Moving On

It takes some coordination to move 15 eighteen-ton motor homes and their tow cars to a new location. We do it in waves, four to five coaches at a time so that we don’t clog the highways and byways. Our communication is via family radio (aka walkie talkies). This is how we traveled to Bardstown and settled into our new campground.

We have not mentioned weather. It is hot and humid. After arriving, most of us were grateful for a chance to unwind in our motor homes. However, we had one task to take care of. When we go to distilleries, we get a “passport stamp.” When we have filled in each of the six spaces, we will have earned a tee shirt with the names of the distilleries. For reasons not worth mentioning, we each had to get to Heaven Hill on our own and not as a group. There we passed on the tour but enjoyed a wonderful tasting of two excellent bourbons. The man in charge of the tasting had us sniff then add a couple of drops of water making bourbon and branch water. Then we savored the flavor.

The tasting ended with a luscious bourbon ball. After visiting their shop, we were free for the rest of the day. In the evening, we gathered for dinner and the second round of our “horse race.”

The next morning we headed out for a real horse race. After a short shopping spree at a Louisville package store, we went to Churchill Downs. A bronze statue of Barbaro greets visitors to the Derby Museum.

Our visit started with The Greatest Race, a movie about the thrill of the Kentucky Derby. We then toured the grounds, walking by the paddocks and under signs of Derby winners. The old Jockey Club is the oldest building in the complex. We saw the statue of Pat Day, who won the most races ever, over 2400 including one Derby. Our guide described the excitement that can only be understood by being present on Derby Day.

Started in 1875 by M. Lewis Clark, grandson of the explorer, it became a premier race under the leadership of Matt Winn. In 2011 165,000 people attended the race. During the rest of the year 14 horses may run a race, in the Derby 20 three-year olds race.

We then wandered around the museum seeing displays of the ubiquitous hats and lists of the most honored jockeys, trainers, grooms and owners.

A display showing fancy clothing included the dress worn by Pat Cherney, owner of Secretriat.

There are special sections in the museum for farriers, fillies and the most famous jockey of all Willie Shoemaker. For those of us so inclined, there was a chance to simulate riding in a horse race.

We had tables reserved for us to enjoy a buffet lunch in Millionaires Row.

During the three-day Derby weekend, it costs $60,000 for a seat license plus $1000 each for eight seats at a table. We got in for a minute fraction of that. From the patio outside we had an excellent view of the races. Some of our group were winners and some were not so lucky, but that’s horse racing.