Last Thursday my mom, sister and I embarked on our trip to Kentucky to cross off another state that Tessa and I have visited together and to take in the Kentucky Derby. My mom and my sister have both wanted to go to the derby for as long as I can remember, and Chad actually was the one who prompted the trip to happen and I was so kindly invited along too! Thank you to Tessa and Chad for orchestrating the whole thing!
Our flight through Minneapolis was delayed, so we arrived at about 10:00 in Lexington where we were staying.
It was my birthday the day we left and we walked into our room to a wonderful surprise in which Dana had sent flowers. They were beautiful! (Don't mind my 10:00 PM haggardly-looking picture).
Tessa, our wonderful and astute travel planner, had arranged for a tour for us on Friday morning. We first stopped at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington. We were supposed to touch this (sycamore, I think it was) tree for good luck.
They were working with some of the horses that morning.
We went next to one (of the many) horse farms in the area. This one was Magdalena Farms. It was fun to see the new baby foals. So cute.
And the resident goat.
Our last stop on the tour was the Kentucky Horse Park.
Statue of one of the past derby winners, Man O' War.
After that tour we he headed to a little cafe that we had found called Stella's.
We ordered the Kentucky Pie or also known as Derby Pie. Yum!
We learned that the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln was nearby in Lexington, so after lunch we walked over there for a tour.
After that tour, we took an Uber back over to the Kentucky Horse Park.It had been more than 20 years since I've been on a horse, but Tessa coerced Mom and I to go on a trail ride with her.
I will most remember Kentucky for the horses, but also all this fence!
Typically I am more about the cats than the horses, so I sniffed out a feline to befriend, but she wasn't really having it.
Tessa had made reservations for us at the Merrick Inn. It was rather dark and noisy with background chatter in there, but we had a really nice meal.
Saturday we got up and boarded our charter bus to Lexington for derby day. It was so fun to see all the unique hats and dresses on the ladies and even the eclectic suits that the men wore. Tessa had carefully selected excellent seats for us. It was raining pretty much all day, but thankfully our seats were just beneath the edge of an overhang. And we had ponchos as well, so we did stay fairly dry. However, it was the wettest derby on record with 3" of rainfall!
I opted for the Oaks Lily drink instead of the famed derby drink, Mint Julep. I guess there is another big race the day before the derby called the Kentucky Oaks and lily drink is the signature drink for that race.
Bets placed and fingers crossed! I bet on three horses.
They sure had a lot of good food at the derby. Not sure why Tessa didn't agree with my tasty kabob here!
So excited!
One of the horses Tessa bet on won first and one of mine came in second place. Another one of my three came in dead last. Haha. I was excited to win $92.00!
I texted Dana to let him know about my winnings to which he replied that he had bought a garden trailer for $40, so he surmised that he had spent his half. I told him that I spent $50 betting on three horses, so I actually only profited $42. So, there went that! haha.
It was such a fun and amazing trip, but also good to get back home. I was greeted with this nice birthday sign from the girls.
I brought them back each a stuffed horse. Brynn named hers Kentucky and Clara named hers Good Magic, which was also the name of my horse that won.
Video:
Comments