Monday, May 4, 2009

Our collective nightmare is over

Well, the month long craziness that is the Kentucky Derby festival is finally over.

The traffic disruptions, lack of good news coverage in favor of reporting on bed races, and worrying if it will rain on a certain Friday or Saturday are all over.

I watched the Derby on Saturday, and I have to admit it was a good race. I'm not one for horse racing that much, although I enjoy going to the track with friends. But that's more to enjoy time with my friends than it is to bet on the ponies.

A few years ago, a friend of ours got us tickets to Churchill Downs on a Sunday for brunch on Millionaires Row. For those of you who don't live around Louisville, Millionaires Row is the area where celebrities and politicians go to watch the Derby and Oaks. We didn't go on a special day, so it was mostly regular people who paid extra to have a great breakfast, an air conditioned table to sit at, and a great perch in a tall building to watch the races from. We had all of the kids with us, and I allowed each of them to pick a horse from one of the races, and I put a $2 bet down for them. Junior Bear suddenly turned into Jimmy the Greek. He asked about track conditions, what the records of each of the horses was, and so on. Little Bear picked a horse at random as he was more interested in the buffet. Girlie Bear picked, and I quote, "the brown one".

Needless to say, Girlie Bear won on a 25 to 1 shot. I let her spend her $50 any way she wanted.

After the Derby this year, we went over to a friend's house to make dinner for the crew of friends who were working security at the Derby. They are parents and teenagers who are involved in the band program at Junior Bear's school. The money they raise working security at these events goes towards paying for the band. These poor souls had been on their feet for 14 hours a day for the past two days, so we made them a good spaghetti and salad dinner. Irish Woman went to the store and got a flat of cupcakes and an apple pie for dessert.

When the crew got in at about 9, we got to hear about all the celebrities they'd seen as some of them had worked the limousine entrance and some had worked on Millionaires Row. Apparently, Kim Kardashian is as pretty in person as she is on the Internet. Or at least she is to the eyes of an 18 year old high school senior.

So, until next year, we can get back to just being a city in the South/Midwest.

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