Embracing My Inner Southern Belle in Kentucky

When I first moved to "The South" I remember thinking how phony everything was and feeling very out of place.  Southern culture seemed overwhelming and ridiculous.  Everywhere I turned there was a church,  an overly friendly female in a floral printed dress, and people saying "Bless your heart." I soon discovered that there was nothing "phony" or "ridiculous" about this different way of life.  I realized people in The South were actually genuine; down to their hospitality, faith, and their love for family and small towns. Over the past 15 years, I have come to fall in love with The South and everything it has to offer...

Sweat Tea

Front Porches

The Weather

Authentic Faith

Pig Pickins, Fried &Comfort Food

Slower Pace of Life

Country Music & Country Accents

Manners and Opened Doors

Bow Ties and Seer Sucker Suits

Ranch on Everything

Monograms and Pearls

College Football

I could go on!! Seriously, what's not to love?  I could not wait to embrace my inner Southern Belle, and what a more perfect time and place than the 141st Kentucky Derby!!

 Looks like I am one of those "phony southern girls" now, and I am also a sucker for this guy in seer sucker ;) <Kenny Walters>

The Kentucky Oaks

Eeeekkkk!!! So excited to be at CHURCHILL DOWNS! <Kristen Kirk, Calvin Kirk, Kenny Walters>

The Kentucky Oaks and The Kentucky Derby are the oldest, continuous sporting events in history and have been held since 1875.  They are the only horse races to be held at their original site.  The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby and this year it broke a record with 125, 000 people in attendance!

 Our friends, Calvin and Kristen Kirk, organized this experience for us.  We are so thankful for their friendship & the memories we made while visiting them in Louisville, KY.

This was the view from our seats!  We were second row from the dirt track with a great view of the horses as they came around the turn, every 45 minutes or so.  The horse races reminded me of fishing, a lot of patiently waiting with little action.  When there was action, the atmosphere was exhilarating!  My heart was more into the races once we started placing bets-I won a grand total of $12.00 :)

 We were so close

I was loving and soaking in every minute of this experience!

 Kristen and I with our "Grey Goose Oaks Lily", the signature drink of this prestigious race.  <Grey Goose, cranberry juice, sweet & sour mix, Triple Sec>

The Kentucky Derby
The next day was the day of the Kentucky Derby.  The Kentucky Derby is known as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" and it was hard to believe all the hype that surrounded this two minute race. It is the first race of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes in Maryland, then the Belmont Stakes in New York.

We actually did not attend the derby on Saturday, for various reasons.  We spent a lot of money and "went all out" on Friday, our friends couldn't find a babysitter.  Our tickets to The Oaks ran us $200.00 each with those same tickets for The Derby going for $400.00 each!! If we were going to go, it would have just been Kenny and I in the infield (the $50.00 general admission tickets, which doesn't include a view of the track. You watch the race on a large screen TV).  The hassle of getting to and from Churchill Downs, high cost of beverages, long lines for bathrooms, and hanging out among a drunk sea of people just didn't seem worth it.  Especially considering we had such a great experience on Friday.  

Attend the Kentucky Derby in Lousville, KY

Crossing things off your bucket list is twice as fun when you do it with someone who has the same thing on theirs! I know we may be cheating a little bit here, but we are still crossing this one off our bucket list and the reason being that we feel we had "the experience" of the Kentucky Derby. We watched horses race at Churchill Downs,  placed bets, drank mint juleps, wore a big hat and bow tie.  Our experience and seats at The Oaks far outdid being in the crowded infield on the day of the derby. We had our own little Kentucky Derby party and enjoyed hanging out with our friends that we don't get to see very often.  

Kentucky Bourbon Trial

We took our sweet time driving back to North Carolina, including a stop off the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail was not on my bucket list because I don't like bourbon, but if you enjoy bourbon you should definitely add this to your list. We stopped at Woodford Reserve which offered an informative and highly organized tour of the distillery for a steal, $10 a person.  If you are in the area check this place out! { http://www.woodfordreserve.com/ }

We learned so much from this tour and we were able to see each step in the process of bourbon making.  Perhaps the most interesting fact I learned on the tour was why Kentucky is known for bourbon and thoroughbreds.  There is an abundance of limestone in this area, consisting of calcium which contributes to strong, healthy bones and a fine component that turns whiskey into bourbon!

Woodford Reserve

 

<Calvin (and Trey!) Kirk, Kristen Kirk, Kenny Walters>

We ended our long weekend with a quaint lunch spot that was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives".  The name of the place was Wallace Station, just outside of Lexington, KY and just off The Bourbon Trail.  Like all weekends you look forward to do, it ended and we headed home to Raleigh, North Carolina.

On our 9 hour drive I smiled when I realized we didn't venture too far, as we were always south of the Mason-Dixon.

In case you couldn't already tell, I am never leaving.  There's no place I would rather be....