A Baseball Lover's Weekend In Louisville, Ky.

Louisville has got a lot going for it — Churchill Downs is filled to the brim every May for the Kentucky Derby, the city is often called the gateway to Bourbon Country, and with Opening Day coming up, there's never-ending ball-playing history to be found at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. Beyond that, Louisville has tons of great food options that go well with the burgeoning art scene and long-loved bluegrass vibe.

SLEEP

The 21c Museum Hotel is arguably the meeting point of great food and great art in Louisville — big names in the contemporary art world, like Kehinde Wiley and Tracey Snelling, are regularly featured on the museum's white walls. Then, the hotel's restaurant, Proof on Main, is a local hangout serving fresh, seasonal cuisine in a contemporary, and art-filled, setting that would look right at home in Brooklyn. Chef Michael Paley does Meatless Mondays, whiskey flights, and ramp dinners for the spring. Gilded history lives on at The Brown Hotel, though, if that's more of what you're looking for. The hotel's bar also happens to be included on the Urban Bourbon Trail.

EAT

Get morning coffees or fresh fruit smoothies and freshly baked pastries from Highland Coffee Company. Their staff mans a booth at the Bardstown Road Farmers Market on Saturdays, too, should you prefer getting coffee while strolling through the market. Please & Thank You also serves a wide range of great coffees and homemade treats, but their chocolate chip cookies alone warrant a visit.

Experience the mad, colorful kitsch at Lynn's Paradise Café, where Southern dishes, like her famed buttermilk biscuits, are on offer. Enter the noir-inspired Garage Bar for wood-fired pizzas, craft brews, and a fresh raw bar are served in a '70s diner-like space with none other than chef Michael Paley at the helm. Find a rustic and ever-changing menu at The Blind Pig, in the Butchertown

Top Chef alum Edward Lee runs the local favorite 610 Magnolia, serving upgraded and comforting Southern dishes like sous vide abalone alongside butternut squash soup and veal sweetbreads.

Stop in for a cocktail at the Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge, though some of the best drinking can be done along the Bourbon Trail. (Photo courtesy of Flickr/InnerSpirit)

PLAY

Of course, a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum is a must for any baseball lover. A stop at the iconic Churchill Downs is likewise a must, if for no other reason than to put a few dollars on the pony with your lucky number — you'll be sucked in in no time. And for music lovers, there is no better place to take in some home-spun bluegrass (with home-spun bourbon in hand) than Fourth Street Live. If bourbon is your poison of choice, book a day or two on the Urban Bourbon Trail and experience the boozy local history inside and out. And if you really want to see the truth about Louisville's sinful side, take the Moonshine and Madness Tour, which unveils the city as it really was in the '20s and '30s.