Murphys Take Austin: Day 5

[guest post by Brian Murphy]

Louisville was really the first stop on our trip to Austin following a brief layover in Marion, OH and a visit to Cincinnati. Marion was interesting. I visited the Walmart for some essentials at around midnight and waited in one of the three open register lines for about 10 minutes. 10 minutes, 3 lines, at midnight on a Sunday. Let's just say that there was not much going on in Marion, so with a little depression hangover from all of our goodbyes, we left Marion on our way to Cincinnati and then Louisville, KY.

By the time we got to our hotel in Louisville we were physically and emotionally raw. The Murphy Family tends toward an every-other-day melt-down cycle and Monday was our scheduled day, so we let it rip. I am really proud of our family. We are able to get things out in the open, talk about our feelings, and uncover the real fear/anger/sadness that is causing the trouble; then we eat.

The Residence Inn in downtown Louisville was delightful. It was like the oasis that we needed in the middle of our emotional desert (sorry for the sappiness but it's an accurate word-picture). I have never written an online review in my life, but this hotel may be the first. We swam, slept, watched movies, ate complimentary soup and salad as well as pizza, and exercised. It was just what the doctor ordered. 

On Tuesday we were ready for a little adventure and set off to Doc Crow's Southern Smokehouse. The idea is to eat BBQ in Louisville, Memphis, and Austin (o.k. this was my idea) and decide which is the best. All three cities are pretty proud of their BBQ.

I asked the waitress for a good place to buy some authentic Kentucky bourbon, and she sent us to Bardstown Rd. which leads out of Louisville to the south. I picked up a bottle of Angel's Envy bourbon at the Old Town liquor store. Yes, you are reading the sign correctly. It has a drive-through window, and the clerk who rang us out is from Austin.

We traveled out of Louisville on Route 31E through scenic landscapes decorated with horse farms. Route 31E leads to Elizabethtown - the title and setting of one of our favorite movies. 

All-in-all Tuesday was a great day. If the early sense of Memphis is accurate, we are in for a very good stay here as well.