HAPPY DERBY!!!

Guess what??   It’s Derby week people!!   DERBY WEEK!!   For those of you who know me, you know that I was raised in Louisville so I consider myself a Derby Girl.   I was never allowed to go to the Derby (the crazy infield with the drunks from around the world!) until I was in college!  My first semester, I brought two carloads of friends home from Murray State to do the Derby.

We arrived on Friday afternoon to a pasta dinner that my Mom had prepared.   There were blankets and pillows all over the place for our sleeping requirements.   I was 19…not old enough to drink, and even after my freshman year, I was still kind of “new” to the drinking game.

I had learned the trick for getting liquor into the infield from a worldly friend.   We would buy a couple of buckets of chicken at KFC in the morning and then take the chicken out, stash the small bottles of liquor (pints, bought legally in Tennessee) into the buckets and put the chicken back in and around to hide the bottles.   We would easily transport the buckets in our cooler and get through security with no problems.   We’d have other snacks to throw them off.   I acted like a pro and yet, I had never been to the track on Derby Day…well, actually, I had never been to the track.

The next morning, we all got moving early and at 7am, we were out the door with two Styrofoam coolers and a quick stop at KFC to get our chicken and prep our contraband.   We planned to catch the shuttle from the Fairgrounds, as there was no available parking for the cheap seats.   With seven people in our group, we easily transported the coolers on the bus and arrived at Churchill Downs to a long line of college aged attendees.   It smelled like a distillery as all bags were being inspected and any alcohol that was found was dumped into the dumpster.   Seriously, it smelled gross…kind of like a fraternity house after their all-night trash can punch party.    With all of the confidence in the world, we moved up in line to have our coolers inspected and we were given the all clear to head into the infield.   

WOW!!   This rule follower had made it into the Infield on Derby Day, WITH liquor!!!   It was 9:30am.   We found our spot, near a fence, so we could actually see the horses run by.   We spread out our blankets, and setup camp.   It was a blast….until about 12:30pm…at that point, I was ready to go home.   The drunks were everywhere!   They stepped on our coolers to see the race, and you guessed it…our Styrofoam coolers went to hell!   Luckily the chicken was saved…and the alcohol was just about gone.   3 pints didn’t go far….we weren’t real sure how much booze to use, but suffice to say we were definitely buzzing.  It’s 12:30pm, the booze is almost gone, and our coolers are destroyed.  But, we had lots of chicken!!!   The Derby race wasn’t until 5:30pm.   Now what?  

There’s no doubt that you have read and seen the stories of the Infield on Derby Day…it was crazy!   Streakers, girls in tube tops and guys pulling on them or shouting for them to “take it off!”  Couples doing things I had never heard about!   We saw a wedding, a volleyball game, a putting green golf game, and the ground was littered with passed out patrons.   I was miserable!   Bathrooms were overflowing…literally and figuratively.  The betting lines were so long, you couldn’t get a bet in.   I was miserable!   My friends were loving it all…I was miserable and just wanted to go home and watch it on TV.   It was a long day, and a day that cured me from wanting to go back to the Infield.   Of course, I repeated that scene 3 more years until I graduated from college.   I always had friends that wanted to go home for Derby and I wanted to do it…until I did it!!

Fast forward and there were 24 years straight, when Greg and I would host a group in Millionaires Row on the Sunday before Derby.   It started as a fun day at the track but it soon grew to a weekend that included catered dinners, hotel rooms, balloon race, mini-marathon as well as the Sunday at the Track.   It was my DERBY!   Hats, dressed up, mint juleps brought by servers, and Millionaires Row!  

When Churchill Downs went under construction, things changed.   It wasn’t as much fun. The intimacy was lost on the big ballroom.   We suffered through a couple of years with plastic on the walls and unfurnished spaces….but we were loyal and had a standing reservation.   Our group had grown to 54 people.   IT. WAS. AWESOME!

Then life changed…we started having our Derby parties and trying to bring the Derby to Cincinnati.  I think we converted a few people along the way, but most of our friends thought we were crazy.   It’s okay!   Most Derby people are crazy but we are damn proud of it!!

Once again, life changed.   Our last Derby party was 2015.   We went out of town in 2016 so we didn’t have a party…but if you remember, that was when I was going through the initial stages of my heartbreak.   It is now April 2019 and I’m tired of missing the fun that comes to Louisville during Derby week.

Today, I co-hosted a group at the Track…We were on Millionaire’s Row, 6^th floor, and it was AMAZING!!   It has changed a lot…we no longer take the shuttle or carpool to the Track but we Uber and Lyft.   We no longer have to hide our booze…we can afford to buy drinks inside.  We had a group of 30 today.   Thirty people from a lot of different places in life…some family, some friends, some strangers!!    By the end of the day, we were all friends…some won money and some made a generous donation to the Track.   But, we all had fun!   I cried at the end of the day…it’s what I used to do in the old days!   A fun hangover…I hate for it to end and I LOVE BEING IN LOUISVILLE FOR DERBY WEEK!!   **The seats that we were in today will be occupied by the rich and famous on Friday and Saturday…just sayin’!!!

Tomorrow, I’ll do a little running around and have some Louisville fun.   Friday, there will be brunch and Derby Eve festivities…on TV!   Saturday…there will be a swanky Derby Party…with friends and strangers who I plan to become friends with before it’s over!!  

It’s really hard to explain Derby week to the outside world…Louisville is on its best behavior this week with so many fun things to do.  The people watching exceeds all expectations.  This is when I miss my hometown so much!   But now, I mark my calendar and save the date!   I need to be in Louisville for Derby…EVERY YEAR!!

On Saturday, May 4, when you tune in to watch the magic of the two-minute horse race, think about me…big hat and mint julep in hand!  

                                                       HAPPY DERBY DAY!!!