A lot of times folks walk by street musicians almost as if going out of their way to get past them. Don’t do that! Treat yourself to some great music and support street artists, whatever their craft may be.

There’s something about a great voice and a rich guitar sound that can truly brighten your day. It’s also totally unexpected amidst the hustle and bustle of the fast-paced downtown mindset. I highly recommend you stop and take in the music.

And who knows, you might discover a star before they break big. I could totally see Kharisma playing a club, bar, or theater. Then again, some street artists may not want the constraints of playing a venue. Sometimes playing on a sidewalk is more about performing for the pure love of craft than anything else.

Kharisma is a fantastic artist who can write his ticket, but don’t take my word for it, watch the video and listen for yourself! If you run into him, please show some love. Thanks for reading!

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The airport is serviced by many national airlines like Southwest, Delta, and American. You can also use discount airlines like Allegiant and Spirit. There’s even a new kid in town with Breeze Airways. In fact, many folks used to take advantage of the incredibly cheap, direct flights to Fort Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines. This all changed when Frontier Airlines acquired Spirit and the cheap flights disappeared. Not only that, but the existing Spirit flights are now cursed with horrendously long layovers which make the old 2hr flights an eight hour nightmare. All good things come to an end, unfortunately. There’s still some great flights to many cities throughout the country, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find many direct flights. And while the airport calls itself an international airport, I’m not sure how much international travel there are. Adding international certainly raises the airport’s profile, but who knows how accurate it is.

I recently had to travel on business to Chicago and arrived back in Louisville, late on a Monday night. To say I was exhausted would’ve been the understatement of the century. When I saw the airport cart, I asked for a ride, and the driver kindly obliged. She also didn’t have any issue with me taking this cool little video as she got me from the gate and took me all the way to the front of the airport.

I love that she asked me how I got so tall. “I ate my vegetables,” I told her.

Christian Duque

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Portland may not look it now but it’s very much prime real estate. The historically Irish working class neighborhood has real promise but needs much more interest from Jefferson County. During the time I drove and walked around I didn’t see very much of a police presence which I found odd for a community so proximate to the interstate and to downtown. I’m not sure if LMPD patrols the area as much as they should, but it’s also possible during the hour or so I was there they had already come before or were coming afterwards.. I will say I kind of felt on my own there. It wasn’t a good or bad feeling, just a sense that I was off the grid.

With regards to my interactions with the locals I had no issues. I was on a side street and stopped to let a family cross while the man of the house looked on from a walk-up. Many travel bloggers would not have done that, not because they’re rude necessarily but more so out of safety. I will never do as so many others have before and do drive by filming. If you’re too scared to go somewhere to walk around or drive around (like a normal person), then don’t go. The family that crossed couldn’t have been nicer. The gentleman wasn’t all smiles but he was also looking over his loved ones and not only that but not everyone is laughing and jovial 24/7. That doesn’t mean they’re a thug or that they’re cranky. 

Another interaction had me walking by the liquor store and Save-A-Lot. A lady said hello from across the street and gave me the thumbs up for filming. When you’re out and about doing this kind of work it’s little shows of support like that that really make the work fun. After all, no one’s doing this to get rich and famous. Most of us just want to explore new places, get great content, and hopefully turn more people onto the places we visit. I also think when it comes to exploring the area(s) you live in that’s all the more true. I want more people to know about Portland but for all the right reasons. I want to see this community progress and do well! After all, I live less than half an hour away.

I think only time will tell what happens to Portland. Many say it’s been in its current state for the last 20 years. It’s as if someone hit the pause button and nothing has changed. Something tells me that it won’t be another 20 years before something dramatically changes there. I don’t even think it’ll take more than the 2-3 years to be honest. Only time will tell, however. In the meantime, if you want to check out this community, I will advise you to be careful, but there’s no need to be afraid. Get out of your East Louisville mindset and explore Jefferson County!

If you’re from out of town or from out of state I’d be careful anywhere in Louisville Metro. Again, we have a very safe city that at many times feels like a small town, but we’re every bit a big city as well. I don’t want anyone to have to learn that the hard way. Happy travels! 

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One of the best things about Louisville is the fact it’s a big city with a small town feel. Everyone was super nice and no one had any issues with the fact I was filming. In fact, many folks waved at the camera and wanted to be featured. I was sure to give everyone the URL to this website and hope they’ll become regulars here. I think it speaks volumes about our people.

In addition to the fact that public photography is a First Amendment protected activity it’s also a great way to promote our city and its people. Social media is the way of the future and we want more and more people to know about Louisville. We’re southern, midwestern, old-fashioned and modern. This is a great place to visit, live in, and engage in business. It’s also a very politically-engaged and sophisticated city.

Speaking of being politically-engaged I just had to ask the gentleman in the photo above if I could include him in my video. I remember everyone wearing X apparel when Spike Lee made his epic film about Malcom X in the early 90’s and how powerful it was culturally. That said, as I told the gentleman, many of the people who wore the clothes back then adopted it as more of a fashion statement. That’s not how this gentleman was getting down though. This shirt included Malcolm’s name which really spoke to me and if you watch the video you’ll see what the back of the shirt is all about. I was very impressed wit it and very impressed to interact with the gentleman. He’s the kind of person that makes Louisville the amazing city it is!

I hope everyone checks out my video Exploring Downtown Louisville. It’s simply impossible to cover everything in the downtown area in just 30 minutes but it’s about the quality not the quantity. I’ll definitely be back to cover other areas like 4th Street Live, NuLu, Whiskey Row and others. For now, I hope you check out this video and subscribe for more!!

If you’re on Instagram or Tiktok please bless us with a Follow; we’ll follow back! Till the next time!

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