TENNESSEE FAMILY
We left the next
morning for Paris, Tennessee where we'd be joined by Perry's sister and
brother-in-law, (Patty and Don) who flew in from Texas. We always have fun together and this time
was no different. We were staying in an
RV park not far from family and Don and Patty rented a cute cabin across from
us.
We all got together
with Perry's niece's and nephew for a small family reunion in the small town of
Paris, a part of Tennessee where some of Perry and Patty's family is from. It's always fun to hear family stories realizing
just how important family is! We were all treated to a delightful dinner out,
enjoying the best catfish. Afterwards, we joined Perry's niece and her husband (who is Chief of Police in Paris) at the annual Paris Catfish Fry followed by a rodeo.
After spending a few days with family, we left
for the town of Shelbyville, Kentucky. There weren't full hook-ups meaning
Kaylyn and I had to shower in the bathhouse!
Definitely an inconvenience before the derby but Perry swears it all
balances out since our unique spot was surrounded by families of geese and a
rare type of fishing boat that lights up at night. Another cute but small town
with not a lot to do, we took this opportunity to show Kaylyn how we seek out
small, unassuming places. We found a
small restaurant that happened to be offering karaoke that afternoon. I couldn't resist surprising Kaylyn by
putting her name on the list and she
sung her old time favorite "I'm a Red Neck Woman". Thankfully, she wasn't angry with me for
being bold but somehow must have realized how much I've missed her and her singing…..and I
have!
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Family get together |
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A night at the local rodeo! |
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Rodeo in Paris, Tn. |
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Some of the Tennessee Family members |
Horses, more horses and while in Kentucky……visit a
Distillery!
Kaylyn has loved
horses since she was a small girl (recently acquired her
own"Bandit"), and prior to the Kentucky Derby wanted to tour
thoroughbred farms. We did this over a
period of two days touring the most beautiful Kentucky countryside. There were many colts on the farms that were
as young as a day old and we saw offspring of the Triple Crown Winner, American
Pharaoh. The stature of these beautiful
colts were evident they were from royalty, displaying a muscular build and
athletic ability. The next farm we
visited was a stud farm. I was fascinated
by the process of breeding a thoroughbred and the money it takes to invest in
one of the these beautiful animals. This
particular stud farm was not only stunning to look at but I was impressed by
its' cleanliness. On our tour, we were
shown how four workers place a male and female thoroughbred together in a small
arena where they mate. Stud fees for racehorses can be as high as $20,000. I don't know much about horses, but my
overall observations were it's a business for investors who have a great deal of
money. The grounds and buildings are
meticulous and well manicured and the horses are spectacular looking with their
athletic and muscular builds.
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Entrance to one of the Thoroughbred Farms |
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The grounds |
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The size, muscles and build!! |
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Worth Tens of Thousands |
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Triple Crown winner "American Pharoah"'s offspring |
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"The connection" |
Kentucky has a lot
of history to it and we decided to take a side trip to Frankfurt (state
Capitol) where we stopped at the Buffalo
Trace Distillery. We missed the last
tour of this historic place but while in line buying souvenirs, an employee who
had just gotten off work offered to take us around. An old brick building of the early 1800's
stored many floors stacked with barrels of aging whiskey. On the bottom floor was the packaging room
where employees hurriedly filled and packed bottles. The employee took us to a place not offered
on a tour, where a recently uncovered room revealed the original Buffalo Trace
Distillery of the late 1700's. We
couldn't have thanked this young, married family man enough who took time after
work to show us around.
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Floors of aging whiskey |
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The bottling and packaging line |
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Whiskey storage tank |
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Entrance to the Distillery |
The Kentucky Oaks and Derby
Kaylyn and I had a
short amount of time to prepare for the derby so we headed out for a much
needed mother/daughter shopping trip.
This included buying dresses, shoes and hats (we were making our own), a
trip to Michael's where we purchased feathers, ribbons and netting. Together we decorated our derby hats, keeping
mine on the conservative side (later wishing I had done more) while Kaylyn
opted for a decorative headband.
The weather was
predicted to be rainy and cold. Kaylyn and I had gone into many stores looking
for rain ponchos but were informed that were all sold to someone who sells them
at the Derby for a profit. Restrictions applied
to what you couldn't bring in and of course the one thing…..umbrellas! The day
of the Oaks (day prior to the Derby), I couldn't wear my cute, comfortable
sandals because of the rain so I wore boots.
Kaylyn didn't have the option and wore sandals.
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Churchill Downs Entrance |
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A cold rainy day at The Kentucky Oaks |
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We couldn't resist the "selfie" |
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Definitely, one of the most exciting things we've done! |
The Kentucky Oaks
The Kentucky Oaks is
an event for 3-year old fillies always held prior to the Derby. We were so
excited to be going to Churchill Downs even if we had to drive over an hour and
through nasty weather to get there. A shuttle
bus took us to the entrance of Churchill Downs and the three of us were so
excited (despite the cold and rain).
Going through the entrances you couldn't help but notice hundreds of
umbrellas that were given up prior to entering.
First, we toured the muddy racetrack, bought mint juleps and headed
towards our Grandstand seats. The people behind us were from California and
offered us extra ponchos. They honestly
saved us from the wet seats where we weathered the cold. This day,( because of the weather) the
event was not packed with people and we shivered through the races. It was fun and memorable but the best was yet
to come……..
The Kentucky Derby
By our experiences
of the Oaks, we had an idea of what to expect at the Derby. The vibe was entirely different,
however. The Derby is a rare
"breed" (no pun intended) in itself with lots of fancy hats and
outfits for guys and girls. There were a lot more people, more mint juleps and
cigars (Perry bought both) being offered and the level of excitement was
unmatched. Thankfully, the sun was
shining and it was slightly warmer day.
Kaylyn brought us to the paddock area where you can view the horses and
jockeys prior to entering the track. Here, we cheered them on while taking
pictures with the National Anthem being sung by Harry Conick, jr. , everyone
singing "My Old Kentucky Home", and the bugler playing the song prior
to the race. The race was about to begin! We were close to the muddy racetrack and I still marveled at these
beautiful racehorses. The actual Derby
race lasted only a few minutes and prior to this, Perry and Kaylyn had stood in
line to wager bets. Kaylyn placed a
small bet on the first-place winner, "Always Dreaming" and I was
ecstatic she had won. It was an epic,
long, memorable day and we were all exhausted!
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Derby Prep |
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It was cold but worth it! |
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Paddock area for jockeys and their horses |
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Cold Derby weather |
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And........they're off! |
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Happy Faces....like the beret? |
Sharing these
wonderful moments at the Derby with Kaylyn was the best. I couldn't be happier to have spent this time
with her and was sad to see her go back to California. This long-awaited part of our journey was
coming to a close with hugs and many tears.
Time to venture on……
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