Yes, I made it to yet another rainy Kentucky Derby! It was one for the record books. I've got plenty of stories and pictures for you on the next few pages. Enjoy and join us all at the Derby next year!
Kentucky Derby 145
Intro Page
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Kentucky Derby 145
Yes, I made it to yet another rainy Kentucky Derby! It was one for the record books. I've got plenty of stories and pictures for you on the next few pages. Enjoy and join us all at the Derby next year!
Derby145 Getting There
Getting to the Kentucky Derby is always an adventure. Plus, with so many people going this year, we were all taking different routes with different schedules. I rode to Fort Walton Beach Wednesday night with Chris, Tracy and Kevin and then we all flew from VPS to Cincinnati the next morning and took an Uber to Bill's condo in Louisville. My mother rode up with my sister, her son and Missy Thursday/Friday. They stopped at a hotel Thursday night and drove the rest of the way in Friday morning. Kelly and Wes drove up Friday from Montgomery. That is a lot of people.
My trip started Wednesday night in Fort Walton Beach. Our Thursday morning flight was early and none of us wanted to wake up at l:00 AM and drive to the airport so I got us a hotel room we could share not too far from the airport. We got to Fort Walton Beach about sunset and had dinner on the water at The Shack. It is a great place with great food and a great view.
Back at the hotel, Tracy and Kevin were done for the night; Chris and I, though (peas in a pod), found a pub directly behind the hotel (Shalimar Cheers) that was open late, had plenty of beer and even had people we knew there (Chris knew them. I did not).
The next morning came early, but we made it to the airport and a golf cart took us from the parking lot to the front entrance. Nothing special getting through security. We all had morning drinks at the airport bar and then boarded an almost entirely full flight - a whole lot more full than our empty flight the previous year (but it didn't make us feel quite as special).
I feel like I should have taken more photos from Wednesday night, but it is probably best that I did not. Hopefully, none of this will ever go to court.
My trip started Wednesday night in Fort Walton Beach. Our Thursday morning flight was early and none of us wanted to wake up at l:00 AM and drive to the airport so I got us a hotel room we could share not too far from the airport. We got to Fort Walton Beach about sunset and had dinner on the water at The Shack. It is a great place with great food and a great view.
Back at the hotel, Tracy and Kevin were done for the night; Chris and I, though (peas in a pod), found a pub directly behind the hotel (Shalimar Cheers) that was open late, had plenty of beer and even had people we knew there (Chris knew them. I did not).
The next morning came early, but we made it to the airport and a golf cart took us from the parking lot to the front entrance. Nothing special getting through security. We all had morning drinks at the airport bar and then boarded an almost entirely full flight - a whole lot more full than our empty flight the previous year (but it didn't make us feel quite as special).
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| Wednesday night dinner at The Shack |
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| Shalimar Pub where everyone knew our name by the time we left. |
I feel like I should have taken more photos from Wednesday night, but it is probably best that I did not. Hopefully, none of this will ever go to court.
Kentucky Derby 145
Getting There
Noah's Travel Blogs
Thurby 145
Thurby was a great day at the races for those of us that came in early: Kevin, Chris, Tracy and me. Momma, April, Kyle, Missy, Kelly and Wes would not make it up until Friday (Oaks). The weather was perfect (no rain and not too hot) and we had tickets to trackside thanks to Chris and Davie (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You two are awesome. Let's try Mardi Gras again. No drug dealers or hookers next time).
Chris, Tracy, Kevin and I had flown up to Cincinnati that Thursday morning and then gotten an Uber ride to Bill's condo which is about an hour's drive. Poor Uber drivers. They do not know where they are going until they accept the ride on their app. We talked once he got to us and made sure he was ok driving us to Louisville before we loaded up the car. He was good. Just broken up with his girlfriend. No other job to put him on a timetable so off we went. An hour plus later and after we unloaded all of our luggage at Bill's condo, we had our Uber driver stick around and take us to Churchill Downs. I had thought about asking him to stay all weekend and be our driver but Kevin talked me out of that idea. Our Uber driver's name was Konstantine. He was awesome and had an awesome name.
Chris and Davie met us at the gate with tickets so we got in free. We partied with them in the stands pretty close to the Finish Post and had an amazing time until I smoked with Bill and forgot about three hours of the evening. Thanks a lot, Bill. DS, I am back to once a year with you.
I vaguely remember the worst Uber driver ever - a kid that talked non-stop about himself, his ex girlfriends and their $1million+ net worths and almost turned his vehicle over while taking an interstate exit on two wheels. We also ate at a restaurant on the river which I do not remember but was told it was bad. I kinda remember everyone in the Uber crazy rollercoaster ride being all nice to the kid driver/killer and thinking "Why are they being so nice to this idiot". I did tell him to slow down as he was about to turn his truck over on the interstate exit ramp. I could not have gotten out of that Uber fast enough (although I was in slow motion thanks to Bill). I have no doubt that kid will wreck and kill people one day.
This first picture is before we entered the track and is near the entrance to the museum. I took a photo of a group of women and got an amazing photo of them with horses running in the background on the television display. She took our photo and got "Restrooms & Concessions". Admittedly, mine was luck; but why couldn't I have had better luck with her getting our background. This was a pretty solid foreshadowing of my poor luck picking horses for the entire three horse racing days (Thurby, Oaks and Derby).
Chris, Tracy, Kevin and I had flown up to Cincinnati that Thursday morning and then gotten an Uber ride to Bill's condo which is about an hour's drive. Poor Uber drivers. They do not know where they are going until they accept the ride on their app. We talked once he got to us and made sure he was ok driving us to Louisville before we loaded up the car. He was good. Just broken up with his girlfriend. No other job to put him on a timetable so off we went. An hour plus later and after we unloaded all of our luggage at Bill's condo, we had our Uber driver stick around and take us to Churchill Downs. I had thought about asking him to stay all weekend and be our driver but Kevin talked me out of that idea. Our Uber driver's name was Konstantine. He was awesome and had an awesome name.
Chris and Davie met us at the gate with tickets so we got in free. We partied with them in the stands pretty close to the Finish Post and had an amazing time until I smoked with Bill and forgot about three hours of the evening. Thanks a lot, Bill. DS, I am back to once a year with you.
I vaguely remember the worst Uber driver ever - a kid that talked non-stop about himself, his ex girlfriends and their $1million+ net worths and almost turned his vehicle over while taking an interstate exit on two wheels. We also ate at a restaurant on the river which I do not remember but was told it was bad. I kinda remember everyone in the Uber crazy rollercoaster ride being all nice to the kid driver/killer and thinking "Why are they being so nice to this idiot". I did tell him to slow down as he was about to turn his truck over on the interstate exit ramp. I could not have gotten out of that Uber fast enough (although I was in slow motion thanks to Bill). I have no doubt that kid will wreck and kill people one day.
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| Restrooms & Concessions |
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| Restrooms & Concessions |
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Chris, Noah, Bill, Chris, Davie
Churchill Downs Thurby 2019
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Chris and I sat and ate in the track food area.
Tracy is eating at the far end in yellow.
Kevin is in dark blue.
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| Thurby Wristbands! Thanks Davie! Thanks Chris! |
Kentucky Derby 145
Thurby
Noah's Travel Blogs
Oaks145
Friday was a beautiful day for Kentucky Oaks. It was early afternoon by the time we all got to the track, but that was plenty of time as the Oaks is not actually until about 5:30pm.
Chris, Tracy, Kevin and I had lunch at O'Charley's over near the restaurant that Bill loves, Bob Evans. We would have eaten there, but the wait was more than we wanted to wait. We ate most of lunch at O'Charley's before Bill joined us. He wasn't going to eat, but we had plenty of leftovers and he could not pass those up.
After O'Charley's, Bill drove us over to the backside. Tim had left him a parking pass and we rolled through the gate with no questions asked. It was awesome!
April, Missy, Momma and Kyle met us all at the VFW along with Kelly and Wes and all of us drove over to the backside with the guys riding in the back of Bill's pick-up truck.
We lucked up and got a fantastic parking spot right up on the track next to a set of stables on the back stretch. Great spot.
Before the actual Oaks race, I bought everyone tickets to trackside and we all walked through the metal detector on the backside, through the tunnel to the infield, through the tunnel to the trackside and to our seats in the grandstands. We had a really great view of the track just about where the horses lined up and started the races.
After the races, we made our way out of the track and took a golf cart ride over to the VFW where we all partied there for a while. Kelly sang karaoke. We all danced and I stayed the night with Momma, April, Kyle and Missy at Tim and Courtney's beautiful house in Indiana.
Chris, Tracy, Kevin and I had lunch at O'Charley's over near the restaurant that Bill loves, Bob Evans. We would have eaten there, but the wait was more than we wanted to wait. We ate most of lunch at O'Charley's before Bill joined us. He wasn't going to eat, but we had plenty of leftovers and he could not pass those up.
After O'Charley's, Bill drove us over to the backside. Tim had left him a parking pass and we rolled through the gate with no questions asked. It was awesome!
April, Missy, Momma and Kyle met us all at the VFW along with Kelly and Wes and all of us drove over to the backside with the guys riding in the back of Bill's pick-up truck.
We lucked up and got a fantastic parking spot right up on the track next to a set of stables on the back stretch. Great spot.
Before the actual Oaks race, I bought everyone tickets to trackside and we all walked through the metal detector on the backside, through the tunnel to the infield, through the tunnel to the trackside and to our seats in the grandstands. We had a really great view of the track just about where the horses lined up and started the races.
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| Going through one of the tunnels |
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| My sister and her pink hat |
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| April, Momma and Missy on the rail for one of the races. |
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| Noah, April, Kyle with the Spires behind us. |
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| Missy, April, Noah, Annette, Kyle and the Spires |
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| Us leaving Churchill Downs. Love the jockey statues behind us. |
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| Kelly singing on stage. |
Kentucky Derby 145
Oaks
Noah's Travel Blogs
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