Road Trip... Louisville!

Just a short 2 hour drive south on Saturday and we were visiting our friendly neighbors the Louisville-ians. While it was a fairly surgical trip to attend the previously mentioned Rolf Gates yoga workshop, we managed to find some goodies on the one road that we visited, Shelbyville Rd. in the St. Mathews suburb of the city. This is where Betsy's Hot Yoga Louisville studio is located. One of us went to the workshop while the other roamed the area. Here is the lowdown on both.

This was my first workshop with Rolf Gates. He was recommended by one of my favorite Indianapolis yoga teachers, Gina at Invoke. I am currently reading his terrific book Meditations from the Mat (which you can check out on our Amazon link to the left). It was a three hour workshop and I wasn't sure what all to expect. I was up for a 3 hour asana class if that was what it was going to be. However, he spoke for the first hour which was nice. He just talked about trying to live following the natural flow of life, rising above your conditioning, re-wiring yourself so things that push your buttons don't bother you anymore. Nothing at all too out there and no forced personal sharing. Then, we had a lovely 2 hour yoga class. I highly recommend periodically checking his website to see if he is coming near you. http://www.rolfgates.com/

And I was en route to the thing that makes Louisville famous, no not Makers Mark, southern cooking. It's amazing that in two short hours, the entire landscape changes. It gets warmer, hillier, people have that southern charm (and accent) and the food gets a whole lot more country. That took me to Mark's Feed Store, an excellent, low key barbeque joint, where they greet you like a friend and treat you like a friend. It was busy at the peak of lunch, but I was seated rapidly. Plenty of people watching here, from the country folk, the students, the suit people, all gathered to take in the magnificence of the food and atmosphere. With the country music playing in the background, my waitress seemed like she couldn't wait to attend to me. I ordered a tea (which, of course, came sweet), and it was on the table, in a huge oversized plastic glass, before I knew it. I was ready to order, so I got the pork barbeque sandwich and a cup of their burgoo. For $7.49, I got the tastiest cup of burgoo ever (Burgoo is to the South, what Chili is to the Southwest) It had large chunks of pork, generous vegetables in a stew like broth that felt like a huge caress from the one you love, when you needed it the most. I inhaled the steam coming off the burgoo, so I could get everything possible out of this cup. The sandwich, served on a bun, had plenty of their slow cooked pork. It was sauced lightly, with Mark's Original (the less hot sauce), but not to worry, Mark's Original and Red sauce (the hotter one) were right on the table. My only regret in going to Mark's is that I was not born with two stomachs, I would have loved to tried their buttermilk pie, but not this trip. As I paid my server, she asked "You want your tea to-go?", almost as if it was a rhetorical question. She brought a large to-go cup, and I was good for the day. The question isn't "Will I go back to Mark's?", the question is "How often?"http://www.marksfeedstore.com/