Some of you may recall my trip to Minneapolis last year for the Sigma Tau Delta Convention.

I was lucky enough to be accepted to present again this year at the 2017 Convention, held in Louisville, KY.

Although it was a short trip to the south, we covered a lot of ground. (If you haven’t realized by now, I like to do that.)

Without further ado, here’s less than 72 hours in Louisville!

We arrived on a Thursday, checked into our hotel and immediately headed out to find a place for dinner. Right near our hotel was 4th Street Live, an entertainment district with a lot of restaurant chains. It wasn’t overly crowded when we arrived, but then again, it was still early. There was the famous guitar outside the Hard Rock, the impressive Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, and neon lights outside every lounge/club.

The next morning, I presented my poetry collection, “Leaving Season” at the Marriott.  I met another presenter from Pittsburgh and we gushed about some of our wonderful teachers and poets in the Pittsburgh poetry community.

Reading from my poetry session.

After my session, I traded my heels for some comfortable shoes and we set out to explore what we could in the short time we had. We stopped into the Louisville Visitor Center for a map and some helpful hints. I tried on fancy Derby hats while JJ pretended to not know me. We were given some recommendations for restaurants and things to do, and decided to not waste any more time. We headed straight to the river, where we saw the Belle of Louisville (think the Gateway Clipper of Pittsburgh) and walked along the waterfront.

Belle of Louisville.

Although it was cloudy, we pressed on. Since we only had the day, we decided not to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum (although we walked by the field) and also skipped the Muhammad Ali Center. By the time we reached the Waterfront Park, the sun peaked through. We stopped at a playground to sit & swing for a short break. We’d done a lot of walking!

Feet in the clouds.

We decided to rent a bike to adventure across the Big Four Bridge to Indiana. It might have saved us some time, but trust me- it wasn’t that much easier. We both pedaled our hearts out to reach the top of the ramp to the bridge. Once we got to the top, we finally caught our breath. From there, it was a breeze pedaling across the bridge, not to mention an incredible amount of fun.

Ominous clouds over the ramp & our sweet ride.

Having beat the rain, we found our way around a couple neighborhoods, like the East Market District. We ducked into an adorable coffee shop, Please and Thank You. I mean, if you put a sign like this out front, I don’t see how I’d be able to stay away!

Not to mention that we discovered the bathroom had this framed inside:

Pittsburgh & Louisville!

There were tons of cool shops, not to mention the street art everywhere!

We saw Thomas Edison’s house, where he invented the light bulb, walked past the KFC Yum! Center, and ate at an awesome place called “Troll Pub Under the Bridge Pub,” which was exactly what it sounds like. So sure, we didn’t have fried chicken or go to the Derby, we both had colds and it could’ve been better weather, but we had a BLAST. We loved our time in Louisville!

Crossing off our bucket list one trip at a time.

And that’s a wrap!

From left: JJ & I at the convention, beautiful blossoms by the river, 4th Street Live, and trying on Derby hats!

OH. And one more thing- I was awarded two prizes for my collection! We were unable to be at the convention awards Saturday night since we drove back to Pittsburgh early for Andrew McMahon & The Wilderness, but I found out that I got first place (for the second year in a row!) & an honorable mention. I didn’t find out the good news until days later when it was announced on the website. I was beyond excited!

So for those of you who have already been, what did we miss in Louisville? Would love to hear your thoughts!