College Book Warehouse
College Book Warehouse is the newest book store to appear near the University of Louisville. The prices are high, but then all college book stores are high. This place use to be a Hardee's restaurant, so it is a small building. The store looks much better since they recently remodeled the building. An interesting feature of this store is a drive though window to sell back your books. The staff is friendly and helpful. The parking is better then what you find at Grey's College Bookstore and the book store in the Student Activity Center. Parking is free. The selection of books is not as good as you will find at the other book stores on campus. This place is not as crowded as the other two book store
Brown Hotel
The Brown Hotel is located on the corner of 4th and Broadway in downtown Louisville, close to 4th Street Live, theaters, and restaurants. There is a nice fitness and business center, a great restaurant called the English Grill, and a bar located inside the hotel. This place is close to the convention center, but not as close as the Marriott Hotel and the Hyatt Regency . There is a trolley that stops in front of the Brown Hotel that will take you directly to the convention center, 4th Street Live, and many restaurants. Parking is in a garage and does cost money. The rooms in the hotel are very nice. All the rooms have dressers, armoires, televisions, large bathrooms, irons and ironing boards, hairdryers, and Caswell Massey bath products. One of the reasons I love staying at this hotel is the free Caswell Massey bath products. These are great products! I think the prices are reasonable compared to some of the other hotels I have stayed in. The staff is very helpful and polite. The rooms were extremely clean.
Autumn Run Apartments
I almost moved into Autumn Run apartments a few years ago, but quickly changed my mind after taking a close look around. The apartments have nice interiors, with large bedrooms, nice bathrooms, and a large kitchen. The kitchen was very large, one of the biggest I have seen in an apartment. There is not a lot of storage in your apartment, but you can pay extra to rent a closet in the hallway outside your apartment. There was plenty of parking. This place is located off Bardstown Road, and is close to stores and restaurants. There is a Walmart, Kroger, Target, and numerous banks just down the road. Close restaurants include Tumbleweed, KFC, Popeye's Chicken, Moby Dick, Taco Bell, and Asian Buffet. After looking around this apartment complex I saw many problems that made me decide not to rent a place here. The grounds had litter all over the place, there were broken windows in many of the apartment buildings, and people were not cleaning up after their dogs. You had to walk into a hallway to reach the door to your apartment, and most of the hallways were dirty and disgusting. You could clearly hear talking, televisions, and radios from other apartments while in the hallways too. The music coming from many apartments was very loud, and could probably be heard in all the other apartments. Rent was reasonable and included water and heat. Pets were accepted.
Dalton Homes Development Inc
I have rented a town home from Dalton Homes for three years, and love it. The town home is located in Fern Creek, close to many restaurants, stores, and schools. Fern Creek High School is just across the street. Wal-mart, Kroger, Feeder Supply, and Fern Creek Library are just down the road. Datlon rents out apartments and town homes in many different areas in Fern Creek. There are only about 30 units where I live, so there are not a lot of people around. Most of the people that live around me are very nice. There are a few exceptions, but you have to expect that where ever you live. The townhomes are very nice, with a high ceiling in the living room, two full bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a large storage room. The bedroom upstairs is large with an attached bathroom, while the bedroom downstairs is pretty small. The only problems with this place is the lack of privacy while sitting on your patio, lack of parking spaces, and there are some pretty bad people living in the houses that are behind the apartment complex. Also, there is a bar located across the street that can get loud at times, this place is closed at this time and hopefully will not reopen. Every person gets a reserved parking spot, but most of the time someone else will park in your numbered spot anyway. This place does not do a good job shoveling snow in the winter; actually they usually do not shovel any of the snow. They will hire someone to clear the road and parking lot on occasion. Repairs are made very fast, and every couple of months someone will change your furnace filter and check the fire alarms. Rent is reasonable .This place allows cats, but not dogs. There is a pet deposit and monthly fee for cats.
4th Street Live
4th Street Live is located in the heart of historic downtown Louisville almost right across the street from the Convention Center. This place use to be a outdated mall called the Galleria, but was reconstructed into an open-air entertainment district that extents two square blocks. This place is close to waterfront park, numerous hotels, and Slugger Field. There are many wonderful restaurant located in and close to 4th Street Live, including TGI Fridays, Red Star Traven, and Hard Rock Cafe. There are many bars and clubs as well. Upstairs is a food court , with Subway and Wendys, where you can get a quick meal. This place does not have a lot of retail amenities. There are only Borders, Fashion Shop, Verizon, Cool shades , with a few others stores. The parking garage is free on weekdays after 6:00 p.m. Valet parking is offered on weekends from 6:00p.m. to 4:00a.m. This is a great place to go on weekends, because during warm weather there is usually a local band playing on the street .
Great Escape
The Great Escape is located on the less crowded part of Bardstown Road. The parking is pretty bad. Hopefully, you can find a spot right in front of the building, but there are only a few spots located there. They sell and buy comics, cds, tapes, lps, computer games, and a few videos and dvds. The selection of comics is good, while the selection of music cds, lps, and tapes is not so good. The staff is friendly and love to chat. Prices are low.
Jackson Mountain Homes
On one of our trips to the Smoky Mountains we decided to rent a chalet. After staying in the comfort of our own isolated chalet in the mountains we decided to never stay in a hotel again. This company is one of the best chalet and cabin rentals in Gatlinburg. They have a great selection of cabins and chalets in a variety of locations. The prices are reasonable. These places are so private and beautiful. They have some of the best views. The only thing you may not like is that no one will come in and clean your chalet or bring you more sheets or towels, but you can drive to the office and pick up extras whenever you need them. Most of the chalets I have stayed at have washers and dryers, so we just wash the towels ourselves. There is usually a hot tub in most chalets. Another thing you may not like is a long drive into town. Some chalets are closer then others, but all require some driving time to go into Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
On one of our trips to Smoky Mountains we decided to go into the Ripley's Aquarium on a night when it was raining. It is a nice place, although not as nice as the Newport Aquarium in Ohio. It has a long tunnel with fish and sharks swimming around, which was fun to walk through. The tunnel did smell a bit on the day we were there. My kids liked the discovery center and touch a ray bay. They have a beautiful waterfall inside the Tropical Forest. There are two restaurants, but we did not eat at either one. Prices were reasonable. It was not very crowed on the night we were there. This is a fun and educational place to take your family.
Newport Aquarium
We drove up to Newport Aquarium from Louisville, and it was worth the drive. This is a really nice place to take your children. They will love looking at the various types of fish, frogs, sharks, jellyfish and much more. Our favorite exhibit was the penguins, where there was stadium style seating so you could sit down and watch the penguins play. My children loved the long acrylic tunnels you could walk through and see a variety of fish and sharks. Make sure you go into the Cinergy Theater where something surprising will happen. I will not ruin the surprise by telling you. Go and see for yourself. Prices are high, but I bet it costs a lot to run the place. There is a nice place to eat and a gift shop. There is plenty of parking spaces close by.
Factory Card Outlet
I cannot stand to pay $3.00 for a greeting card that will probably be thrown away. At Factory Card Outlet you can get all types of greeting cards for less then a dollar. These are not cheap looking cards either. They have all types of party items for sell at good prices. The selection of party items is incredible. If you need to get supplies for a birthday party this is the only place you will need to go. This place is located in a shopping center, so there are quite a few places to shop including a pet store and a dollar store.