[PHOTO/CAPTION: The skyline of Louisville]

[PHOTO/CAPTION: The skyline of Louisville]

The Braille Monitor

April, 2002

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Getting Around Downtown

Louisville

by

Dennis Franklin

From

the Editor: Dennis Franklin is First Vice President of the Kentucky affiliate

and a long-time Louisville resident. Here he takes the time to conduct a walking

tour of the area around our headquarters hotel. This is what he says:

The

skyline of Louisville

Getting

around downtown Louisville is relatively easy with a few simple directions.

The streets are laid out in a grid pattern running either north/south or east/west.

Traveling south on Fourth Street from the Galt House, you cross these streets:

Main, Market, Jefferson, Liberty, Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Chestnut, and Broadway.

Traveling east on any of these streets from Fourth Street, you cross Third,

Second, First, Brook, Floyd, and Preston. Traveling west, you cross Fifth, Sixth,

Seventh, and Eighth.

If

you were doing all this traveling, what might you see along the way? Let's walk

south along the east side of Fourth Street. After we cross Main, we come to

a trolley stop, where we could board a trolley going to the Riverfront Wharf,

which I will tell you more about later. Continuing south, just before we reach

Market Street, we pass Kunz's Restaurant, a longtime favorite for lunch and

dinner. Before crossing Market Street, we can turn left and travel one block

east, cross Third Street, and arrive at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Crossing

Market Street on the east side of Fourth Street brings us to the Kentucky International

Convention Center, which covers that entire block. Crossing Jefferson, we find

the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Continuing south across Liberty Street, we pass an

office tower and a Dooley's Bagels and come to the entrance of the Galleria.

This downtown shopping center lies on both sides of Fourth Street with a glassed-in

atrium crossing above the street to connect the two sides. In the Galleria you

will find Dillard's Department Store, a card shop, a candy store, and CVS pharmacy.

There is also a food court with several choices for your dining pleasure.

Passing

through the Galleria and crossing Muhammad Ali Boulevard brings us to the Seelbach

Hotel, located on the west side of Fourth Street. Continuing south on the east

side of Fourth Street, just before you reach Chestnut Street is a Walgreen's

Drug Store. A half block after crossing Chestnut Street, we pass the Palace

Theater and then come to the Theater Square area, where several restaurants

particularly good for lunch can be found. Beyond Theater Square and before you

reach Broadway is the Brown Hotel with its restaurant, the English Grill, where

a local favorite, the famous Hot Brown, was created.

Another

way to travel Fourth Street is using the Toonerville II Trolley, which is free.

It operates on weekdays from 7:15 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:30

a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It travels along Fourth Street from the Galt House to Theater

Square, except that on its southward trip it travels along Third Street between

Liberty and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, and on its northward trip it travels along

Fifth Street between Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Liberty Street. After 10:30

a.m. every other trolley leaving Theater Square circles the Riverfront Wharf

instead of going to the Galt House. If you want to go to the Riverfront Wharf,

you can board this Trolley at any northbound trolley stop, up to and including

Main Street. You can ask the driver if he is going to the Galt House or the

Riverfront Wharf, to be sure you are boarding the one you want.

The

Belle of Louisville is docked on the wharf at the foot (north end) of

Fourth Street. Just east of the Belle is the Star of Louisville, which

offers daily dinner cruises. Continuing east, we find Joe's Crab Shack, featuring

excellent seafood in a casual atmosphere. Just past Joe's we arrive at the Waterfront

Park, a large open space, where festivals or fireworks sometimes take place,

but it's always a nice place to take a walk or let the kids enjoy the playground

equipment.

As

I said earlier, you can reach this area on the trolley or, if you prefer, you

can walk. Go to the north end of Fourth Street on the lobby level of the Galt

House, go down the steps, and follow the pedestrian walkway, which passes under

I-64, and down more steps to the Wharf.

Now

let's travel west on Main Street. On the north side, just west of Fifth Street,

is the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Continuing across Sixth Street are a couple

of blocks of restored nineteenth-century buildings. After crossing Seventh Street

and going about a half block further, we come to the Louisville Science Center,

which boasts many interactive displays for young and old alike. After crossing

both Eighth and Main Streets, we find the Louisville Slugger Museum. Be sure

to check out the world's largest bat, located outside this building.

By

traveling east on the south side of Main Street, about a half block from Fourth

Street, we come to Actors Theater of Louisville. About six blocks farther east,

on the north side of Main Street is Slugger Field, the home of the Louisville

Riverbats.

You

can also reach any of these points of interest on the Main Street Trolley, which

is also free and which can be boarded at any trolley stop along Main Street

(westbound) or Market Street (eastbound) between Tenth Street and Clay Street.

This trolley operates on weekdays from 6:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and weeknights

from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. when the Riverbats play at home and on Saturdays

10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Unfortunately

we do not yet have schedule information for the Kentucky Center for the Arts,

Actors Theater, the IMAX Theater at the Louisville Science Center, or the Riverbats;

but we should have the schedules at our information tables during the convention.

Y'all come!

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