That time we went to the Kentucky Derby!

Several months ago Matt surprised me with tickets to the Kentucky Derby. When I say ‘surprised’ I really mean that he TOTALLY SHOCKED THE PANTS OF ME! I have ALWAYS loved to watch the horse races. There is just something about watching those big, beautiful, majestic animals run that gets me every time. I’m not really sure why but sometimes I cry when I watch horse races. I don’t know why, I just do. I don’t mean that I ball but I definitely get the chin quiver and my eyes get a little misty. So Matt took note at how much I loved it and gave me tickets for my birthday (and Christmas…anniversary…valentines…thanksgiving….presidents day…really any holiday for the next 3 years:)

I was shocked because this wasn’t even on my bucket list. Not because I didn’t want to go but because it never crossed my mind as being something that I would ever get the opportunity to do. I always thought that the derby was only for the rich and famous. Well, there are still a lot a very rich and very famous people that attend the derby but Matt and I were not one of those (which is why the birthday gift counted towards so many other ‘occassions’).

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We started the trek up to Louisville on Monday and stopped in Nashville to stay with some dear friends of ours and made the rest of the drive on Tuesday. When we got in to town we went straight to the Louisville Slugger factory and museum. For two people who love the game of baseball this was a must. We got to hold in our hands some of the very bats that some of the greatest players in the game used. This is a picture of one of Babe Ruth’s bats. Now, we didn’t get to hold that one, of course, they had it in a glass case but how cool is it to see that bat up close and personal? The notches that are carved in it were carved by the Great Bambino himself (Did you just hear Ham’s voice from the Sandlot say ‘The Great Bambiiiinooooo”? Yeah, me too).

He carved a notch for every homerun he hit in 1927. So. Stinking. Cool.

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And a trip to Kentucky wouldn’t be complete without a trip to one of their many distilleries. We went to the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Ky. I’m not a big bourbon drinker. I’m actually not a bourbon drinker at all. It is far too spicy and strong for my taste. I will stick to my margarita:) But it was really neat to tour the distillery and learn about everything that goes into making bourbon. The process was quite interesting.

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There was a ton of picturesque scenes on the way up there too. Kentucky looked exactly the way I thought that it would. Farms with rolling hills and horses grazing in the field. Ahhh so so pretty.

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Dawn at the Downs

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On the morning of my birthday (May 4th), Matt arranged for us to go to Dawn at the Downs. We got to watch the sunrise, eat breakfast and sip coffee on Millionaires Row while we watched the horses practice. It was absolutely wonderful. Definitely one of my favorite memories to date.

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I mean, those muscles. How gorgeous is that horse?

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On Friday we went to the 141st running of the Kentucky Oaks which is a race for the fillies. We spent all day trying to get the hang of the whole horse betting thing so we could be ready for the Derby. I’m still somewhat unsure of what a boxed superfecta is but we had fun trying our hand at it. We learned that some people know what they are doing when betting on a horse and they see and understand the science behind all of it but most of us bet on a horse because we like their name or they are pretty. At least those were my reasons, which would probably explain why Matt and I had to return home and go back to work. No big winning here. Maybe next time…

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Every year at the Kentucky Derby there are over 120,000 mint juleps served but because I am not a bourbon drinker, I was not one of the those so I stuck with the signature drink of the Oaks which was called a lily. I have no idea what was in it but it was tasty and pretty:)

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Because I am a photographer, sometimes I get consumed with taking pictures and forget to stop and take in the moment so Matt and I made a deal. I could take all the pictures I wanted for the Kentucky Oaks but for the Derby I had to put the camera away and enjoy the race. So all of these pictures are of the race on Friday and I enjoyed being a spectator on Saturday. I soooo wanted to take pictures of some of the hats that we saw at the Derby but it was kinda nice to not constantly be thinking “Ooo I need to get a picture of THAT hat!” because there were fabulous hats in every direction.

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Even though we went into this thinking it would be a once in a lifetime trip, we definitely left with a fever for going back. Who wants to go with us next year?