This image of the Fairmont Dallas on wood canvas by Hugo Garcia Urrutia and MK Semos hangs in the hotel's Arts District Suite.

Purchasing art’s proven trying for me: despite numerous visits to galleries and art fairs with the hope of buying an original piece, I’ve never been able to pull the trigger. And I’m yet to figure out how to snag one of those Caravaggios out The Vatican.

So recently I headed to the The Fairmont Dallas for its Art Immersion Apprentice Trip and talked with Brian Embry, director of the Ross Akard Gallery, and Hobbes Vincent, the hotel’s then-artist-in-residence (attention luxury hoteliers: if you need a writer-in-residence, I’m your guy) before exploring Dallas’s surprising amount of burgeoning arts districts.

An account of my trip runs in the February issue of onAir, Air Canada’s frequent flyer newsletter, which has 3.8 million subscribers, and as a web exclusive for enRoute, Air Canada’s in-flight magazine:

“Painting the Town Red, White and Blue: Art-filled weekends in Dallas”

Shortly after returning to home, I used what I learned to buy this painting by Louisville artist Bart Galloway:

That the subject moved me shouldn’t be a surprise.

Thanks to Mike Taylor at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Katie Norwood at The Fairmont Dallas, and Erica Martinez at Jackson Spalding for arranging my visit. And thanks to Brian and Hobbes for their insight (and bar recommendations).

Now, to find a good framer in Louisville…

Looking for similar guidance? The audio is here.

I’ll be on again tomorrow morning, around 8 7:30 a.m. Louisville folks can listen on 102.3 WXMA on their FM dial; non-locals interested in hearing me (Hi Dad!) can stream Lambert & Lindsey on The Max’s website. (Select the Listen Live button to the left of the station’s logo; no Dad, your other left. Yes, there it is. Now put your mouse over it and click it twice fast.)

The events I mention appear in Louisville.com’s Weekender, an email newsletter I compile of the city’s choicest events. It goes out every Wednesday to about 4,500 subscribers.

I met George Lindsey (the Lindsey of Lambert & Lindsey) last March when we were on a panel talking about journalism with University of Louisville students. Shortly thereafter he started contributing to Louisville.com and has been one of the site’s most-popular writers. At this rate, we’ll soon have a civil union or something.

Photo: Courtesy 102.3 The Max

Site visits to Louisville.com, 2011 (blue) compared to 2009 (orange), select to enlarge

A big thank you to the site’s readers, writers, interns, and owners!

According to compete.com, Louisville.com is now the city’s most visited independent website, trailing only the sites for the local newspaper and TV stations overall.

The raw data, via Google Analytics (according to the 2010 census, the population of Louisville/Jefferson County is 741,096 people).

2011

1,194,066 visits
926,712 unique visitors
2,753,479 pageviews
2.31 pages per visit
00:01:59 average time on site

2010

798,643 visits
590,941 unique Visitors
2,136,804 pageviews
2.68 pages per visit
00:02:31 average time on site

2009 (before I was hired as editor)

665,561 visits
517,337 unique visitors
1,995,714 pageviews
3.00 pages per visit
00:02:27 average time on site

For what I’ve done to help achieve this grown, check out my editing page.

Traveling with daddy on his work trips, like to Montana's Ranch at Rock Creek, can be rough on a girl.

And I’m spent.

2011 work highlights included having a full-page spread in The Wall Street Journal, trips to Israel and Rome, and Louisville.com becoming the city’s most-read independent website and winning a couple of big honors in the process.

Luckily my wife and daughter were able to join me on many of my trips. The latter turns two next week and already has visited 18 states and Washington, DC. We got her a passport this year, but it might be a few months at least before she’s able to get her first stamp—her little sister is slated to arrive in February.

Here are some of my writing and travel highlights for 2011:

• In January, Air Canada’s enRoute published my article about taking a poker lesson from two-time World Series of Poker winner Mark Seif and then hitting the tables solo in Las Vegas.
• Later that month I went to Israel, visiting Tel Aviv, Galilee, and Jerusalem. Turns out Jerusalem has some fun drinking venues.
• In February, enRoute published my article about photographing flowing lava with Photo Safari Hawaii on the Big Island.
• BlackBook added Louisville to its City Guide mobile app and website in March, publishing 100 reviews of bars, restaurants, and hotels that I wrote as the Louisville City Editor.
• Also in March, I spoke with Louisville’s Society of Professional Journalists about being a travel writer.
• Later that month, I visited the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts; my article on a gladiator fighting lesson I took ran as an enRoute web exclusive and in Air Canada’s onAir frequent flyer newsletter in June.
• The attention the Kentucky Derby brings to Louisville has been great for my career: in May, The Wall Street Journal devoted the entire back page of its Derby-day edition to an article I wrote and interviews I conducted on city hotspots. And Fox News published my piece on five horse racing-related activities travelers to Louisville can enjoy on non-Derby weekend visit.
• In July, I visited Montana with my wife and daughter, the highlight of which was glamorous camping at The Ranch at Rock Creek
• Louisville.com won the 2011 Louisville Magazine‘s readers’ choice award for best local website in July
• I trekked around in 107-degree heat in Dallas for enRoute, scoping out the city’s art scene for a yet-to-be-published article on buying art.
• Indianapolis really impressed me—seriously!—when I took the trip 2.5-hours north in August. Super Bowl fans will find plenty more to do than just watch the game this February.
• Nantucket did likewise when I returned to where my family vacationed a couple of times when I was a kid. Don’t plan on reading anything about this trip: it was a family trip and I didn’t take a single note.
• In October, Louisville.com writers and readers stuffed the ballot box enough to earn second place for best local website in LEO Weekly’s, the city’s alt weekly, Readers’ Choice awards.
• Louisville.com was again an official media partner of the Breeders’ Cup, horse racing’s world championships, this November. In addition, BlackBook dispatched me to cover the Jocktails party, part of the run-up to Breeders’ Cup, and preview Downs After Dark, the sole night race of Churchill Downs’ 2011 fall meet.
• Also in November, Louisville Magazine published an account of my bravest assignment yet—eating at the Paula Deen Buffet in Southern Indiana’s Horseshoe Casino
• Louisville Magazine made a bold move when it let me write about why Kentucky isn’t that great a state for basketball (as well as break down the differences between Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals fans) in its December issue. Expect letters to the editor.
• An eight-point 170-pound buck died because I shot him through both lungs. My hunt was televised on KET’s Kentucky Afield this December. Louisville Magazine will publish an account of my hunt in early 2012.

The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach's Eau Spa by Cornelia

A couple websites recently posted travel-related photos I took:

• The Purple Passport’s profile of the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach’s Eau Spa by Cornelia (read my writeups of the spa for UpTake here and the teen lounge for Air Canada’s enRoute here)
• canadaDOLCEcanada’s post, “Canada Dell’est: Quebec,” included two photos of  the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac I shot while on vacation in Quebec City

Want 10 percent off your ammo at one Kentucky gun shop? Better wish Jesus a happy birthday [Opinion: The Arena]

John DiScala (aka Johnny Jet) interviews Richard Branson (aka Sir Richard) for his Travel Channel special, "Hot Spots 2012."

When I met him at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach last year, I noticed something strange about John DiScala (aka Johnny Jet)—he’s one of the few travel writers I’ve met who lays off the booze.

This Sunday, when you’re sprawled out on the couch suffering through New Year’s Day because you don’t have the restraint that Johnny does, however, he’ll be there for you. At 9 p.m. on Jan. 1 (and again at midnight), the Travel Channel is airing his new special, Hot Spots 2012.

Details from the press release:

Renowned travel expert John E. DiScala (aka Johnny Jet), circles the globe for his first televised special “Hot Spots 2012,” scheduled to air on the Travel Channel, January 1 at 9:00 PM EST (check local listings).

During the one-hour special, Johnny Jet gives viewers a ringside seat as he uncovers the hottest travel destinations for 2012, revealing insider tips that only the most seasoned traveler would know.

About Johnny Jet:

Johnny Jet travels over 150,000 miles and visits more than 20 countries each year.

Johnny personally collects exciting and useful up-to-the-minute information about all things travel specifically for the many and varied readers of his popular Johnny Jet web site, blogs, tweets (@JohnnyJet), and newsletter. His comprehensive travel website JohnnyJet.com is dubbed by Budget Travel Magazine as “one of the top, best money-saving websites for travel.”

Johnny Jet fans refer to him as “possibly the next best thing to an all informed, travel guide working just for you.” He is consistently featured in print and broadcast media (ABC, CNN, MSNBC, among others) as one of the foremost experts in world travel, guaranteeing his readers/listeners/viewers will save money by following his clever travel tips.

With leisure dollars stretched thinner and farther than ever, Johnny Jet is the travel world’s go-to answer man.

Photo: Courtesy Johnny Jet

Select the photo and my eight-point buck mount looks even bigger. Do it!

My eight-point buck’s head has returned from the taxidermist (right) and my appearance in KET’s Kentucky Afield is now on YouTube (bottom, the money shot is at 9:20).

I was thrilled with how both came out. The European-style mount, which currently resides on a wall in my kitchen but will soon be relocated to the top of our staircase, looks rustic and arty on the restored barn wood. And the TV show really captured how much fun I had hunting with Tim Farmer and Jon Gassett.

And as tempting as it is to post an update every time I defrost some venison, I promise no more blog entries on The Great Deer Hunt until my article about it is published in the February issue of Louisville Magazine. Speaking of which, I should probably stop watching my TV appearance—how brilliant was the camouflage coverall popped collar!—and get around to writing the story…

My two articles in the “Why basketball is bigger in Kentucky” section were

• “Because UK and UofL fans love to hate each other”
• “Because you’ll go ballistic when you read this“

Download a .pdf of my articles here.

Thanks to my editors at the magazine for granting me a few inches to vent. In a related story, expect a reader or two to vent in an upcoming letters-to-the-editor section.

Photo: Courtesy Louisville Magazine