I’m going to be there in about a week (for Wonderfest :):) ), and I have a question.
There’s supposed to be a steamnboat museum right across the river in Jeffersonville. Is it worth visiting?
I’m going to be there in about a week (for Wonderfest :):) ), and I have a question.
There’s supposed to be a steamnboat museum right across the river in Jeffersonville. Is it worth visiting?
Do they have goetta as far downstream as Louisville?
I haven’t been there but we did a segment on it. Watch it here and decide for yourself!
acsenray, I had never heard of goetta until about 10 years ago. If they have it, it’s a pretty well-kept secret.
Again, thank you all. Ellen Cherry, if you don’t mind, may I keep you as a resource? Right now I don’t even know what I don’t know. If that makes sense.
Unfortunately, as much as I might like it, Victorian is out of the question, since my husband not only doesn’t like ‘old’ but can’t really handle stairs well. Too many years of baseball catching and bowling have taken a toll on his knees. The ‘Hot Brown’ sounds pretty good, actually. I’m sure I’ll have more questions as time goes on, but just getting responses is nice right now.
Oh sure, Thirdie. PM me if you want. I lived there, worked there, went to college there, family is from there.
The Victorian stuff was mostly for visiting. It’s pretty to drive around and in the fall, go to the St. James Court Art Fair.
Sorry, Dr. J, but njtt had it right. Louisville natives do in fact call it Luh-vil. Two syllables, not three. Unless my mother’s entire family (who’ve lived there continuously since the 1850s) are saying it wrong…
And yes, it is a wonderful town. thirdwarning, you’re going to like it there.
I’ve lived in Louisville all my life and I never hear a true two-syllable version. Not that there aren’t several variations- that’s a running joke here. Most of us say “Lou-uh-vul,” though (that’s a schwa in the middle).
I like living here. I have spent most of my life in the Highlands. This area has a lot of shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, and bars. There are beautiful parks nearby. It’s sort of a small town in itself. If you walk places, you start to see a lot of regulars. You should walk if you can anyway because parking is terrible.
I’m not sure what sort of information you would find useful, but feel free to ask anything.
Live in the area now… will post again shortly.
From where are you moving? What are you into? That might help us opine on what stuff here you might like.
The Highlands is indeed fun - probably the most Bohemian area of town (Frankfort Avenue feels that way to me as well…) There are some outstanding parks, a decent art scene, and (being Kentucky) an emphasis on college sports.
The downtown is thriving, at least east of Ninth Street, within a few blocks of Main.
However: Fort Knox is southwest of Louisville and frankly there’s not a lot of appeal (IMHO) in that direction. The West End and Portland neighborhoods are considered pretty dangerous, and a lot of the rest of the area to the south and southwest is working class without a lot to offer in amenities.
When Mrs. Pagan and I moved our family over here from Lexington three years ago (please note that I work downtown here), we evaluated the situation and moved to Floyds Knobs, Indiana instead of Louisville itself. The school system here is tremendous, you can get more house and land for your money than in the east end suburbs of Louisville, and I can get to work in less than 20 minutes. Most of the heavy traffic is on the other side of town. And both Purdue and Indiana U became in-state university options for my kids, while University of Louisville remained an in-state option as well due to local tuition reciprocity agreements.
This is, however, probably an impractical option for someone working at Fort Knox.
I’ve lived all over the country and may be able to help you compare areas. Good luck in any case.
What he said. It’s three syllables, but the schwa in the middle is spoken quickly.
I need to introduce you to my mother’s family, then. (Well, those few who are still alive, that is.) They all use a true two-syllable version (at least that’s what it sounds like to my ear). And it’s rubbed off on me as well; when I tell folks where my mother was born, they don’t initially know what city I’m talking about. (No doubt my Midwestern accent isn’t helping!)
Now that I have no trouble believing!
A very quick schwa, I assume?
As long as the OP doesn’t use the dreadful “lou-EE-vil” one always hears on TV, she’ll be fine. (That’s the worst part of watching the Derby for me, hearing the announcers totally mangling the name of the city where the race is being held.)
However you pronounce it (“lou-EE-vil” aside), it’s a nice town!
Yeah, that would be your problem, there. It’s not that they’re not pronouncing a third syllable, you’re just not hearing it because you haven’t spent your whole life listening to the local accent.
Precisely. It’s very quick and very seriously slurred into the “loo” sound. The best way I can describe it is that it’s almost swallowed.
Yup. you have to say it like you have marbles in your mouth. “Louie-ville” would be the technically correct pronunciation, though, as it is French. I actually grew up saying it very much like that, only the middle syllable was more of a short “i” (as in “it”). You will only be marked as an outsider for saying “Lewisville.”
Nice area, nice people. My best friend is from the area. She teaches English in Germany now and has brought her students to Louisville as part of an exchange program several times. They all seem to love it there.
We’ve always done fun things when we’ve visited: the zoo, New Year’s Eve (I think we went to the celebration at the Brown Hotel), ballet, other stuff I’m forgetting.
As for the pronunciation: it’s contagious. I don’t think you can spend much time there without picking it up. I’ve probably been there between 10 and 15 times, never for more than a long weekend. It didn’t take long for me to pick it up.
Good luck with the move!
We’ve both spent nearly all our lives in the south suburbs of Chicago. Right now, my husband is working in St. Louis and coming home weekends. We’re pretty much at the empty nest stage now, with one child still at home, but she’s saying she wants to stay here. She’s not really in a position to do that, so we’ll see when push comes to shove.
My husband would like to get back to playing golf, but as I said, the knees… He bowls and is a big hockey and NASCAR fan. Me, I’m more interested in history and crafts. At this point we’ve spent a lot of time in years past following with kids’ stuff - sports and such, so we’re sort of in a position to rethink a bit.
gardentraveler, I probably won’t be there very long before I not only pick up the pronunciation, but too much of the local accent, too. I do that, and it drives my husband crazy.
Grew up there. Nice place, although I’m JUST old enough to have gotten caught in the busing mess. Without kids, no need to worry about that (I hear its STILL a mess 30 odd years later). Weather is wonderful (I’ve lived in Minnesota since I was 12 - everything is relative). Nice people.
Lou uh vul - three syllables, but the second is not terribly distinct.
I haven’t spent my entire life listening to my mother? We’re not talking distant relatives here. My mother, and everyone else in her family (who are as native to Louisville as it’s possible to be), only say two syllables. No schwa at all. Sounds like they’re definite exceptions, though.
But I’ve hijacked this thread enough. I’ll say no more, except to agree that the Highlands area is great. (That’s where my family’s farm was located, back when we still owned the place. I have fond memories of Bardstown Road.)
My mother had the original hot brown at the Brown Hotel and spent the rest of her life complaining that no one else in the state does it the right way.
For a really fabulous and really expensive restaurant experience there’s the Oak Room at the Seelbach Hilton. Probably one of the two best dinners I’ve ever had. And Al Capone used to dine there.
Though I was born in Louisville I grew up mainly in Elizabethtown which is forty miles to the south and about fifteen or so from Fort Knox. E’town is a little dull I’ll grant you, but less so now that they allow liquor sales. Unfortunately, the Coca Cola museum is closed - they’re apparently selling off the entire collection (one of the largest in the world I believe).
Oh! Has anyone mentioned Bernheim Arboreteum yet? We went there a lot when I was a kid. It’s about halfway between Louisville and E’town.
Elizabethtown is lovely if you’re interested in small-town living! I didn’t realize that’s where you were from, dwyr!
Bernheim was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm, for any landscape architecture nerds out there.
If you are a theater buff, I heartily recommend Actors Theater of Louisville and, in particular, the annual Humana Festival of New American Plays.