Eater Louisville turned 6 months old yesterday

Eater Louisville launched six months ago yesterday (ok, there were two weeks of posts before the site was officially announced on Nov. 15, 2012; let’s consider those dates the gestation period).

During that time, the site’s published almost 450 posts and picked up 814 Twitter followers and 742 Facebook fans. If you’re not among them, much appreciated if you’d give it a follow or be a fan (and may I interest you in subscribing to the Eater Louisville newsletter?). Thanks to our readers, tipsters, colleagues at Eater, and all the folks involved in Louisville’s restaurant scene.

Here are some highlights from the first six months, selected because they broke a story, were fun to write, or received positive feedback from readers:

• Download Your Robin Garr Chipotle Ordering Tip Sheet
• Why, I Do Declare the Pimento Cheese Social a Fabulous Success
• 12 Questions with ‘Smoke & Pickles’ Author Edward Lee
• The Analects of Yelper Jeff J.
• 17 Questions with Wiltshire on Market’s Susan Hershberg
• WFPL Reviewer Likes Decca, Prefers Herself
• Taco Punk’d: NuLu Restaurant Asks For Donations So It Can Keep Selling $10 Taco Platters
• Former Server Says Lynn’s Not Quite Paradise
• So, Is Maker’s Mark Bourbon House & Lounge ‘The Most Racist Restaurant In America?’
• Eater Louisville Launch Party at Proof on Main

Photo: Courtesy Eater Louisville

AOL Travel publishes two of my articles on road trippin’

AOL Travel just published two of my articles

• “15 Reasons the Best Place in America to Start a Road Trip is Louisville, Kentucky”
• “Road Trip: Driving the American Horse Trail” (this piece also included several of my photographs)

The first article has attracted a bit of buzz: more than 1,800 Facebook likes and a tweet from Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Also,  Louisville’s WHAS 840AM interviewed me about it yesterday:

USA Today quotes me about Louisville’s dining scene

In last Friday’s “At Derby time, Louisville’s hospitality hits its stride,” USA Today‘s Laura Bly quoted me about Louisville’s culinary scene and linked to my little side gig’s website: kentuckyderbyhomerental.com. (USA Today‘s Travel Media Group had previously published my Louisville city guide for its The Point property.)

Also, thanks to The Manual, “the essential guide for men,” for including kentuckyderbyhomerental.com in its “Louisville lowdown for Derby weekend.”

Photo: Courtesy USA Today

AOL Travel publishes my guide to flying with kids

Many new parents think that just because they’ve had kids, air travel is too difficult, best to avoid it or only fly on big holidays when there’s no other option. That doesn’t have to be true. Almost every flying strategy you had in your childless era, however, needs to be rethought—and likely blown up like a piece of abandoned luggage.

By the time she was 2 years old, my oldest daughter had visited 18 states and DC, including spots on both coasts. Mistakes were made. This article I wrote for AOL Travel provides tips on how to, well, I’ll let the title speak for itself:

Flying With Kids: How to Avoid a Cataclysm in Seat 9B

USA Today publishes my local guide to Louisville

As part of its new digital content strategy, USA Today published a local guide to Louisville I wrote, along with a couple of photographs I snapped. The 3,500-word guide appears behind a walled garden for guests of Hilton Hotels (so I can’t include the text here, but you can select the following photo for a screenshot of the guide’s front page). It covers restaurants, entertainment and nightspots, exercise venues, shopping, a trendy neighborhood, museums, the hip scene, spots unique to Louisville and a tip on how to sound like a local. Since its initial publication, I’ve updated it once as well.

The guide appears as part of USA Today Travel Media Group’s The Point property, a “firrst-of-its kind, fully integrated, multi-platform travel media experience for the hospitality industry. The Point offers hotel guests a unique blend of world, national and local news; local guides and tools, including top picks from local insiders, and premium digital entertainment content. This unique digital guest amenity is available through our launch partner, Hilton Worldwide.”

“Hilton, USA TODAY give guests new content choices” by Barbara De Lollis in, yes, USA Today provides more details about the local guides:

Read more