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Tags: Food Festivals / Food Travel / Fall Travel / Kentucky Travel / Events / → All Tags

Would You Eat 'Burgoo,' Let Alone Go To A Festival Celebrating It?

Here’s a food festival for the person who has seen and eaten everything already. It’s the Anderson County Burgoo Festival in Kentucky, and apparently, the county is also the burgoo capital of the world. In case you didn’t know—and we definitely didn’t—burgoo is a sort of stew like mixture kind of like gumbo or chili but also kind of not. It’s really popular in Kentucky and they love to throw all kinds of meat into it, whether it be pork, chicken, or mutton. We’re thinking if they had some other stuff around—like fresh opossum roadkill—that it probably could and has been included throughout the years.

At this year’s festival, we’re hoping that only the freshest ingredients are used to prepare the celebration’s namesake. This weekend from September 25 to 27, the streets come alive with the sights, smells, and sensations of the mighty burgoo. There will be plenty of music to entertain the crowds, pumpkin painting for the little burgoo fans, and a boniest knee contest. Sorry ladies, but the contest is apparently for gentleman only. So get a warm cup of the stew and grab a good spot for the tractor pull.

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Tags: Kentucky Derby / Horse Racing / Paris Hilton / Tom Brady / Brooke Shields / → All Tags

Paris Hilton Does Kentucky

The Kentucky Derby may not be a huge draw for average joes this year, but it's still reeling in A-listers.

Well, at least the Derby-eve party on Friday night is. The notorious Barnstable Brown bash is hosted by Louisville's locally-famous socialite twin sisters Priscilla Barnstable and Tricia Barnstable Brown, in their opulent mansion in the tony Bonnycastle neighborhood. The 21-year-old fiesta has made enough of a mark on the socialite set that it even draws celebs who don't bother to stick around for the race.

In addition to Hilton, Tom Brady, Brooke Shields, and Kid Rock will be among the boldface names at the twins' house. For the first time this year, the bash will be followed by an after-party at the Sports and Social Club, a brand new downtown club, so there could be a chance to get in some late-night celeb-sightings.

Related Stories:
· Kentucky Derby 2009 Barnstable-Brown gala guest list [Courier-Journal]
· Where to Make Your Own Last-Minute Kentucky Derby Hat [Jaunted]
· Kentucky Derby Tickets Still Available, Compliments of The Recession [Jaunted]

[Photo: casaroger]

Tags: Kentucky Derby / Sports Travel / Fashion Travel / Horse Racing / → All Tags

Where to Make Your Own Last-Minute Kentucky Derby Hat

With the Kentucky Derby only three days away, we're darn sure that milliners within 100 miles of Churchill Downs are working overtime to craft last minute hats and add extra feathers for optimum flash.

Observing the parade of outrageous headgear at the Derby and downing a few Mint Juleps is as much a part of the spectacle as the horse race itself. In these economic times, noting that a spectacular hat typically ranges from $150 to $500, we fully expect more women to take to crafting their own brims or even redecorating last year's masterpiece. For this, we turn to Dee's Crafts in Louisville.

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Tags: Best Factory Tours / Best-Factory-Tours-Map / → All Tags

Hit The Road To Corvette Assembly Plant

Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the Best Factory Tours the world over.

You may not walk away with a freebie from the assembly line from this tour, but it may inspire you to take a road trip: The National Corvette Museum and Bowling Green Assembly Plant is a trip back into the heady days of mid-2008 before it became the country's business to worry about GM's health.

The 'Vette Museum just added a new cafe and "Pit Crew Challenge" interactive exhibit to let visitors pretend to be readying a Corvette mid-race, but at the plant you can see robots work on the chassis of cars that will soon be driving off the belt and into the sunset. There are 7 miles of conveyor belts to see on which engines are installed, primer and paint applied and the wheels ultimately attached.

The plant offers guided tours weekdays at 9, 11:30 and 1:15 for ages 7 and up at just $5 a head. Sadly, the economic slowdown means the plant will be closed two weeks in May, 3 in June and 2 this July, so make sure to register to take the tour on their website. (Here's a good list of all the downtime weeks.)

Related Stories:
· GM Corvette Assembly Plant [CorvetteMuseum.com]
· Live From Las Vegas: Do You Want to Win Criss Angel's Car? [HC]
· Like this tour? Check out more factories on our Car Factory Tour map. [Jaunted]

[Photo: Autoblog.com]

Tags: Horse Racing / Sports / Kentucky Derby / → All Tags

Kentucky Derby Tickets Still Available, Compliments of The Recession

This may not come as much of a shock, but we can add horse racing to the list of things getting battered by the recession.

We're just three weeks away from the Sport of Kings' biggest day, but this year's Kentucky Derby appears to less of a hot commodity than in years past. WHAS Louisville reports:

Normally, you'd have a hard time finding a hotel room in Louisville for Derby. But not this year. Some of the area's most popular hotels still have vacancies….Those who normally shell out thousands of dollars to attend the Kentucky Derby are scaling back their spending. What’s the main reason? The Derby is an event often referred to in the industry as an "incentive event", like the Super Bowl or Final Four, something given as a reward to companies' top employees or customers.

Ahhh, so that's who was always able to afford things like the $1,900 infield suite two-day package. But, even if your boss isn't putting you up in fancy digs for the May 2 Derby, the race is still doable on a much smaller budget: $40 general admission tickets are still available.

Related Stories:
· Kentucky Derby [Official Site]
· Hotels, restaurant reservations and Derby tickets still available in troubled economy [WHAS]
· Kentucky Derby Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Velo Steve]

Tags: Fringe Benefits / LEX / Airports / Crime / → All Tags

Airport Officials Rack Up $4,500 Strip Club Bill

Officials at Blue Grass Airport in Kentucky will no longer get to use company credit cards after the Lexington Herald-Leader revealed three employees charged $4,500 worth of strip club fun in 2003 while others more recently bought thousands of dollars worth of DVDs, electronics and Nintendo Wii games. Oversight was so weak that seven employees even managed to rack up $8,000 in finance charges.

Executive Director Michael Gobb was suspended in December when the newspaper reported that he'd spent more than $200,000 on travel and expenses in just two years. The Kentucky state auditor now has a team digging through financial records at Blue Grass, trying to determine what exactly happened and if any crimes were committed.

In a way, though, we should've expected this sort of lavish spending: It was Blue Grass that Pussy Galore's Flying Circus used as a home base while working for greedy criminal mastermind Auric Goldfinger.

Related Stories:
· Auditors "Appalled" by Spending [Herald-Leader]
· Airport Officials Lose Credit Card Use [MSNBC]
· Drunk Flight Attendant Caught on Video at Blue Grass [Jaunted]
· Crime coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: soumit]

Tags: Mancations / Baseball Travel / Museums / → All Tags

Mancations Travel: Playing with Wood in Louisville

If heading out to see "Mamma Mia" on the big screen isn't your idea of a good time, then how about an adventure to Louisville, Kentucky? Your lady friend--or friends?--definitely won't want to go, so stay a few days and make it a mancation.

The point of the trip is the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Since guys love baseball and jokes about hardwood, it's perfect.

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Tags: Celeb Travel / George Clooney / Movie Travel / → All Tags

George Clooney to Make Kentucky's Dreams Come True

Whenever celebrities converge on fancy-dress premieres, the rest of the world reads all about it the next day online or in next week's US Weekly. But the 9,000 lucky residents of Maysville, Kentucky won't have to wait to read the press coverage: They'll be able to see the stars for themselves when George Clooney descends upon the town bearing the reels of his new movie "Leatherheads." (Actually, he probably won't carry them to town himself.)

The film, which was shot in North and South Carolina, stars native Kentuckian Clooney--who also directed and co-wrote the film--as the manager of a new football league in the 1920s.

It co-stars John Krasinski as a promising player and Renee Zellweger as a saucy journalist. The film officially opens April 4--except for Maysville where it opens Monday night.

Related Stories:
· Movie Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· George Clooney coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: meetinthelobby.com]

Tags: Flight Attendants / Delta / → All Tags

Drunk Flight Attendant Caught on Video

Flight attendant Sarah Mills of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and airline owned by SkyWest and operated by Delta, was recently accused of drinking on the job at Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport, and it turns out parts of the incident were caught on airport security cameras.

Mills, who allegedly reeked of alcohol, admits she was thinking about punching people, and drops an F bomb when an officer takes her flight attendant ID.

That is my wings...I'm a f'ing flight attendant.

Then she thanks everyone for getting her f'ing fired.

Court records say a breath test found her blood alcohol level was .032 _ lower than Kentucky's legal limit of .08 to operate a motor vehicle. Lightweight. Is .032 even one mile high mojito worth of alcohol?

She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Delta officials were forced to cancel the Sunday flight to Atlanta that Mills was scheduled to work on.

Related Stories:
· Atlantic South East Airlines [Official Site]

Tags: R2D2-Mailbox-Map / Cult Travel / → All Tags

R2D2 Mailbox Map: Droid Court In The Bluegrass State

Contribute your R2D2 mailbox locations by uploading your photo, with mailbox address to the Jaunted Flickr Photo Pool, or sending us the photo and street address via email.

Jaunted tipster Kathleen posed with a R2 mailbox just outside the Circuit District Courthouse on Main Street in Lexington Kentucky this past weekend.

This R2 mail unit was spotted outside the courthouse but there is no word on whether or not any charges were filed.

Go Straight To The R2D2 Mailbox Map

Tags: Music / Bands / Live Music / Festivals / → All Tags

"Come Together" at Abbey Road

After our expose on WiFi-friendly Blue Grass Airport, you're probably wondering why on Earth you'd ever fly there--despite the Interwebs access, of course. The Memorial Day weekend Abbey Road on the River in Louisville would be our tip, now that the Kentucky Derby is run and done.

Set up along the Ohio River, the Abbey Road shindig is "the Greatest Beatle Tribute Festival In The World," which means while The Beatles (obviously) won't be playing, a bunch of bands that look and sound like them will. The three biggest days are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when groups like "Lucy in the Sky," "Eight Days a Week" and "British Export" will be rehashing the golden days of Brit pop. To find out more about the bands--and we're not kidding about this--check out the festival's MySpace page.

[Photo: hddod]

Related Stories:
· Abbey Road on the River [Official Site]