On Thursday night, we loaded up the van and hit the road (again!), this time to Louisville, KY, to stay with our friends, the Bischoffs, & go to the Kentucky Derby. I didn't know anything about the Derby or how it worked, so it was all an eye-opening experience for me. When you think of going to the Derby, you of course, think of huge, extravagant hats and fancy dresses/suits, sitting on bleachers, and drinking mint juleps. Except for the hats & the juleps, it's NOTHING like that for us "common folk". For those of you in the Louisiana area, it's an experience akin to Jazz Fest, except with about 2 minutes of cheering every 40 minutes (or so) as you alternate between trying to catch glimpses of the ACTUAL horses racing around the track and watching them race on the huge TV screen in front of you (Derby), instead of trying to catch glimpses of the ACTUAL musicians playing so you don't have to watch them play on the huge TV screen in front of you (Jazz Fest). There are food booths and drink booths; it costs an arm & a leg to get in; you pay more for a single beer than you ever would for a six-pack; there aren't enough port-a-potties; and they run out of toilet paper mid-day. Sound familiar???? The people who choose to pay big bucks get to sit in the grandstands, which is what I thought of when I heard "Derby", but all of the excitement happens in "The Infield", which is where we were. You're basically in the middle, grassy area of the track with the horses racing around you. You set up a blanket, chairs, and a pop-up canopy & have an all-day party. You can see some pretty crazy sights as the drinking ensues (think Mardi Gras or Girls Gone Wild!) & the yelling for your favorite horses only gets louder as the day goes on. On Friday, the races are called "The Oaks" and the Saturday races are "The Kentucky Derby". This year was the 134th Derby. The actual Derby race is the 10th out of 12 for the day. The races last between 1 and 2 minutes and happen approximately 35-40 minutes apart. We had a blast betting on horses & even managed to break even, at least for the second day. Our picks didn't go so well the first day.
Our friends, Michelle & Scott, arranged for a baby-sitter for both days & William & Daniel LOVED "Miss Maggie". She took care of our two as well as the two Bischoff kiddos, Brady (4) and Hannah (17 months). It's a testament to her skill level that the four of them didn't drive her nutso!!! Our kiddos had SOO much fun playing with Brady & Hannah (not too sure they even noticed we were gone on the first day) and on the Sunday before we left, the Daddies went to play golf & Daniel looked around & said, "Maggie?" I think he was disappointed he only got the Mommies! We drove home Sunday night (about 3.5 hours) and now, it's back to the real world.
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