The first stop on the “installation trail” is 21c Museum Hotel. Located on museum row in downtown Louisville, the project was originally started as a place for collectors Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown to place their large collection of modern art. The hotel features a 9,000 square foot contemporary art museum in the lobby, and 90 hotel rooms and suites above.
The hotel does an excellent job of bringing together art, comfort, and luxury. The rooms are spacious and well appointed, while the staff is extremely helpful and gracious. The trademark of the hotel is an army of three-foot tall plastic red penguins that are magically moved around the hotel while guests sleep (the penguins are an installation by the Cracking Art Group).
Another installation that turns even the grumpiest traveler into a happy kid is Text Rain. In the Text Rain installation participants stand or move in front of a large projection screen that has a mirrored video projection of themselves in black and white, combined with a color animation of falling letters. Like rain or snow, the letters appears to land on participants’ heads and arms. The letters respond to the participants’ motions and can be caught, lifted, and then let fall again. If a participant accumulates enough letters along their outstretched arms, or along the silhouette of any dark object, they can sometimes catch an entire word, or even a phrase. The falling letters are not random, but form lines of a poem about bodies and language.
The best part of this installation is the fact that not all guests realize it is there…at times you have someone hopping around catching letters, while an ambivalent guest looks at them as they are insane.
Once you have built up an appetite by catching imaginary letters, you can eat amongst installations at the hotel’s restaurant Proof on Main. Although the walls are covered in art, the true artistry here lies on your plate. Touted as one of the top 10 new restaurants in the US by various sources, the menu here is stellar. I made sure to sneak a taste of everyone’s dish on my table and there was not one dish I was not amazed with. The menu is primarily an Italian-Southern hybrid, with hints of French classics. Highlights were the homemade rabbit terrine, tuna carpaccio and molten lemon cake for dessert.
21c has tons of other surprises up its sleeve that I prefer not to ruin, but even those that do not consider themselves the museum type will have a blast discovering what this willy-wonka-esque hotel has to offer. www.21cmuseumhotel.com
Continuing on with your installation tour of museum row, you might want to do so via bicycle. An interesting twist here is that the city has placed metal art installations throughout downtown that can be used as bike racks…so you can park at art to see art. Bike rental information can be found at: www.louisvilleky.gov/bikelouisville
Next stop, Lynn’s Paradise Café. This restaurant looks more like Pee-Wee Herman’s Playhouse than a museum…but everything you see is an art installation by workers at the restaurant or local artists. From the wacky lighting fixtures, to the diorama dinner tables, the restaurant provides endless hours of eye-candy. My one fear with restaurants that devote so much time to their décor is that the food becomes an afterthought, but at Lynn’s this is definitely not the case. The menu, which consists of modern innovations on diner classics, is well rounded and well executed. As with Proof on Main, Lynn’s has received a plethora of accolades, including “One of the Four Most Fun Restaurants in America” by Esquire magazine. www.lynnsparadisecafe.com
ADDICTIVE TRAVEL: I never really understood people that went to the horse races unless it was the Kentucky Derby…and the only reason I ever toyed with the idea of going to that sporting event was to have the opportunity to wear an obnoxiously large and glamorous hat like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. So when I made the requisite Louisville tourist stop to Churchill Downs (the home of the Derby) on a non-Derby day…I was not that excited.
To tell you the truth, I don’t get watching any sport…I am always mystified at how people can get so into something they are not physically involved in…and how they can whoop and holler at players that pay no attention to their cries. Little did I know, that morning that I would find my “whoop” at Churchill Downs (www.churchilldowns.com).
All it took was a two-dollar bet and a jockey in hot pink to make me whoop as he almost crossed the finish line first. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that watching horses run is beautiful, and little mini-men in brightly colored silk jackets pleases my inner-fashionista. With that one race I was hooked…what started out as an hour-long excursion to see one race, turned into an entire day at the track…an addict in the making.
The best part of the day was the fact that it was such an entertaining activity at an extremely low price. General admission into the track is only three dollars and since it does not fill up on non-Derby days, you are free to sit in any unoccupied box.
The track also houses the Derby Museum, which provides everything you ever wanted to know about horse racing, and the $12 admission includes a free tour of the track. I highly recommend paying the extra $10 for the backside van tour that will drive you to where all the horses are kept and provide a visual into life at the track. www.derbymuseum.org
If you want to continue the fun I would stop at Wagner’s Pharmacy, located next to Churchill Downs. This diner has been serving meals to jockeys since 1922. www.wagnerspharmacy.com
And if hanging with the jockeys is not enough, then drive out into the beautiful Kentucky countryside to visit where the horses are “made.” Three Chimneys is a stallion farm that is home to two Derby winners and the famous Barbaro’s father. They offer free tours as long as you book in advance. www.threechimneys.com
On a side note, although I poke fun at my new “addiction” keep in mind that I do realize that gambling is a serious addiction that can reap havoc in people’s lives…
TIP OF THE WEEK: When going through security at the airport, make sure to put your least valuable items through the security conveyor belt first, and the most valuable items last. This way if you time it right your wallet will still be in the belly of the scanner as you walk through the metal detector…ensuring that you are the one that picks it up and not the crafty traveler before you. Remember…thieves fly to!
Michelle Strashoon’s column appears every other Friday in the Daily Sound. E-mail your travel tips and feedback to comments@hipcompass.com