Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[tower912]

Louisville or Elizabethtown?     

[ATL MU Warrior]

I just got back from a week in Louisville for my son’s travel baseball tournament. Surprisingly had a great meal at Against The Grain at Louisville Slugger Field. The restaurant is apart of the baseball stadium, but you can eat there at anytime (and don’t ever have to actually go in the stadium). We went to a Bats/Cubs game, and ate at Against The Grain afterwards. Fantastic beers and BBQ.

Also recommend Nord’s Bakery, Yelp recently came out with top 100 donut places in the US, and Nord’s was like 13th. It was really good.

Thanks DD.

[DegenerateDish]

Louisville or Elizabethtown?   

Tournament was in Elizabethtown, but we spent more than half the time in Louisville.

We played Hitz Fox (Chesterfield, MI). Very good team, they beat us up pretty good.

[tower912]

We were there last summer.  I hope you hit Dewsters.

[brewcity77]

Anyone been to an all-inclusive they'd recommend in the last couple of years?

Looking at no more than 4-5 hour non-stopper flight out of ORD/MKE/MDW. DR, Cancun, Cabo, etc.

It was 10 years ago, but I'd recommend looking at a chartered cruise. We chartered a sailboat through the Virgin Islands for a week. All inclusive, the captain & his wife were the crew, they tailored meals and drinks to our tastes, and based excursions on what we wanted to do. We did mostly beaches and snorkeling, but fishing, SCUBA, and other options were available. It cost about $1,000 more than a Cancun all inclusive, but it was well worth it for a far more unique experience. There are a ton of companies that intermediate those trips, so I'd recommend doing research and reading reviews, but by far the best trip we've taken.

As far as trip details, we flew into Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, stayed at a B&B for one night, then boarded for our cruise. We did spend one night at a hotel on Virgin Gorda in the BVI.

[DegenerateDish]

We were there last summer.  I hope you hit Dewsters.

Drove by it a million times, but it was always closed (we had ALOT of 8am EST games though). Nice facility there.

[🏀]

It was 10 years ago, but I'd recommend looking at a chartered cruise. We chartered a sailboat through the Virgin Islands for a week. All inclusive, the captain & his wife were the crew, they tailored meals and drinks to our tastes, and based excursions on what we wanted to do. We did mostly beaches and snorkeling, but fishing, SCUBA, and other options were available. It cost about $1,000 more than a Cancun all inclusive, but it was well worth it for a far more unique experience. There are a ton of companies that intermediate those trips, so I'd recommend doing research and reading reviews, but by far the best trip we've taken.

As far as trip details, we flew into Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, stayed at a B&B for one night, then boarded for our cruise. We did spend one night at a hotel on Virgin Gorda in the BVI.

Interesting. Will save this idea, but this trip will be entirely an American pig at an all-inclusive trip.

[tower912]

Drove by it a million times, but it was always closed (we had ALOT of 8am EST games though). Nice facility there.

You missed out.   Phenomenal home made baked goods and home made ice cream.   

[tower912]

Retire0, did you have fun?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Heading to Louisville in a couple of weeks for the Bourbon Trail. Spending a day in the city and a day driving around to the various distilleries. Any recommendations for the places outside the city?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Heading to Louisville in a couple of weeks for the Bourbon Trail. Spending a day in the city and a day driving around to the various distilleries. Any recommendations for the places outside the city?

Was just in the area and visited Michters in downtown Louisville (right across from Louisville Slugger) and Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, which is ~50 minutes east of Louisville. There is a bar in the Michters Distillery (an elevator is the access point) but I didn’t get a chance to check it out. Have heard it is worth seeing. 

If you are interested in BT, I learned a few useful tidbits while we were there:

They will always have BT available to purchase (1 bottle max) but the higher end stuff (Eagle Rare, Weller, Blantons, EH Taylor) is available only on a rotating basis and sells out in an hour or two after they open so get there early. Also, can only buy one bottle of any of those. They don’t know in advance what they will have each day or how much of it they will get.  I was there on an Eagle Rare day but not until later in afternoon (stupid work) and that day’s allotment was long gone.

We had limited time driving from Louisville to Nashville (indirectly with the detour to Frankfort) but would have loved to visit Four Roses and Heaven Hill as well, both of which we drove by after leaving BT. 

Enjoy.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Heading to Louisville in a couple of weeks for the Bourbon Trail. Spending a day in the city and a day driving around to the various distilleries. Any recommendations for the places outside the city?

Take a tour of Churchill Downs.  Was very cool to get the guided tour. 
Would prefer to see races live there.  Off to Saratoga now......

[Scoop Snoop]

Take a tour of Churchill Downs.  Was very cool to get the guided tour. 
Would prefer to see races live there.  Off to Saratoga now......

Really good suggestion. My wife and I took the tour and enjoyed it very much.

I know this is about Louisville but if anyone reading this is in or near Lexington, I highly recommend going to the Kentucky Horse Park. It is extremely well done and they cover a wide range of equine subjects. I remember a demo of a teamster backing up his wagon with maybe 10 horses to a loading dock. Then he had to make them pivot out of the way to keep the (imaginary) road clear for other traffic. There were other demos such as dressage and carriages. There was a retired race horse who was quite a character. With a food bowl in his mouth, he would wait patiently in his stable for a human to get within range and then hurl the bowl at the unsuspecting human. Equine frisbee! 

[warriorchick]

Heading to Louisville in a couple of weeks for the Bourbon Trail. Spending a day in the city and a day driving around to the various distilleries. Any recommendations for the places outside the city?

Second Churchill Downs. 

Our favorite bourbon tour was Woodford Reserve.  You only get one official free shot, but a lady in the gift shop showed us how to make bourbon balls even better by scooping out the creme in the middle and filling up the chocolate shell with bourbon.  Those were tasty.

Pairing that with the tournament where we played Davidson/Butler, that was a great trip.

[🏀]

Retire0, did you have fun?

GR is a great time. Still licking some wounds and rehydrating.

We stopped at Perrin on the way up for lunch, the Black was tasty. Had an Upside Down Pineapple that was incredible. Food was very good as well. Headed over to Pilgrim's. Criminally underpriced at $60. Great land movement, DeVries had a great piece of land to work with and designed many memorable holes. Clientele was less than desirable, had some Trumpers try to tee off in front of us and then got chippy when we took our tee time back. Groups in front of us were blaring two different kinds of music from each cart. Really ruined the secluded setting. Staff wasn't great either, a bit too high-horsed. Common theme was lack of beverage cart frequency, got really thirsty on all the courses.

At dinner at the Mitten, best pizza I've had outside of Chicago. Great staff, pretty good beer.

Played The Mines the next day after a nice breakfast at Real Food Cafe. It's rough, but man there's some fun to be had out there. Pace of play wasn't great, but it's a muni. Great vibe at the place though, very friendly people. That tee shot on 6 while you're looking at 7 green, 8 tee, 5 fairway very cool.

Stopped at Founders after The Mines for a couple of beers. Seems like they really love themselves there, nothing special, cool place. Was going to eat at Butcher Union that night, but couldn't get a table until 9:30. Ate at a huge open taco place across the street, queso flights were ridiculously good. Bar hopped back to the AirBNB that night with a bunch of stops, Stella's and the Tiki Bar stood out.

Diamond Springs was yesterday morning, love the one length mowing. It's so freeing for some reason, really loosened up my game. Some great greens, but the flattest of the three courses. Couple of memorable holes, and the easiest course of the three. Tour DeVries is a solid golf trip with Grand Rapids being the hub of it all.

Only complaint at all the courses was the lack of decent hospitality. More beverage carts, and I rarely drink on the course. I need water, Gatorade and a snack. Want to support the golf course, but wish I would've carried it all on. Also, neither of the three courses are a great walk. Pilgrim's would be impossible, they wouldn't even let us. Mines layout makes it difficult, but doable. Same with Diamond, lot of far green to tee walks.

[jesmu84]

Anyone been to an all-inclusive they'd recommend in the last couple of years?

Looking at no more than 4-5 hour non-stopper flight out of ORD/MKE/MDW. DR, Cancun, Cabo, etc.

Secrets Maroma Beach or Secrets Akumal have been 2 of our favorites over the years. 30-60 min taxi ride south of Cancun.

Generally, you'll get the best bang for your buck going to Mexico vs Jamaica/DR/other island.

Cabo is much prettier, but I haven't found a solid resort out that way.

Don't forget that with Cabo, you can't really get into the ocean, so the beaches aren't a focus.

[tower912]

GR is a great time. Still licking some wounds and rehydrating.

We stopped at Perrin on the way up for lunch, the Black was tasty. Had an Upside Down Pineapple that was incredible. Food was very good as well. Headed over to Pilgrim's. Criminally underpriced at $60. Great land movement, DeVries had a great piece of land to work with and designed many memorable holes. Clientele was less than desirable, had some Trumpers try to tee off in front of us and then got chippy when we took our tee time back. Groups in front of us were blaring two different kinds of music from each cart. Really ruined the secluded setting. Staff wasn't great either, a bit too high-horsed. Common theme was lack of beverage cart frequency, got really thirsty on all the courses.

At dinner at the Mitten, best pizza I've had outside of Chicago. Great staff, pretty good beer.

Played The Mines the next day after a nice breakfast at Real Food Cafe. It's rough, but man there's some fun to be had out there. Pace of play wasn't great, but it's a muni. Great vibe at the place though, very friendly people. That tee shot on 6 while you're looking at 7 green, 8 tee, 5 fairway very cool.

Stopped at Founders after The Mines for a couple of beers. Seems like they really love themselves there, nothing special, cool place. Was going to eat at Butcher Union that night, but couldn't get a table until 9:30. Ate at a huge open taco place across the street, queso flights were ridiculously good. Bar hopped back to the AirBNB that night with a bunch of stops, Stella's and the Tiki Bar stood out.

Diamond Springs was yesterday morning, love the one length mowing. It's so freeing for some reason, really loosened up my game. Some great greens, but the flattest of the three courses. Couple of memorable holes, and the easiest course of the three. Tour DeVries is a solid golf trip with Grand Rapids being the hub of it all.

Only complaint at all the courses was the lack of decent hospitality. More beverage carts, and I rarely drink on the course. I need water, Gatorade and a snack. Want to support the golf course, but wish I would've carried it all on. Also, neither of the three courses are a great walk. Pilgrim's would be impossible, they wouldn't even let us. Mines layout makes it difficult, but doable. Same with Diamond, lot of far green to tee walks.

Yeah, they don't really do beverage carts around here.     I have walked all 3.  The Mines is the worst, due to some very steep slopes and lengthy treks between holes.  Diamond Springs is the easiest.  Flat and pleasant until the last 5 holes.   15 may be the toughest short par 4 I have played.
At Pilgrim's, did you hit a second off of 18 just to see if you could do it?

[pbiflyer]

Moving this from the Fargo thread I hijacked.

Okay we pulled the trigger and booked a place in Antwerp. I like places with water.
My only regret moving from Brussels to Antwerp is it is further from Lueven. We had planned to abandon the kids one evening and visit “the world’s longest bar” collection of bars in Lueven. Still might do it (kids will be 18 & 17, so no child endangerment) but will cut down on drinking time.
Now thanks to the suggestions here other cities to visit come into play.
Found a near by restaurant called Meat Factory. But any other Belgium suggestions are welcome.

So just a follow up. We spent a week in Belgium based In Antwerp. Day trips to Bruges, Brussels and Ghent.
If I had to do it all again, would probably base in Brussels. Just liked the vibe better. No complaints about Antwerp, a ton to do. The kids liked that chocolate museum over the one in Cologne. Meat Factory was nice but the family actually liked Elfde Gebod (11th Commandment) better. Good music and beer. They liked the ambiance as well. Staff really liked us, so that helped.
Would have liked more time in Ghent. Bruges was beautiful but soooo touristy.
All in all, worth a second trip for sure.
Thanks for all the tips.

On a couple other  notes, since it is Marquette. My daughter found every statue of Joan of Arc in every French church (and there were a lot). Couldn’t have been more proud.
Also, if you go to Paris and opt for an amusement park not named Disney (Parc Asterix) when you see a bar 200 ft in the sky and think, wow that is way cool, it’s not, it’s terrifying. And this comes from a guy not afraid of heights.

[🏀]

Yeah, they don't really do beverage carts around here.     I have walked all 3.  The Mines is the worst, due to some very steep slopes and lengthy treks between holes.  Diamond Springs is the easiest.  Flat and pleasant until the last 5 holes.   15 may be the toughest short par 4 I have played.
At Pilgrim's, did you hit a second off of 18 just to see if you could do it?

Well, yeah. I needed a dry ball too.

15th at DS is a hole. I went for it and barely got over the ravine left of the green. Literal one bounce save there.

Really liked 5 and 18 as well. Helped that I birdied both.

[JWags85]

So just a follow up. We spent a week in Belgium based In Antwerp. Day trips to Bruges, Brussels and Ghent.
If I had to do it all again, would probably base in Brussels. Just liked the vibe better. No complaints about Antwerp, a ton to do. The kids liked that chocolate museum over the one in Cologne. Meat Factory was nice but the family actually liked Elfde Gebod (11th Commandment) better. Good music and beer. They liked the ambiance as well. Staff really liked us, so that helped.
Would have liked more time in Ghent. Bruges was beautiful but soooo touristy.
All in all, worth a second trip for sure.
Thanks for all the tips.

Glad you enjoyed!  As a hub to travel to other places, I can see Brussels working better.  It certainly has beautiful parts, it just seems a bit one note.  My wife was also SUPER uncomfortable with the number of homeless immigrant families with children.  Not from a "eww gross" perspective, but just that it was really sad and unsettling to see and was far more prevalent in Brussels than anywhere else we'd traveled on the continent prior.

Elfde Gebod is very good.  Went there one time after we went to Das Boot, a few doors down, for a laugh

[pbiflyer]

Glad you enjoyed!  As a hub to travel to other places, I can see Brussels working better.  It certainly has beautiful parts, it just seems a bit one note.  My wife was also SUPER uncomfortable with the number of homeless immigrant families with children.  Not from a "eww gross" perspective, but just that it was really sad and unsettling to see and was far more prevalent in Brussels than anywhere else we'd traveled on the continent prior.

Elfde Gebod is very good.  Went there one time after we went to Das Boot, a few doors down, for a laugh

We also enjoyed Das Boot, great beer selection.

[jesmu84]

Heading to the Osthoff Resort for a family vacation next week.

Anyone been? Experience? Any advice/tips? Do they have any policy against outside alcohol being kept in the rooms or being carried around the resort?

[JWags85]

Heading to the Osthoff Resort for a family vacation next week.

Anyone been? Experience? Any advice/tips? Do they have any policy against outside alcohol being kept in the rooms or being carried around the resort?

Its been quite awhile, but its a very nice resort.  A bit dated, but not uncomfortably so.  I don't know about carried around, but it was never an issue to have outside alcohol in the room.

There were some mean ass geese when my family went last, but I imagine they are all burning in waterfowl hell by now

[jesmu84]

Its been quite awhile, but its a very nice resort.  A bit dated, but not uncomfortably so.  I don't know about carried around, but it was never an issue to have outside alcohol in the room.

There were some mean ass geese when my family went last, but I imagine they are all burning in waterfowl hell by now

Appreciate the info.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

A new ownership group bought the Osthoff a few year ago.  It has undertaken some renovations in recent years so it's a little less dated than it used to be.  Apparently the on-site restaurants are good, though I have never been.