My great great grandmother was a widow with 3 kids to raise in the late 1800‘s --- so she turned to hat and lace making. She was a milliner who could tat.
My father had us kids in the back of his truck at Evangeline Downs teaching us to read the racing sheet when we were around 10.
My pedigree destined me to go to the Kentucky Derby -- hats and horse racing........ what a great combination.
After staying at Angel’s house the night before, I awoke to a freezing cold house and a heated bathroom floor. Her husband, Lucky, likes to be very cold at night. I had flannel pj’s on and socks under two blankets. Thank goodness for those wicked heated floors.
I started packing the Tahoe and Angel made it home from the office (she had gone to work around 2 to finish things -- little miss dedication even brought her computer so she could work in the car). Silver, one of their horseman friends, showed up to join us. His son works at Churchill Downs and he was excited about seeing him. Lucky piled into the driver's seat and as the shortest passenger, I got the spot behind his seat.
See I can be a light packer :)
Thankfully we left early -- 6:15 a.m. because we had dinner reservations at 8:30 p.m. that night in Louisville. I doubted if we would make it on time. But little did I know the road warriors I was in the vehicle with. I thought my family was bad about hitting the road hard -- these people didn’t like to stop at all. Our first stop was outside of Little Rock, 4 hours into the trip.
this is a Southern Maid Donut shop, and yes, those are policemen there .... think what you might
On the way, our discussions ranged from hot track tips to the Cuban Revolution. Silver lived in Cuba from the third grade until the Cuban Revolution heated up and his family had to leave. It was fascinating how his father built and oversaw rice mills during the heyday in Cuba and at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. He saw it first hand.
Somehow that conversation ended up with speculations of how South Louisiana Bayou rats felt when they marched up to Tennessee to fight in the civil war.
Our first big stop was in Carlisle, Arkansas at Nick’s Barbeque. They had excellent brisket, BBQ nachos, ribs and fried pies. (And a cow out front on their sign.)
I was driving as we crossed over the Mississippi into Memphis --- Horse racing lessons and betting tips took up a lot of the miles also. I was brushing up on my racing form reading skills.
The countryside was beautiful and the weather was a perfectly sunny day -- but the traffic was something else. I am not too keen on fighting Big Rig trucks for the road and don’t like interstate highways -- but as we were on I-40 I had to go with the flow. On this Wednesday, it was the flow of many many many big rig trucks.
Lucky explained to us about his hand in assisting with the lower guard on an 18 wheelers chassis. It is a shield that helps stop small cars and motorcycles from getting under the main body of the trailer. I don’t think I will ever be able to look at a big rig again without thinking of that awful case he told us about and the shield.
They say there is a recession, but with this many trucks on the road, I don’t see it.
I stopped to the west of Nashville at Loretta Lynn’s. Angel had been wanting to stop there for the last five years of coming to the Derby but they wouldn’t let her. I was driving and somehow the vehicle ended up in the parking lot beside the Buffalo.
Inside were lots of photos signed by her friends and fans. She even had a little area where she could play to a small audience. There was a painting on the wall of George Jones on his John Deere (for those who don’t know -- he had so many DWI’s that he had to drive a tractor to town). The restaurant looked very nice .... maybe on the way back......
After refueling, Lucky drove again and I slept, waking up to standstill traffic in Nashville. Our Garmin (which I don’t care for, as I prefer a paper map) told us our ETA was at 7:40 p.m. and our dinner reservation was at 8:30. We were going to have to book it.
After leaving Nashville we see a florist van with a Harley Davidson logo on it.... only in Kentucky. And no, we didn’t stop in Bowling Green at the Corvette Museum (no time this trip). But I have been there before and it is awesome -- a must see for anyone who has driven a Vette cornering a great curve.
After a lovely discourse of whether we were going to stop at the motel and change/check in or go straight to the restaurant, we stopped, checked in and refreshed ourselves after THIRTEEN + HOURS on the road. I changed into my favorite purple Indonesian sundress and Angel found her navy one. The men of course didn’t change clothes. We put on our makeup in the car.
Jeff Ruby’s is in downtown Louisville and is “the” place to be during Derby. It has art deco-ish decor and great big ceilings. When you walk in there is a bronze statue of a thoroughbred with a piano on top of the middle of the bar. A great piano player was playing when we walked in. After a short wait we were shown to a great table in the back.
you can't see these good but they are very very obnoxious looking pants
our first glimpse of Derby style
We were seated next to one of the owners of a horse in this weekends race -- we couldn’t get a good look at the button (they give the owners buttons with the numbers on them after they draw the horses for the post positions in the starting gate). Also milling around the restaurant was Bob Baffert, a very successful trainer, and Jerry Bailey, a very famous jockey. Only us would run into these folks while eating.
Our food was excellent -- clam chowder and salads to start with, filet with bearnaise sauce, crabmeat and asparagus (yummy), crab and corn fritters with lobster remoulade sauce, prime king strip (way way way too much meat) and six cheese mac and cheese and creamed spinach. To end the meal, we had round key lime pie (what’s up with that) and Maker’s Mark Chocolate Mousse. Also I tried Blanton’s on the rocks on a recommendation from a few friends. It was quite good and needed after that 13 hour drive.
truffle butter -- it was very tasty
fritters
]
very large knives
key lime pie? And it wasn't very green either
they even have a fancy chocolate
Maker's Mark Mousse .....
Blanton's with the Derby Menu
None of us needed rocking to sleep as were were exhausted. Little did I know this lack of sleep was going to be a common theme this trip along with the great food.......I hope I can still fit in my red dress on Saturday.....
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