Our hotel in Louieville was pretty nice as well. The bathroom was tiny, but we had a fridge and a microwave AND I had a real coffeepot that made 4 cups of coffee!! Wheeee!! Probably the best part was waking up every morning and stepping outside to see Diane Sawyer's shining face.
But it could have been worse... If our hotel had been just a few blocks down it would have been The Kernal's face instead. Soooo I can't complain too much.
Louieville was a little more lively than Frankfort. We spent a day walking around town. There was a LOT of wig shops, and (much to my disapointment) the coffeehouses still closed at 5, as well as everything else. I found a little courtyard at a church next to our hotel that became one of my favorite spots. Every morning I got up early (8am) and took my camera for a walk, but I always stopped at the courtyard to drink my coffee. The church steeple became my guide back to the hotel whenever I was lost down town.
The guest speaker for the opening ceremonies was Bob Edwards, an XM satellite radio show host. He pretty much just went through everyone that was running for election and made lots of political jokes that went right over my head. I don't think I understood two words that came out of his mouth... well ok, truth is, as soon as I figured out it was political I just tuned out. Bad habit I guess.
The next day we did our gallery tours. There was so much to see, I still haven't been able to take it all in. But I'll give you the brief on a few pics I took.
One of the gallerys was all place settings. That was pretty neat to see. All the tables were designed aroud the tableware. Everything from the lighting to the style of silverware matched the pieces.
Outside one of the gallerys there was a HUGE old smokestack that we decided to climb while we were waiting for the bus.
I saw some beautiful functional work and then some pretty creepy ones as well.
I got a lot of new tools from suppliers and some info on grad schools. Blue Highway, a bluegrass band, did a performance one night that was really neat... from what I could hear anyways. I just can't wait for next year.
