Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Top 10 List: stuff to do on winter break in Louisville

U of L law students are now in the throes of final exams. From contracts and con law to torts and secured transactions, we have many steep hills to climb. But there's only so much you can say about the process. Instead, I'm looking ahead. Winter break is coming. So are campus visits for prospective law students who will become part of the Class of 2014. In light of these events, I give you Yet Another Top Ten List, this time focusing on things to do in the Louisville area for current or future law students. 

10. Get to know Jim Chen, the dean of our law school. He's quirky, brilliant, multilingual, an impressive dancer, and an all-around good guy. 

9.  Go to a basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center, the school's brand spanking new downtown arena. When you get there, send your friends text messages with lots of unnecessary exclamation marks.

8. Check out one of Louisville's hip urban neighborhoods, such as the Highlands, Crescent Hill, or Butchertown. They make the city unique, and offer lots of chances to pick up locally made holiday gifts, to down a pint of good beer, or to check out amazing artwork that you can't afford because you're in law school. 

7. Take a stroll through Old Louisville, the nation's largest extant collection of Victorian homes and a good source of affordable housing for law students. The neighborhood sits between campus and downtown. Third and Fourth streets are particularly nice in terms of architecture. 


6. Take thyself to a bourbon distillery (click here for details) to celebrate the state's signature spirit. My favorites: Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill, Woodford Reserve. But if you celebrate too much, don't drive. Remember the bar exam. Remember the bar exam. Remember the bar exam. 




5. Go to Fourth Street Live!, the city's downtown entertainment complex (what's up with all those exclamation marks?)

4. Spend a few minutes in the Allen Courtroom at the law school. If you're feeling brave, go behind the bench and toss out a few lines of poetry from William Butler Yeats. Or not. 

3. Take someone to a performance of the Louisville Orchestra. The musicians need your money. Don't like the orchestra? Try the Kentucky Opera. Don't like opera? Check out the Humana Festival of New American Plays. There's something for everyone. 

2. Speaking of the arts, every U of L law student should at some point visit the Speed Art Museum next door to the law school. It's impressive, it's free, and you can wander the halls while you recite obscure legal facts that you are studying for your exams.  

1. Do something nice for your roommates, relatives, or other people who put up with your law school shenanigans the rest of the year. They deserve it. 

3 comments:

  1. Love No. 6. Come tour Maker's Mark Distillery, just outside Lebanon, Ky., this weekend for the annual candlelight tours during the Heart of Kentucky Holiday Festival. Also, take the free Kentucky Cooperage (a bourbon barrel-making factory) tour right on Main Street. Lot of prizes to be won this weekend from collectors Maker's Mark bottles to a bourbon barrel to... so much more. Get details about the weekend at http://www.visitlebanonky.com/Festivals/holidayfest.htm.

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  2. Your writing is great! Very interesting blog. I am a 2L transferring to UofL next semester. Hope to run in to you!

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  3. Go ice skating. There are several outdoor ice skating rinks in Louisville, such as the rink at Fourth Street Live and the rink at Waterfront Park.

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