Are You Sold on Louisville Yet?

When I was younger I couldn’t wait to get out of this city. To me, Louisville was boring and ugly…and who wants to say they’re from Kentucky?! As I got older, I began to truly appreciate the beauty and character of this place I call home. Over the past 10 or 15 years, Louisville has blossomed into not only a city that people want to visit, but a city that people love.

Everyone knows about the little pony race we have on the first Saturday in May, and everyone knows that we are home to the Louisville Slugger and heavy weight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. I would even venture to say that most know that the majority of the world’s bourbon comes from our great state. However, there are a few things I bet most people DON’T know about us….

• Louisville was named “Top Travel Destination 2013” by Lonely Planet. We have also been in the top ten “Best Cities for Familes” and “Tastiest Towns in the South.”
• Kentucky has over 120 parks and is home to the nation’s largest urban forest.
• We have produced some pretty famous people….Diane Sawyer, Jennifer Lawrence, and Tom Cruise to name a few.
• Louisville hosts the nation’s largest fireworks show (2^nd largest in the world), over 60 tons of firework shells are used each year during Thunder Over Louisville.
• Our local delicacy is the Hot Brown. An open faced turkey and bacon sandwich covered in cheese sauce and invented at the Brown Hotel. (YUM!!)
• Old Louisville is the largest Victorian neighborhood in America.
• On Memorial Day Weekend, we host the largest annual Beatles festival in the world.
• The cheeseburger and Benedictine were both invented in Louisville.
• Oh, and 90% of the nation’s disco balls are made here.

Bourbon and disco balls…does it get any better?! I think not. Check out this stop motion video posted to YouTube by Eric Stemen. How lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place!