So it all started about 6 months back when our friend Cara sent out an email about making plans to go to the Kentucky Derby. Of course Ben and I's response then was... Sure, if we are in town! But who would have thought we would both be in town and able to make the trip! And convince some amazing friends to come with :) It was such a treat!
On Thursday after renting a large Black Ford Explorer (so that Barnes could fit into it), we set out on our journey down to Louisville, Kentucky. Luckily we had a Louisville-ian with us to do the derby right! On Thursday night we stayed in New Albany, IN with Cara's brother and sister in-law. New Albany is on the Indiana side of the Ohio River of Louisville. For dinner we headed downtown to an awesome Irish pub called O'Sheas. The beer battered pretzels and Kentucky Hot Browns were PHENOMENAL!
Friday was the first big day of races called "The Oaks". The Oaks is always the day before and is all philly (or girl) horsies. We all woke up at the crack of dawn to get our move on and go get breakfast at a place called Paradise Cafe. Breakfast was outstanding! Definitely a Louisville must for the derby. Ben and I made a last minute move to get tickets and were able to get seats with Cara and family! Therefore, for our day in the bleachers, of course us girls had to get our sundresses and hats on. The fashion at the Oaks was amazing! I cannot wait to get all dressed up again and go. Churchill downs was a very neat place to see and had a very traditional feel to it, kind of like Wrigley. The "waggering windows" and drinks are all still very traditional of the derby. We ended up having a gorgeous day sitting in the sun! Thank god for sundresses, poor guys had to be in suits ;) Overall, it was fun to learn all about racing, how to bet, and get to see the horses run past our section of the track!
After a long day in the sun, we perked ourselves back up for the arrival of some very special visitors. On Friday night Bright, Torie, Joe, Westin and Dan joined us for the derby. We started out by heading back downtown to Fourth Street and enjoying some cocktails with the whole crew! This of course then turned into taking over the dance floor for a serious dance party! It was a great time!
Waking up on Saturday morning was not as pretty as Friday unfortunately... Between hangovers and the torrential downpour, we all managed to get moving slowly but surely for the big day at the derby. Since bleacher seats for the derby are much more expensive, we all decided to just get infield seats. Well due to the miserable weather, we ended up packing the car and tailgate at Papa Johns Stadium before going to the muddy infield. This turned out to be a blast! Torie ran into frieds from home. Oompa loompa dances in ponchos. The rain ended up not deturring our fun! When heading to the derby we were even able to get wristbands from people leaving the infield for almost nothing! The actual infield was a complete mess and filled with muddy drunk college kids. We all made the best of it and were able to see a bit of the races run past at one part in the infield. Sure enough for the derby though, the clouds parted and the sun came out.
Finally on Saturday night we hit Bodington Street in Louisville. This was very similar to Coventry in Cleveland and had a great vibe. After more dance partying, we ended our night at 5 AM back to Dannys dreading that we all had to get up the next day and make trips home.
Overall the derby was a great time! I really really hope to make this a yearly tradition! Next time however, the following are required: all my girlfriends (need to make this a reunion spot), hotels, no rain, bleacher seats, pretty dresses and BIG HATS!
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