SOUTH SLUGGER FIELD
For our first Hub of the Week, we’ll be looking at Jackson & Main Street. What is LouVelo’s Hub of the Week? It is where we look at one of our unique bike hubs and its surrounding sites, interests and intrigue.
We are fortunate to have two stations on either side of Slugger Field at the north and south corners. This week we will be discussing the southern hub, right on the corner of Jackson Street and Main Street. It’s a popular station in our system, and offers 23 docks. It is especially easy for our Monthly and Annual members, who get unlimited 60 minute rides to just roll in, dock, and pick back up again later to continue their adventure.
Take the opportunity to cruise into Against the Grain (or ATG, as it is lovingly known) on your next ride. This brew pub is located ideally inside Louisville Slugger’s brick gate and started in 2011 by artisan brewers Sam Cruz, Jerry Gnangy, Adam Watson, and restaurateur Andrew Scott. ATG has grown to craft over a hundred brews, mostly made in their Victorian copper distilleries on site. When you go inside, you can peer up over the brick walls and see the tops of the distilleries, hard at work on your next draft.
Against the Grain, as the name implies, prides itself as the first brewer owned-and-operated pub in Louisville, committed to brewing anything from a pilsner to a lager using unusual combinations and ingredients. While Artisan beer is delicious, it is not the only thing that keeps baseball fans and brewery buffs alike streaming in its doors. Delicious food has a lot to do with it, too. The LouVelo crew took advantage of the close proximity to our hub and wheeled in to do some appetizers for lunch. Between the bleu-cheese crumbled chicken wings, the nachos, and the salted pretzel-- it is at a baseball stadium-- we left with a home run.
Ground was broken in 1998 on the site that would become Louisville Slugger Field, which was a former train yard. Some of the design has retained, including the entrance into the stands, which was a restored train shed. It really does give the feeling that the stadium is as old as the tradition of baseball.
Home to the Louisville Bats, our baseball team, and Louisville City FC, our soccer team, hanging out with our buddy, hall-of-famer Pee Wee Reese.
After opening in 2000, Slugger Field has been home to the Louisville Bats, our minor league team. Besides people-watching with a hot dog, there is a great variety of things to do at Slugger Field, playing host to concerts like Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and John Mellancamp. The architecture is fun and nostalgic, and you can smell the popcorn from miles away.
While baseball has long been an institution in Louisville, Slugger Field’s new tenants have international flair. The Louisville City Football Club (or, FC, or soccer for us colonial rebels) moved in in March of 2015, making this sports haven a visit for any fan.
Want to go check it out for yourself? Look to the right while going west down Main Street and dock in.
We teamed up with @atgbrewery- Against the Grain to give our Monthly, Annual, and Founding Members a special deal on their tasty appetizers.
Just flash your card and get 10% off any appetizer. Yum!