Weekend Update!

I know that I've mentioned it more times than any of you care to read, but here I go again...I am a CPA; I do taxes; this means that my life sucks from approximately February 1 - April 15 (although this year the lovely IRS has pushed the deadline back 3 extra days until April 18 -- THANK YOU IRS) every single year.  I have been doing this since the spring of 2002; you would think I would be used to it...however, I have to admit that it only gets harder each year.  Yes, I love my job, and yes, I feel VERY fortunate to have such a steady, stable income in this very rocky economy...however, every year I have to remind myself that this is what I signed up for back in the Fall of 2001 when I declared a major in college.  This brings me to the reason for this post (sorry, I rambled a little bit).  Part of my "gearing up" process every year includes a short trip with my beau so that he and I can get some QT in before I fall into the dark abyss also known as "tax season." 

This year we chose Louisville, KY!  Neither of us had ever been there (which is rare for the 2 of us), but we had both heard wonderful things about it.  We even found an excellent deal at The Brown Hotel, an historic Four Diamond hotel in downtown Louisville.  After checking in around 7:30 on Friday night we both agreed that it did not disappoint.  Because I was a serious slacker and failed to take pictures, here are a few pics from their website, just so you an get an idea:

After getting settled in and unpacked, we were both starving!  Because Patrick is the KING at hunting down delicious restaurants in obscure places, I knew this was one aspect of the trip I could completely turn over to him.  After a short drive to The Mayan Cafe, we were ordering food in no time.  Having never eaten Mayan food before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but we ordered the Chile Relleno for an appetizer and I decided on the Chilaquile for dinner.  It was very delicious, and surprisingly didn't seem all that unhealthy.  Here are a few pics (doesn't it all look delicious?):

Chile Relleno

Chilaquile

After we fed our bellies, we decided that it was time to head to the Fourth Street Live area of Louisville.  This is a fun area in the middle of downtown that is closed off to traffic and is actually covered.  There are tons of restaurants and bars in this area and pretty much if you can't find something you like, then you just don't like anything.  =)  First we checked out the sports bar called The Sports and Social Club; then we made a quick stop in Ri Ra Irish Pub for one last drink before heading back to the hotel for the evening.  As we left the bar, prepared to walk back to the hotel, we were greeted by this sight:

It was absolutely beautiful, but we were relieved that it wasn't necessary for us to drive anywhere.  Of course, in true Patrick and Melrose fashion, we HAD to have some fun in the snow:

After sleeping in a little bit on Saturday, we were finally up and ready to go.  Because we didn't really want to move our car, we found out about a free trolley that was available all day until 6:00 pm.  The only problem...you had to stand at a Trolley Stop and wait on it because it didn't stop at most stops unless someone either needed to get off or someone was waiting there to get on.  Let me explain the problem with that...it was COLD!!!!!  And I don't mean "a normal winter" cold...I mean a bone chilling "I can't let any part of my skin be exposed to the air" kind of cold.  I think that when I declared that I've never felt cold like that in my life that Patrick thought I was being a little over-dramatic...I promise, I was being serious...it was FREEZING!!!!!  Anywho, back to my weekend.  After we waited on the Trolley to come get us, we were very happy inside because it was VERY warm and very cute.

We also loved the Trolley because it took us to Toast on Market for breakfast.  That place was YUMMY!  Patrick got the The King french toast and I got the Monte Cristo french toast.  Another win for Patrick and his restaurant picking abilities.  Next stop the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory!  This was the one thing I had really been interested in doing and it was very fun.  They were actually making bats that day in the factory, so we were able to actually see the process which was very informative.  Here are a few pics from random parts of the experience:

The front of the building -- yes, this is a 120 foot tall bat!

Close-up of the bat!

Patrick holding an actual bat used by Cal Ripken, Jr.

Patrick in the batting cages after the factory tour!

Me taking a break with my beau after a fun time of learning about baseball bats!

After the tour, we were both pretty beat from both the excitement of the day and the freezing temperatures.  Therefore, we decided to head back to the hotel and relax for a little while before dinner.  Speaking of dinner, we had another delicious meal.  We decided to stay indoors that evening and have a nice dinner at the Lobby Lounge in the hotel which consisted of this concoction:

The Hot Brown!

After taking a little nap after dinner (the turkey really got to me), we decided to head back to Fourth Street Live for a second night.  After a minor amount of begging and pleading on my part, my beau agreed to call a cab instead of making me suffer outside by walking the short quarter of a mile walk to the bar.  On this night, the bar we decided to check out was Howl at the Moon.  This is your typical dueling piano bar and honestly, there are fewer things I enjoy more!  I think it is so fun to sing, and dance, and people watch.  We had a great time!

Again, after sleeping in on Sunday, it was time to say goodbye to our humble abode for the weekend.  Our next stop was lunch at our token BBQ joint of the trip.  See, my beau is a serious connoisseur of BBQ and therefore, every time we leave the city of Nashville, we eat BBQ.  Again, this place was delicious, but I'll be honest, I can't remember the name of it, I can't find it on Yelp and Patrick is busy with the boys watching the National Championship Game tonight (go Auburn!) so I'm just going to keep going.  Maybe he'll leave a comment with the name of this place...I feel like I should give it a shout out because it was that delicious!

Our final stop of the trip was Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby).  I expected this to be a short stop just to see what it looks like, but I was totally wrong!  There was a museum, a movie, and even a tour of the grounds.  Honestly, this was probably my favorite part of the trip.  It makes me want to head back during the first weekend in May to see what it's like on Derby Day!  As always, here are some pics:

Me at the entrance...

Patrick at the entrance (we didn't do such a great job of getting the 2 of us in the same picture...I think it was too cold) =)

The track of the KY Derby!

The Finish Line!

After spending some time at Churchill Downs, it was officially time to head home.  =(  We had a fantastic time though, and I'm so thankful that we are able to spend these times together.  I think it's trips like this where we really get to appreciate each other and I am reminded of how happy I am to have this guy in my life:

Sorry, Patrick!  This pic just cracked me up and I HAD to include it!  =)