Louisville: Land of Awesomeness

I have to be honest; I was a little nervous going to Louisville. I wasn't nervous traveling on my own or being in a new place, I've been doing that for the past six months and it's become my "normal". But I was nervous Couchsurfing on my own (if you don't know about Couchsurfing, check it out! It's a great way to meet people and have a free place to stay for a few nights!) What if we wouldn't get along? What if we ran out of things to talk about? What if turned out to be an epic disaster? But I pushed my anxiety to the back of my mind, put on my big girl pants, and dove right in. And it was wonderful. I can't put into words the loveliness and awesomeness of my host, Jordan, and one of her housemates, Hunter.  And the house? Amazing. Especially when there's furry snuggle buddies involved.

This would be Jordan's room (and the lovely Jordan, of course).

Meet Moo Kitler...best. name. ever.

I arrived in Louisville a little after 7pm and we didn't waste any time hitting up the local bar scene. First stop? Experimental Jazz night. Not much to say about that since we left shortly after arriving because it wasn't quite "us". In fact, in was terrible. Horrible. Kind of like chalk on a chalkboard. So to make up for our lack in judgement, we did what the cool kids do. Karaoke. It was Sunday night, so the bar was mostly empty, which gave us all a chance to strut our stuff and get a little crazy.

Kim and Katie, two of Jordan's other housemates.

Kim and Katie rocking out, Jordan on the left, Hunter on the right.

A little fun fact: Louisville bars are open until 4am. We took full advantage of that...I have videos, but I like these people way too much to publicize the amount of fun we had. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

After getting a little bit of a late start the following day, Jordan and I hit up the vintage stores. This girl loves to thrift! And Louisville loves their owls.

Jordan being lovely.

Owls!

More owls!

Vintage Heaven.

After a long day of thrifting, Hunter joined us for dinner at Against the Grain, a local brewery that Jordan works at.

Hunter and some bad ass artwork.

WOO!

And it was here that I met John and Kait. John and Kait are the coolest married couple who are getting ready to walk across America with their dogs to promote dog therapy and animal rescue. You should check out their website and follow their journey: http://www.dogblogusa.com/

John and Kait

And while at Against the Grain, we found out that some brewers from Chicago were in town, so clearly, we joined up with them after our meal for some drunken fun. Because that's what the cool kids do.

Hunter and Jordan being awesome.

See that jacket Jordan is wearing? The amazingly awesome black leather western bomber jacket WITH FRINGE?! She found it on our thrifting adventure. Best. Vintage Score. EVER.

Did I mention we had a car jumping adventure?

And a cookie baking adventure?

Unfortunately I fell asleep shortly after the cookie adventure began. And Hunter was kind enough to throw some blankets on me. Sweet guy.

The next morning, I bid farewell to Louisville and hit the road for Nashville. And let me tell you, Nashville is pretty amazing. And the fact that I'm staying at a hostel with some pretty awesome people doesn't hurt. Also, the fact that everyone here is pretty easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either. (Just saying..) In the past 36 hours I've been to 3 shows (with another one coming up tonight...), went to a Couchsurfing meeting, met way over 20 people with new ones walking in every few hours, and made some memories to last a lifetime. Good stuff. Did I mention that there's a few of us here going to New Orleans around the same time and possibly renting a flat for Mardi Gras?! Yup, it's in the works...gotta love how the most amazing things assemble when you least expect them to. But I suppose that's been the story of my life ever since I hit the road!

My Louisville adventure showed me that Couchsurfing is the best thing to ever enter the cyber world. And I can't wait to do it again.