Kolek planning to go pro
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.
Louisville or Elizabethtown?
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.
We were there last summer. I hope you hit Dewsters.
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.
Drove by it a million times, but it was always closed (we had ALOT of 8am EST games though). Nice facility there.
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......
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.
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.
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?
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
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