Weekend fun on holidays

Saturday was of course Derby Day. We were up at 6:30 as Louisville (they pronounce it down here Lew-vul) is an hour and a bit away from Lexington.  Was a sunny morning in Lexington.  The closer we got to Louisville, the blacker it got and by the time we parked (about a mile away), it was starting to rain.  But we walked (I had 3" heels on) instead of taking the $30 tram ride.  It's more expensive than Disney!

Got to the gates and wandered around in the rain.  It is a huge complex and never having been before, we weren't sure where to be when.  We found on the whole thT Churchill Downs is quite a dated facility and not nearly as classy as Keeneland - in fact, the bathrooms were quite gross for the derby being such a huge event.  Anyhow, our seats were perfect. 3 rows back from the track not far from the finish line.  Only, we weren't under cover, so we had to sit in the rain (are you sensing a theme?).  Anyhow, it was a great experience and I would totally love to go back someday when the sun is shining because it is an incredible spectacle.  The munchkins, oops, I mean jockeys, were so tiny, and the horses were tall and thin, but not as lanky as I expected.  There was a lot of hullabaloo everywhere you went. The pre-poncho fashion was truly amazing. Kentucky Derby is a people watchers dream!!! Unfortunately we missed breakfast at the hotel and all I really wanted was coffee and a sandwich and all we could find we're ice cold drinks and $9 roast beef sandwiches, lol.  I was glad for Pizza Hut and coffee after we left!!

Yesterday was a bummer to wake up to more pouring rain.  So, we discussed where we could go and come back, but it seems it was raining everywhere nearby. So we decided to check out Nashville and split up our ride to Memphis.  Got in about 4 ish. Checked into a downtown hotel and went out and checked out some stores and bars. Came back and got ready for dinner.  Then we went to another bar for a few hours as both bands were good and came back to hotel where I crashed hard and Josh watched TV for awhile.

Today, well, I am not sure what's on the schedule.  The rain has followed us to Nashville, so I don't know if we will head to Memphis or check something out here.  The river is swelling something fierce and there are big concerns about flooding both here and in Memphis.

Anyhow, that's it for us for now.  Love and hugs to all.

Kentucky Horse Park

So, today was super! We spent a few hours at the Kentucky Horse Park! Highly recommended for anyone who is familiar with famous thoroughbreds at all. Secretariat and Man O' War are both buried there under statues.  Saw a horse that was 19.2hh!!! He was a shire sport horse. Wow.  The horse museum was also terrific.

From there we hit downtown Lexington for lunch at the Cheapside Bar and Grill. First we went to Mccarty's Irish bar and it was full of Irish Americans.  Lol, couldn't understand anything they said but the eff word.  After that we headed out to Woodford Reserve Bourbon distillery.  We were too late for a tour, but got to try some bourbon (yuck).  Then we did a driving tour in our little ford escape through some of the horse farms. It is so pretty.

Stopped at a town called Midway that is super picturesque. Found my hat in a neat little shop there.  You should see Josh's outfit 😉. Bowtie, suspenders and all, lmao.  He is rocking the derby and all for me, which makes him a rock star! Tonight just hanging at the hotel.  Tomorrow we have to be up by 6:30 and out the door by 8 to get to Louisville for the Derby day. The actual derby race doesn't run til 6:30pm. And it's supposed to be 17 degrees and raining. Just what everyone woman in a dress wants to hear.

That's about as exciting as we are today 😊

Here's my picks for the Derby:
Verrazano
Mylute (woman jockey)
Overanalyzed

We will see how my $2 bet pays off, lol

Anniversary Trip Update 1

Thought it would be fun to do a little posting while we are away.  No pictures today as I didn't take my iPad.


 Yesterday was long.  Everything went without a hitch, just long day.  Considering we were flying United, it was a pleasant surprise :). We didn't get to our hotel in Lexington until 1:45am, so getting up at 6:30 was tough.  We had a lovely surprise of a bottle of wine and a card from our friend, Michelle who booked this lovely trip for us.  it was too late to crack it last night, but today will do just as well! The horse farm tour that we took to kick off our trip was awesome.  Lots of info to be absorbed, lots of great sites including Keeneland.  What a beautiful track and area.  Everything is so green down here.  Seems that horse farms are very much for the rich folks that are self made in business or own sport teams or are Saudi sheiks, etc.  And all these places have miles of fences and only one or two horses to be seen.  One farm we drove by had 600 acres and 60 horses. Crazy.  Once our tour wrapped up, we found some lunch and decided to crash after our 4 1/2 hour tour.  Our hour nap turned into 3, but I finally feel human again. Josh is still snoozing, but I am hoping to wake him up and go shopping for a bit.  Time to find the perfect decoration for my hat!

Tomorrow we are going to do the Kentucky Horse Park and a bourbon distillery.  Should be fun.