Category: Black History Travel

Celebrate Louisville’s Official Cocktail for a Fortnight

Black History, Black History Travel, Kentucky Bourbon Classic, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Louisville, Uncategorized

Bourbon City commemorates its signature drink culminating on National Bourbon Day

Set down your Mint Julep, because it’s time to celebrate Louisville’s official cocktail, the Old Fashioned. Proclaimed the city’s official cocktail in 2015 by former Mayor Greg Fischer, Old Fashioned Fortnight highlights the posh and stately Pendennis Club’s original during the first two weeks of June via events, tastings, and specials. Kicking off on June 1, the anniversary of Kentucky’s statehood, and culminating on National Bourbon Day, June 14, the fortnight of festivities underscores Louisville’s whiskey history and booming bourbon culture.

Photo courtesy of Go to Louisville.

Here are some ways to participate in Old Fashioned Fortnight June 1-14:

  • Craft Your Own Cocktail at the Frazier History Museum: The Frazier History Museum and Old Forester are teaming up to showcase Louisville’s official cocktail, the Old Fashioned. Led by Certified Bourbon Stewards, this unique experience guides visitors through making a traditional Old Fashioned with a unique twist while providing some fascinating history about the locally invented libation. Classes are for Bourbon beginners and aficionados alike and can be booked Monday-Saturday, online here.
Photo courtesy of Old Forrester.

  • The Ideal Bartender Experience: Head to Evan Williams Bourbon Experience’s secret Speakeasy as an actor portraying Louisville native Tom Bullock takes you back in time to the prohibition era for a guided Bourbon tasting. Bullock was the first Black American to write and publish a cocktail book and tended bar at the Pendennis Club, where the Old Fashioned was purported to be invented. Book tours online. 
Photo courtesy of gotolouisville.com
  • Urban Bourbon Trail®: Download the Urban Bourbon Trail® digital passport and visit some of Louisville’s best local Bourbon bars and restaurants, all of which offer their own twist on the Old Fashioned cocktail. Bourbon enthusiasts who check in at six locations will earn a free T-shirt. Visit gotolouisville.com for more information.
Photo courtesy of gotolouisville.com
  • Barrels & Billets: One of Main Street’s newest Whiskey experiences takes place just next door to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, where you can embark on your custom bourbon experience. Sample up to six different flavor profiles and build your own customized bottle of whiskey suited to your personal taste. If you love your newly created concoction, you can purchase your own bottle after the experience. Find tour times here.  
Photo courtesy of The Barrel: Bourbon & Bites Food Tour.
  • Beyond The Barrel: Bourbon & Bites Food Tour: Uncover the secrets of Kentucky bourbon and go beyond the barrel to dive into bourbon’s unfiltered history – and learn all the stories they won’t tell you on a Kentucky Bourbon Trail distillery tour. As the sun sets over the vibrant NuLu neighborhood, you’ll visit award-winning restaurants, hidden speakeasies, rooftop terraces, and cozy tasting rooms, Find available dates here.

For additional ways to celebrate Old Fashioned Fortnight, a more detailed history of Tom Bullock, and recipes on how to create the cocktail visit OldFashionedFortnight.com.

Guests can use Louisville Tourism’s annual Visitor Guide to see the city’s top attractions, culinary hotspots, and bourbon distilleries. Travelers also can learn about attractions, lodging and where to dine at gotolouisville.com.

History of the Old Fashioned

Heaven Hill Distillery Old-Fashioned Cocktail. Photo courtesy of Heaven Hill Distillery.


The Pendennis Club in downtown Louisville has long claimed the invention of the Old Fashioned cocktail since the 1880s. Club member and bourbon distiller popularized it, Col. James E. Pepper, who would go on to introduce the cocktail to the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, leading to its widespread popularity. Louisville native and pre-Prohibition mixologist Tom Bullock included his original Old Fashioned recipe in the preeminent cocktail book, “The Ideal Bartender,” published in 1917.

Classic Old Fashioned

Ingredients

Instructions

Enjoy the Classic Old Fashioned cocktail by Old Forester. From scratch classic build of sugar, bitters, bourbon, stirred to perfection.

Stir with ice, strain into double old-fashioned glass with fresh ice. Garnish with wide orange peel, oils expressed over the cocktail.

Discover Indianapolis in the Spring

Black History Travel, Indianapolis, Indianapolis Zoo, Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Museums & Attractions

  • The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (the world’s largest!) is celebrating 100 years with an exciting lineup of events, including:
    • Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Feb. 22 – Aug. 1): Kicking off its national tour in Indy before traveling across the Midwest.
    • Centennial 110-ft Ferris Wheel launching March 15, coinciding with the Sports Legends Experience expansion.
    • Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design (March 22 – Sept. 7): Featuring 60+ original costumes, including some from Black Panther.
    • Take Me There: Peru exhibit opening this summer—fun timing with the Paddington in Peru movie release this Friday.
  • Conner Prairie (Smithsonian-affiliated Museum)
  • Promise Land as Proving Ground—a new exhibit opening March 25 focused on African American history in Indiana. This exhibit has been three years in the making.
  • Indiana’s first and only Forest Therapy Trail—guided tours begin in May, blending history and nature for a unique outdoor experience.
  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum reopens April 2 after an $89 million renovation, featuring cutting-edge tech and immersive sensory experiences. Offering visitors a way to experience the Indy 500 any day of the week.
  • Giant tortoises are coming to the Indianapolis Zoo in May, following the successful launch of the International Chimpanzee Complex last year—home to one of the largest groups of chimpanzees in human care.

Hotel development:

  • Indy’s newest hotel, the InterContinental Hotel, will be perfectly positioned right off Monument Circle, the epicenter of Indy. While once on a list of Indiana’s 10 most endangered landmark buildings, the hotel will offer a rooftop bar with an unobstructed view of Lady Victory, sitting above the iconic Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Opening later this month.

Sports

  • NFL Combine is back at the end of this month with a chance for families to step into Lucas Oil Stadium for free and see 300 – 350 prospects trying to make it in the National Football League. Plus, there is a free fan festival outside the stadium as well.
  • March Madness takes over Indy next month with 43 games across 29 days, including: Big Ten Men’s & Women’s Tournaments and Men’s Sweet 16 & Elite 8.
  • WNBA All-Star Game (July): With Caitlin Clark expected as the #1 draft pick for our hometown team, this will be huge!

Black Heritage & Legacy Trail

  • Launching this June, Indy’s Black Heritage & Legacy Trail is a self-guided tour highlighting iconic landmarks pivotal to Black history in Indianapolis. One of the neighborhoods on the trail includes Belmont Beach, the beach where Black families were granted access to swim in the city in the 1920s. At that time, and up until a couple years ago, the water was polluted. Now, Belmont Beach is transitioning from a story about segregation to celebration, as it is now a place for gathering for people of all ages, races, etc.
  • The Black Heritage and Legacy Trail is part of $150 million in trail expansions and improvements currently underway, making Indy one of the most connected cities in the country—fitting for the “Crossroads of America.”

  • Indianapolis Cultural Trail Expansion: In fall 2024, Indy celebrated a two-mile expansion of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, bringing it to 10 miles total. This wheelchair- and scooter-accessible trail has been recognized by the Project for Public Spaces as one of the “biggest and boldest steps by any American city.”
  • The recent expansion now links Indiana Avenue—Indy’s historically Black cultural district—by the Madam Walker Legacy Center, as well as the South Street corridor, leading to Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts).

  • Indy’s riverways & trailways project reaches a major milestone this fall, further solidifying Indy as one of the most connected communities in the country. A new resource highlighting Central Indiana’s Trailways network will launch alongside America’s 250th celebration.

All photos courtesy of Visit Indy.

Take Time to Rediscover Your #LouisvilleLove

Black History Travel, Culinary Trails, Historic foodways, Kentucky Bourbon Classic, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Louisville

Discounted downtown attractions & venues for Hometown Tourist Celebration Feb.1-10.

Speed Art Museum.

Rediscover your #LouisvilleLove with the return of the Hometown Tourist Celebration next month. The event invites residents to rediscover downtown Louisville by providing a discounted admission fee for well-loved or new-to-them attractions and venues.

The Downtown Hometown Tourist Celebration will take place February 1 – 10, 2025. During this time, individuals with a valid Kentucky or Indiana ID, local college ID, or military ID will receive half-off admission to participating Downtown venues.

21c Museum Hotel. Photo by Steve Grider.

“This event is for our entire state to enjoy Louisville’s attractions and venues, because our downtown is your downtown,” said Rebecca Fleischaker, executive director of LDP. “Normally a slow time of year for our attractions, this celebration gives locals an added benefit of saving money as well as supporting and promoting the incredible range of attractions, venues, and hotels that make our city unique.”

Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.

Participating attractions and venues include:

  • Angel’s Envy Distillery
  • Angles Selfie Museum
  • Bardstown Bourbon Company
  • Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience
  • Evan Williams Bourbon Experience
  • Frazier History Museum
  • Good Bounce’s Downtown location
  • KMAC Contemporary Art Museum
  • Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
  • Muhammad Ali Center
  • SAR Genealogical Library
Whiskey Row.

Downtown hotels are also participating with various discounts and package deals, offering a special rate for the duration of the celebration. Participating hotels include the 21c Hotel; Embassy Suites; the Galt House; Omni Louisville Hotel; Seelbach Hilton; and the Tempo by Hilton Louisville.

Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (Photo by Marty Pearl/Special to the LCVB)

“Hometown Tourist Week is a vital initiative that encourages our residents to explore and appreciate the incredible attractions and experiences right here in Louisville,” said Cleo Battle, Louisville Tourism President & CEO. “By being tourists in our own city, we not only support local businesses and attractions but also foster a deeper connection to our community. This celebration highlights the strength and diversity of our city’s offerings and reinforces the unique charm and hospitality that makes Louisville a top destination.”

Frazier History Museum.

Additional Downtown venues offering varying discounts during the celebration include the Belle of Louisville Riverboats; Corner Flavors of Kentucky; Derby City Gaming; Goodwood Brewing & Spirits; Porch Kitchen & Bar; and the Waterfront Botanical Gardens.

Tickets for admission can be purchased online by individual location or multiple days and locations together. Walk-ins are welcome, but reserving tickets in advance is recommended. Tickets and hotel bookings can be made in advance and can be viewed on LDP’s website.  

Honoring Black History in Mobile Year Round

Alabama, Black History, Black History Travel, Mobile

Though Mobile is a great place to visit any time of the year, this coastal Alabama city has rung in the new year with an impressive dedication to cultural heritage, making it a must-visit for Black History Month. Conde Nast Traveler took note and included Mobile on its “Best Places to Go in 2024” list, in part for the city’s strides in cultural development and dedication to celebrating its African American history.

Last July, the inspirational story of the 110 survivors of the last slave ship to enter the United States, the Clotilda, and the town they created just outside of Mobile in the late 1800s was shared with the world through the opening of “Clotilda: The Exhibition” at Africatown Heritage House. This was a pivotal moment in the city’s commitment to embracing its African American heritage. As of this month, Africatown Heritage House is offering group admission to schools, churches and other groups, helping to increase the number of people who can visit in person and learn more about this fascinating story.


Though the opening of Africatown Heritage House was certainly a big part of Mobile’s story of cultural development, there’s plenty more to experience in the city during Black History Month and beyond. Here’s a sampling of both what is new and what’s to come later in the year, for those planning ahead:

  • This past October, the new Historic Avenue Cultural Center debuted its first exhibit, entitled “Remembering the Avenue,” which tells the story of Mobile through the eyes of Black residents, both past and present. The exhibit will run through the end of this year. The center itself is of tremendous historical significance, as it was the city’s Black library before it became the National African American Archives & Museum and eventually the cultural center.
  • Mobile is also developing a Civil Rights and Cultural Heritage District, which will be located along the Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Corridor. This area was an economic hub for the Black community during the era of segregation. Churches, schools, and other sites throughout the district will become permanent landmarks and the city is in the process of building a memorial park that will be a gateway to the district.
  • The Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park is set to open in early spring. The park is located on a site where leaders of the city’s Civil Rights Movement met, and a series of statues by local artists will commemorate their efforts and detail the movement in the city. 
  • To round out a journey and to get full insight into Mobile’s Black history and the countless contributions of Black Mobilians throughout the years, take a tour of stops along the Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail (DFFAAHT). There are trail markers all over the city for a self-guided tour, but a two-hour guided bus tour offers a very personal and comprehensive way to experience the sites.

No trip to Mobile is complete without sampling the city’s unique food scene, especially since 2024 has been officially declared the Year of Food by the State of Alabama. Ginger & Spice and Kanary Bar are just a few of the Black-owned restaurants to try during a visit.

From historical sites to special exhibits to exciting new developments on the horizon, this city offers a unique opportunity to learn about and celebrate the contributions of Black Americans. To experience a destination that truly embraces its African American history and start planning a visit to Mobile, head to https://www.mobile.org/.

Celebrating the Survivors of America’s Last Slave Ship

Black History, Black History Travel, Regional & Ethnic, Uncategorized

Facility That Sharing the Stories of the Survivors of the Last Slave Ship To Arrive in the United States Will Open This Summer

At a February 3 event honoring the 110 survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to arrive in the United States, the page was turned for the next chapter of a story that’s been being told for more than 150 years … in secret for decades but now shared on a global stage.

This past weekend marked the “Spirit of Our Ancestors” festival in the Africatown community of Mobile, Alabama. As part of the annual tribute, which is coordinated by the Clotilda Descendants Association, the community came together at the site of the new Africatown Heritage House to witness the unveiling of a signature piece of artwork and to hear the news that the facility is set to open on July 8, the 163rd anniversary of the date the community’s founders arrived in the United States … in shackles.

To understand the magnitude of this announcement, it helps to know some history:

Under the cover of night in the summer of 1860, a ship carrying 110 Africans slipped into Mobile Bay. The Clotilda, the last known U.S. slave ship, made its illegal voyage 52 years after the international slave trade had been outlawed. (Though it was illegal to bring enslaved people into the United States, domestic slavery itself remained legal until 1865.)

Upon arrival in Alabama, the captives were offloaded into the marshes along the Mobile River. In an attempt to conceal the crime, Timothy Meaher, the man who arranged the transfer, ordered the boat burned and sunk. Some captives remained in Mobile, enslaved by the Meaher family, and others were sold to Alabama plantations north of Mobile.

When slavery was abolished in 1865, the survivors dreamed of returning to Africa, but they didn’t have the financial means to make that happen. Instead, many of them pooled their limited resources to purchase land from the Meahers and turned it into the independent community known as “Africatown.” There they maintained their African identities, continued to speak their own languages, established their own set of laws and – in the early years – even had a chief. They built churches, schools and businesses based on what they knew from their homeland, and they effectively created their own world on the northern end of Mobile.

In 2019, it was verified that the shipwreck of the Clotilda rested at the bottom of the Mobile River, providing a tangible link to the names and stories that have been passed down through generations of descendants.

Africatown Heritage House

Africatown Heritage House is a community building that will house “Clotilda: The Exhibition,” to share this long-untold story. The facility was built by the Mobile County Commission but is a collaborative project that involves several entities working in partnership with the community. This includes the Alabama Historical Commission, which is leading the scientific efforts surrounding the search for, authentication and protection of the ship Clotilda and related artifacts, and the History Museum of Mobile, which curated, constructed and funded “Clotilda: The Exhibition” with generous support from other local organizations. The museum will operate Africatown Heritage House when it opens this summer.

The exhibition is especially focused on the people – their individuality, their perseverance and the extraordinary community they established. It will introduce the world to 110 remarkable men, women and children, from their beginnings in West Africa, to their enslavement, to their building the community of Africatown. Their stories will be shared through a combination of interpretive text panels, documents and artifacts, including some pieces of the sunken ship scientifically verified to be the Clotilda.

Africatown Heritage House and “Clotilda: The Exhibition” will open to the public on Saturday, July 8. Called “The Landing” by the descendants of the Clotilda’s survivors, this date marks 163 years since their ancestors arrived on American soil, forced against their will. Events and activities in acknowledgment of the date’s significance are being planned by the Clotilda Descendants Association and other local entities.

Africatown Heritage House will be open from Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibition will have limited capacity, so tickets should be purchased in advance. Tickets will likely become available online in early summer.

For more information about the facility and the exhibition, please visit Clotilda.com, which is operated by the History Museum of Mobile. The latest details will be shared as they become available.