners and Midwesterners alike. There is a thriving culture here, with the Sullivan University Culinary Institute leading the way to this city becoming a gourmet destination. In fact, Bon Appétit Magazine named Louisville one of the Top 5 "Foodiest" Small Cities in America.

You can park your car and walk around Louisville as shops and restaurants encompass the blocks around the Louisville Science Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft or the Frazier International History Museum. A few blocks away you can enjoy the Riverwalk, with its walking, jogging, biking and skating paths that run along the Ohio River. You can also take advantage of the city's trolley system to head down to Fourth Street Live, where you will find restaurants, shopping and entertainment that ranges from The Improv Comedy Club to mega concerts.

From Louisville, you can take a trip on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which considers six popular distilleries - Four Roses, Heaven Hills, Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve. You can stay in Louisville, and head off to half the bourbon factories one day and half the next. Or take a break in the middle to enjoy some of Louisville's attractions, like the Muhammad Ali Center, named after the infamous boxer who grew up in this city.

Before you start The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, pick up your official passport. It's filled with information on each distillery, maps and bourbon information. Then go through tours and tastings at each of the six distilleries, having your passport stamped at each. When you complete your passport, you can receive a free Bourbon Trail T-Shirt. All the tours are free, except Woodford Reserve, with its beautiful horse-laden grounds, is $5.00.

During your trip to Bourbon country, make sure you stop by downtown Bardstown, home of Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Tom Moore and Heaven Hills distilleries. In Bardstown you will also find the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History and Chapeze House, where you can enjoy tastings from different distilleries, with dinner if you'd like. Every September this city hosts the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, six days of tasting bourbon, eating Southern food and listening to country entertainment.

Louisville has many hotel options, but if you're looking for the ultimate accommodations experience, check out 21c Museum Hotel. Located in the center of downtown, this modern establishment will definitely be like nothing you've ever experienced. Constantly changing museum exhibits run through the lobby and corridors, as do the penguins. It's a 21c tradition that guests move these large red plastic penguins (there are more than three dozen) around the hallways and the rooms! It's a site to see in itself. If you can't get a room at 21c, do stop by to see the art work and enjoy a meal at Proof on Main, where the eclectic menu includes meat items like Bison Burgers, Octopus and vegetarian treats such as Whipped Ricotta with Truffle and Wheatberry Chopped Salad.

There's also one more reason to go to Louisville, horses. Each May, the area is buzzing with activities around the Kentucky Derby. It's a site to be seen, but you better start making plans in the winter because rooms book up fast.