Vacation Eats

Where to Eat in Louisville, Kentucky:

Luigi's Pizzaria

Luigi's is right in downtown Louisville, on Main Street. (And Main Street in downtown Louisville is everything that a main street should be. There is art and culture, and plenty of attractions. In about two blocks, there is an international history museum, science center, art galleries, craft museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.)

The food at Luigi's was very authentic Italian. We had stromboli and a huge salad covered in perfectly round rings of red onion slices and fat little balls of mozzarella. It was delish! Connor got a special order platter of sliced salami and provolone cheese. He was in heaven. And any restaurant that can accommodate such a simple(?) special order gets bonus points from me. (Have you ever tried to order just salami and provolone at Subway before? I swear the Earth stops turning!)


Where not to Eat:

Taco Bell/KFC in Elizabethtown, Kentucky

I've eaten at the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut before. I've eaten at the KFC/Long John Silvers before. Those are both fine. But Taco Bell and KFC should never be combined together. If you run into one of these, beware.

Usually it takes all of 47.8 seconds for a Taco Bell to make (and serve!) a taco - especially the ones that my kids order that are just a shell stuffed with meat and cheese. However, when you have to wait for an entire bucket of chicken to fry and potatoes to be mashed and butter to be churned before you can get a dang taco, it takes like 22.9 minutes for the preparation of each taco. And then you only ordered Connor two and he is still hungry so you feel guilty and go get back in line and wait another 23.4 minutes for another two tacos with meat and cheese only. Seriously. Save yourself the pain and just keep on driving until you find somewhere else to eat. Anywhere else.

Where to Eat: Nashville, Tennessee

Demo's Spaghetti and Steakhouse. You must eat at Demo's. It's on Commerce Street in Downtown Nashville, close to many major attractions. Heck, I would qualify it as an attraction itself.

There is only one soup of the day, every day. This is because they found the perfect soup. It's baked chicken and rice soup, and while it isn't much to look at in the bowl, it is heaven in your mouth.

They bring basket after basket of warm fresh bread. But it isn't just bread. It's cheese topped garlic toast loaves. Lex made a meal out of two or three loaves of bread.

I had a blackened chicken pasta for dinner. Kevin got a filet mignon. Both were delicious. Connor had some chocolate milk and macaroni and cheese. Connor spilled his milk and made a huge mess, but I think he liked the mac & cheese.

Next, you are hereby commanded to eat brunch at the Pineapple Room at Cheekwood. Unless you are a member of Cheekwood, you will have to pay admission to gain access to the Pineapple Room, so make sure you have time to enjoy the gardens or art museum while you are there, too. The Pineapple Room is a beautiful little building with a great view, and there is also a large outdoor patio if you like to dine al fresco. It was a bit on the expensive side for two orders of chicken nuggets and a quiche, but it was the best quiche I've ever had. Even though the restaurant was a bit on the stuffy side, the staff seemed to be charmed by my two little boys (yes, they had highchairs for Lex) and even laughed heartily when Connor put his little toy dinosaurs in all the wine glasses on the table.