This morning we toured the Hillerich and Bradsby complex in the museum area of downtown. H&B has made Louisville Slugger baseball bats since 1884. Outside the museum and factory is a 120-foot 68,000-pound steel bat, a scale model of Babe Ruth’s bat. Bats used to be trimmed from “billets” of ash or maple on a lathe, taking one man 30 minutes to form a bat from the cylinder of wood. Now a bat can be made in 30 seconds on a computer driven lathe. We watched bats being formed, stained, trademarks burned in and coated with finishing lacquer.
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Big bat - 120-foot, 68,000-pounds of steel
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Plaque for Honus Wagner |
Great sign for a glass company
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After walking through the gift shop we had spare time before our bus would pick us up so we walked to the Flame Run Glass Studio and Gallery (no photos allowed). We watched a craftsman make special beer mugs and listened to a guide explain the process. Glass blowers can rent the “hot” studio to make their own designs
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At 4:15 we were driven back downtown to watch the Pegasus Parade, which officially opens the Kentucky Derby Festival. We had reserved seats in bleachers with back supports and were right across the street from the local TV commentator’s booth. We could listen to their explanations of the bands, floats, inflatables, and equestrian groups and waited through all of their commercials. The six inflatables had great difficulty because of the consistent wind, but it was an entertaining event - not to compete with the Rose Parade, however.
Pegasus
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Wells Fargo Stage |
Miniature ponies |
An essential job for a parade with many horses
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We finally had a free day to do whatever we wanted. So we decided that since we are here in Kentucky bourbon country we should take a tour of a bourbon distillery. We drove south to Clermont and did the self-guided tour of Jim Beam. We walked and read the signs at the still-house, cooperage, rack-house, and ended at the tasting room. We are not bourbon drinkers so we decided the Red Stag Black Cherry bourbon would be nice over ice cream and the Jim Beam Honey would be nice over oatmeal like we had in Ireland!
Jim Beam Distillery
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Jim Beam Distillery |
We also visited the Heaven Hill Distilleries Bourbon Heritage Center and read our way through their museum of the history of bourbon and how it is produced. Most informative was their explanation of prohibition and what that did to the US economy and the bourbon industry.
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Heaven Hill
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After a leisurely breakfast, we dressed up in our Kentucky Derby outfits including big hats with bows and feathers and walked to get a shuttle bus to Churchill Downs. At the entrance we had our bags checked – no bags larger than 12 x 12 inches were allowed and no cameras with detachable lenses (like my Olympus digital SLR - fortunately we knew this in advance and I didn't take it, thus no telephoto lens pictures). This and several other items are no longer allowed into Churchill Downs as a result of the Boston Marathon bombing last year. We arrived after the 4th race (of 13 for the day) and the traffic, crowds, and lines were tolerable. We found our box and seats, which were folding chairs with 8 chairs squeezed into the usual 6-seat box. We were at the 1/8th pole so we could see many of the starts on dirt and turf and looked down to the right to the finish line - in the distance. The jumbo screen was easy to see and we could watch the people pouring into the infield. It only costs $50 for a ticket to the infield but there are no seats and you cannot see the track. Those people are there for the booze and partying.
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Our Derby hats
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Starting gate being set up for a turf race
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They're off! |
The paddock |
The paddock
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The people watching was as much fun as the horses. Most of the women were in sleeveless sundresses, high heels, and ornate hats. Many of the men were in wild colored sport coats, bright colored shirts, wild bow ties and hats and were smoking cigars that were sold at Churchill Downs. Some men finished the outfit with shorts or colorful slacks. Some of the women changed to flip-flops later in the day.
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Hat watching
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Hat watching |
People watching
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The giant screen made it possible for everyone to see the races from all over the stands and infield |
Getting ready for the Derby start
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They're off! |
Derby field going by us for the first time |
The winner's circle is a long way off!
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The eleventh race of the day’s thirteen races was the Big Race. Marge bet the favorite and won and Gale bet a long shot and lost. Over the day we almost broke even. California Chrome won the Derby by several lengths and has (had) a legitimate chance of winning the Triple Crown. It was a fun day especially seeing all of the activity going on in between the races.
We did not stay for the thirteenth race. We stood in a Disneyland line 17 lanes long for an hour and 15 minutes to get on a shuttle bus. It took 20 minutes for the bus to go the five blocks back to the Expo Center. Actually they had a good system and the 164,902 people in attendance (the second largest Derby crowd) all left in a relatively orderly fashion considering how much liquor (mint juleps for $12, Champaign, hard liquor, beer, etc.) was consumed.
We were tired, our feet hurt from wearing heels all day, and so a beer and an egg burrito in the camper ended our 11-hour day.
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