The HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville: St. Charles Exchange
Welcome to the final installment of the HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville! On Thursdays throughout the fall, we've traveled back to the Jazz Age in the Derby City, when the nation's Prohibition laws didn't quench the collective thirst for Kentucky Bourbon. We've channeled our inner Daisy Buchanans and dance the Charleston at Louisville's finest establishments. And, of course, we've taken a sip or two of the native drink that kept the city's spirits high. Since we began our tour with a Speakeasy, it only seems logical to end at one as well!
St. Charles Exchange is located in one of Downtown Louisville's oldest buildings, on the site of a former bourbon distillery. Named in homage to the historical St. Charles Hotel, the focal point of this posh restaurant is an elaborate bar built to resemble an early 20th century hotel lobby bar. The results are pretty spectacular.
And, oh my goodness, the hand-crafted cocktails. The old-fashioned, made with Old Forester and lemon and orange oils, is so delicate and balanced. It would be worth breaking Prohibition laws to order one, that's for sure!
I hope you've enjoyed our journey through 1920s Louisville! Coming soon -- a trip to the Guilded Age!
The HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville: The Seelbach
Louisville's Seelbach Hotel was a famous gathering place for mobsters and flappers alike.
Welcome to the latest installment of the HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville! On Thursdays throughout the fall, we'll travel back to the Jazz Age in the Derby City, when the nation's Prohibition laws didn't quench the collective thirst for Kentucky Bourbon. We'll channel our inner Daisy Buchanans and dance the Charleston at Louisville's finest establishments. And, of course, we'll take a sip or two of the native drink that kept the city's spirits high. Today, we'll visit the famous hotel that served as a playground for some of the nation's most notorious mobsters and inspired one of the seminal novels of the generation.
Seelbach Hotel, circa 1910, Library of Congress holdings of the Detroit Publishing Company Photo Collection.
The Seelbach Hotel -- "the only fireproof hotel in the city" -- was built by Bavarian brothers Otto and Louis Seelbach in 1905 at the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets in Downtown Louisville. The hotel design was of the Beaux Arts Baroque style and reflected turn-of-the-century opulence, but the Seelbach's lasting legacy would be its ties to the Jazz Age.
Postcard view of the Seelbach's Rathskeller, the basement level restaurant and bar.
Underworld figures like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone frequented the hotel in the 1910s and '20s, drawn by clandestine high-stakes poker games and Kentucky bourbon whiskey. Cincinnati mobster George Remus found that there was a lucrative business in bootlegging the city's native spirit. The hotel's secret passageways famously helped these guests elude police and move liquor. Remus's exploits stood out to a young serviceman named Scott Fitzgerald who'd recently dropped out of Princeton, enlisted, and been stationed at nearby Camp Taylor.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's Battalion, from the May 30, 1917 issue of the Daily Princetonian. Uniforms were custom-made for the soldiers by Brooks Brothers.
Second Lt. Fitzgerald had his share of fun at the Seelbach -- he was even thrown out of the hotel after a night of merrymaking -- and drew upon his experiences in the late 1910s when writing The Great Gatsby. The title character's shadowy past is based at least in part on George Remus's bootlegging exploits, and his paramour, Daisy Buchanan, was a Louisville debutante. Of Daisy, Fitzgerald wrote:
“She had a debut after the Armistice, and in February she was presumably engaged to a man from New Orleans. In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago, with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Over the years, the Seelbach has changed hands and even briefly closed before it was restored to its original opulence. The hotel manages to retain the elegance of bygone days while providing modern amenities. And, as you walk the halls of the grand old hotel, it's easy to imagine that, just for a moment, you caught a glimpse of days gone by -- perhaps a Big City mobster, a flapper debutante, or a young soldier with a story to tell...
The HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville: The Belle of Louisville
The Belle of Louisville turns 100!
Welcome to the latest installment of the HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville! On Thursdays throughout the fall, we'll travel back to the Jazz Age in the Derby City, when the nation's Prohibition laws didn't quench the collective thirst for Kentucky Bourbon. We'll channel our inner Daisy Buchanans and dance the Charleston at Louisville's finest establishments. And, of course, we'll take a sip or two of the native drink that kept the city's spirits high. Today, we'll visit one of the steamboats that kept the River City booming.
Louisville has a lot of nicknames -- the Derby City, the Falls City, The Ville -- but the River City is a moniker that gets at the heart of the city. It never stops being a river town whose history and fortune is intimately tied into the river that defines its northern boundary. On October 18, 1914, a steamboat known as Idlewild was launched in Pittsburgh; the Idlewild's original mission was to serve as a ferry between Memphis, Tennessee and West Memphis, Arkansas. One hundred years later, we know this boat as The Belle of Louisville, one of the most familiar sights of Louisville's downtown waterfront.
While the Belle didn't make it to Louisville until the 1930s, steamboats played an important role in Jazz Age Louisville, bringing businessmen, bootleggers, and even the occasional mobster to the city. (And perhaps even exporting a few barrels of our finest spirits, despite Prohibition laws...) The 1920s would see steamboat travel give way to modern highways, but the Belle's history -- at various times and under various names, she's served as a cargo ship, a ferry, and even a floating USO nightclub -- provides a fascinating glimpse of riverboat culture.
Louisville celebrates Belle's 100th birthday with the six-day Centennial Festival of Riverboats, which kicked off Tuesday. The festival includes cruises, free concerts, steamboat races, and even a calliope competition! Check out the Festival website for more details.
If, like many Kentuckians, you haven't been aboard the Belle since taking a trip with your middle school class, I highly recommend going back. I had the opportunity to take the cruise last year as part of my beau's work outing, and I have to say that it's a lot more fun when libations are served. You get an amazing view of the city, and it's a fun way to imagine traveling to the city in the era before automobiles were the primary mode of transportation! It's also pretty cool to realize that the Belle is the oldest Mississippi-style steamboat still in operation.
From all of us at HerKentucky, Happy Birthday, Belle!
The HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville: The Hot Brown
The Jazz Age roots of Louisville's most famous sandwich.
Welcome to the second installment of the HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville! On Thursdays throughout the fall, we'll travel back to the Jazz Age in the Derby City, when the nation's Prohibition laws didn't quench the collective thirst for Kentucky Bourbon. We'll channel our inner Daisy Buchanans and dance the Charleston at Louisville's finest establishments. And, of course, we'll take a sip or two of the native drink that kept the city's spirits high. Today, we'll visit the Brown Hotel for one of those famous open-faced sandwiches that fueled the era!
The Brown Hotel's opening day, October 1923. Image courtesy Brown Hotel.
In 1923, when Louisville businessman J. Graham Brown opened his eponymous hotel at 4th and Broadway, Louisville was a bustling city of 235,000 people. With its ornate English Renaissance design, the Brown Hotel immediately became synonymous with luxury, opulence and excess. This was especially true in the Crystal Ballroom, where the city received Queen Marie of Romania.
Queen Marie of Romania in the Brown Hotel's Crystal Ballroom. Image courtesy Brown Hotel.
The Crystal Ballroom was known in this era for its lavish nightlife; crowds of around 1,200 people were common in the new hotel as party-goers enjoyed the Brown Hotel's dinner dances. (And, despite the Prohibition laws of the era, likely a little Kentucky bourbon to keep their spirits high!)
Crystal Ballroom, Brown Hotel.
All that dancing (and, perhaps, imbibing...) worked up quite an appetite. So, the Brown's chef, Fred Schmidt, came up with a hot, open-faced sandwich to be as a midnight meal, as his customers were beginning to tire of the standard ham and eggs fare.. The result was the Hot Brown -- perhaps the most iconic staple of Louisville cuisine -- a sandwich made of turkey, bacon, mornay sauce and toast points and garnished with tomatoes and parsley and served piping hot.
Image courtesy Brown Hotel.
Brown Hotel Executive Chef Josh Bettis recently took me on a tour of the Brown's kitchens. As we talked about food, history, and Louisville, he assured me that the recipe hasn't changed at all since Chef Schmidt first made it for his Jazz Age patrons. After all, it's a quintessentially Kentucky dish that often winds up on people's culinary bucket list. And, with the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, rich, and salty that the Hot Brown delivers, why mess with perfection?
Thanks so much to Chef Josh Bettis and the Brown hotel for their assistance, and for continuing the tradition of the very best sandwich in the entire Commonwealth!
The HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville: Evan Williams Speakeasy Experience
The Evan Williams Speakeasy Experience transports visitors to Prohibition-Era Louisville.
Welcome to the first installment of the HerKentucky Guide to Speakeasy Louisville! On Thursdays throughout the fall, we'll travel back to the Jazz Age in the Derby City, when the nation's Prohibition laws didn't quench the collective thirst for Kentucky Bourbon. We'll channel our inner Daisy Buchanans and dance the Charleston at Louisville's finest establishments. And, of course, we'll take a sip or two of the native drink that kept the city's spirits high. Today, we'll visit the Speakeasy at Evan Williams Distillery.
The Evan Williams Experience, in the heart of Downtown Louisville's Whiskey Row, is unlike any other distillery tour you'll ever visit. Of course, you get the nuts and bolts of whiskey-making, as you do on other tours, but you also hear a lot about the label's history. That's only natural, since Evan Williams himself -- the Welsh politician, businessman, and distiller -- was Kentucky's first commercial distiller.
In keeping with the historical focus, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience recently added a Speakeasy Experience tour, which transports visitors back to the days when the dreaded Volstead Act drove liquor sales underground.
Image courtesy Evan Williams
Bourbon Historian Rick Bell portrays a Roaring Twenties Barkeep in a charming period lecture that immerses the visitor into the days when alcohol production and consumption ceased in American. Well, officially ceased in America.
Rick Bell, image courtesy Evan Williams
The half-hour tour runs Friday-Sunday at the Evan Williams Distillery, 528 W. Main Street in Louisville. The $12 admission fee includes three shots of bourbon -- one is the ultra-premium 23 year-old, which retails for over $400 per bottle. For fans of good bourbon and the era of flappers and philosophers, it's a can't miss event!