Is Louisville the next Portland?

Take a look at where I live, own and operate my bed and breakfast in Old  Louisville, Kentucky. 

According to an article sent to me  by Robert Wessels owner and innkeeper at Central Park Bed and Breakfast in Old Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky was named the top U.S. destination for 2013, following travel publisher Lonely Planet's discussions among its group of U.S. editors and authors. Robert Reid from Lonely Planet remarked, "While they tend to debate entries into each year's Top 10 list, everyone agreed on Louisville."

Reid goes on to say  "While many horse lovers descend upon this Southern town the first Saturday in May to witness the Kentucky Derby, also known as the "greatest two minutes in sports, there's more to Louisville than one horse race."

"With its hip bourbon scene (including micro-distilleries), fine dining and emerging East Market District, also known as NuLu, Louisville may just be the new Portland, Oregon." Reid said. "Consider exploring the city via the Urban Bourbon Trail for a powerful introduction to Kentucky's famous spirit."

The rest of Lonely Planet's Top 10 destinations: Fairbanks, Alaska (2); San Juan Islands, Washington (3), Philadelphia (4); American Samoa (5); E astern Sierra, California (6); northern Maine (7); Twin Cities, Minnesota (8); Verde Valley, Arizona (9); and Glacier National Park, Montana (10)





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You deserve a break: Summer Travel

Summer travel this year is all about the bargain. You might consider a trip to a lovely, historic bed and breakfast, where getting more for less could mean you have the best room at the Inn, more personal attention, and lots of extras. Most B&Bs, across the country, feeling the economic crunch, are reacting by offering discounts, valuable packages, additional services and more. It's definitely a win win situation for travelers looking for a great deal. So, now is the time to plan that great escape!

Look for Value: We're all uneasy about these economic times and a great many of us have decided to cut back, spend less and save more. But that doesn't mean we must continually deprive ourselves of the very things that can revive and recharge our batteries. We still need that occasional manicure, trip to the health club, massage or get away. This year more than ever, travelers are looking to get the best get-aways they can afford. Bed and breakfasts, all over the country, are plugging into that need by offering affordable relaxing and fun week-end packages.

Travel in the US: With airfares still fairly high, traveling in North America instead of Europe or other far away destinations is a cost effective. Leisure travelers might consider travel by car, since gas prices have remained down. Business travelers, flying into town, may find prices and amenities are to their advantage. If you wont be traveling this summer and plan your trip for sometime in January (slowest accommodations month of the year) and February (Valentine's Day), you'll find plenty of interesting and reasonable packages and things to do.

Explore Kentucky: Kentucky is rich in history,. It is jam packed with beautiful scenery and lots of towns and cities with lovely Inns, bed and breakfasts and working farm Stays to accommodate your overnight and breakfast needs. Week-end rates are a great value and most major attractions are free or minimal in price.

Plan Your Trip with the help of an innkeeper: Innkeepers are great concierges. They know the area. They can suggest ideas for sight seeing and entertainment, restaurants and can make reservations for you. They can help you get the most for your money; a popular travel trend every year.

Surviving the family road trip: Base yourself in Louisville

This year, all of us are going to have to come up with some creative ideas for summer travel. The economy is still in a slump, but the kids are out of school, they've worked hard all year and, hopefully have gotten passing grades! They really deserve a break. One of the most painless ways for folks to take the kids along on vacation is to take a car trip. You can stop along the way, they sleep in the back seat, play video games, and listen to music with ear-phones on. They can eat snacks and drink beverages in the car and even take fido along. Most dogs love to travel with the family. And, it's a lot cheaper that airflight.

There are many cities in the US that make good central locations for a week-end or week-long getaway. And the choices in accommodations are better than ever. Nearby state parks offer both cabins and lodges in beautiful woodland settings, farms or ranches are great places for kids, and if you want to include some city life, a bed and breakfast is ideal.

Our national parks are astounding. Most people don’t realize that many state parks have lodges and cabins that you can rent. In South Dakota, you can rent a rustic cabin — there’s A/C but no bathroom — that sleeps four for $35 a night, or a lodge that sleeps eight for $150 (800/710-2267, sdparks.info) . In West Virginia, you can rent a modern cabin that sleeps four for under $100 a night (304/558-2764, wvstateparks.com).

In Kentucky, Cumberland Falls offers beautiful affordable accommodations (http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/resortparks/cf/). Besides relatively cheap lodging, you get inexpensive activities like hiking, fishing, kayaking, biking, etc. Some even have golf courses! Plus, the rangers usually lead programs and activities designed for children.

Farmstays are B&Bs or working farms, where you help ocan out as much as you like, or just explore the area. This trend first took off in Italy, where they’re called agriturismi. A room that sleeps four usually goes for around $100 — and that includes farm-related activities and breakfast. You can help gather eggs or feed sheep at Leaping Lamb Farm Stay in Alsea, Ore. The daily cost for a family of four starts at $125 — and the seventh night is free (877/820-6132, leapinglambfarm.com). A week at the Herds Inn at Hedgebrook Farm in Virginia is $750 (866/783-2681, theherdsinn.com). Working Cows Dairy is a farm near Dothan, Ala., that rents a cottage that sleeps six for $300 per week (334/886-3839, workingcowsdairy.com).

Some states have farm associations — including Pennsylvania (888/856-6622, pafarmstay.com) and Vermont (866/348-3276, vtfarms.org) making it easy to locate farmstays. Other states such as California (805/238-3799, agadventures.org) maintain agritourism sites where you can find farms that rent rooms or welcome day visitors. And you can always just Google your state’s name and the phrase “farm stay.” Most of Kentucky's farmstays are B&Bs and are associated with the Bed and Breakfast Association of Kentucky (http://www.kentuckybb.com/).

Bed and Breakfasts are ideal for combining what a city has to offer with the surrounding area. You can situate yourself in a beautiful Inn for a week and take day trips to small villages, farms, lake, beaches or whatever you like. A city like Louisville, in Kentucky, is perfect. It has all of the above, plus outstanding restaurants, museums, theater and many attractions. There are a whole host of events and festivals going on all summer, from the Shakespeare Festivals in Old Louisville's Central Park to My Old Kentucky home pageants to the Kentucky State Fair.

An advantage of staying in Louisville is that it is very accessible from other states; such as Illinois Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Iowa and Arkansas, etc. The innerstate highway system is amazing and easily leads right into downtown Louisville. Another advantage is that Louisville has aproximately 18-20 awesome bed and breakfasts (www.lbba.com), most centrally located.

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CookBook Caper

(continued from sidebar: Room At The Table)
...and so the committee had to do most of the work, including raising funds for the project, testing all the recipes, styling all the photographs, and writing & editing all the copy (with a little help from our friends, the publishers). In addition, we engaged in long brainstorming and planning sessions and spent hours setting up systems and contacting & talking to potential Innkeeper participants.

We hired a photographer and a publisher.

The going wasn't always easy. As a group, we bonded, we argued, we had lunch together. We agreed, we disagreed, we had dinner together. We became adamant, we acquiesced, we traveled together. We laughed together. We cried together.

There was more togetherness than most of us were used to.

Traveling through Kentucky
......working the whole time