GREETINGS FROM LEXINGTON, Kentucky (KY) USA
Yes, I know we are sending greetings from Lexington and my postcard says Louisville but in these there parts the names are almost synonymous. And we did spend a bit of time in Louisville on the way today.
But more on that later.
We awoke to mainly sunny skies but as we left the grey clouds were rolling in. Luckily the clouds didn’t amount to much during the day and we only had a couple of light showers along the way.
Just before heading into Louisville, we reached state number 35 – Kentucky. In fact, this state is also a visit to a “Commonwealth” of the United States. It is one of 4 US states constituted as a commonwealth, as distinct from being part of the original British “royal colony” status of other early regions/states. So officially, we are in the “Commonwealth of Kentucky”.
Louisville has the big “show pieces” – Churchill Downs where the iconic “Kentucky Derby” horse race is held annually as well as the Louisville Slugger museum, outside which is the largest baseball bat in the world !
Lexington just takes the moniker “Horse Capital of the World” and is the heart of the state’s Bluegrass region.
Quite a bat !
The weather was a bit patchy when we arrived in Louisville so we just drove past the Slugger Museum to get a photo of the baseball bat. We then drove out to the race track. Much like Indianapolis was for car fans, Churchill Downs is just as huge and spectacular for horse racing fans. The crowd capacity is about 170,000. The “back side” where the training facilities are, has the capacity to take around 1,500 horses and trainers have their own “sheds”. Whilst in use, training staff live there so there is a dining room, a dormitory and a church on site.
Churchill Downs, Louisville Kentucky – Home of the Kentucky Derby
The “Kentucky Derby” (the most famous race) has been run every year since 1875. Whilst most normal race days attract crowds of around 50,000, on Kentucky Derby day the track is packed to capacity. The infield is packed with people and until the 2014 race, most of these people couldn’t even see the race. Just in time for the 2014 race, a huge 170 feet by 90 feet high definition screen was installed at the back of the track which can be seen from anywhere on the track. At the time – you guessed it – it was the largest of its type in the world !
The home straight
The mounting yard
The tour we did went to the front of the track and also to the mounting yard. In the museum, they have a “360 experience” which goes through race day – talking to trainers, jockeys, showing the build up on the track and in the stands and culminating in the running of the 2016 race. With all the other exhibits, it is an interesting and well presented museum.
Budding jockey – too light to make the weight !
Leaving Louisville, we headed pretty much east to our stop for the next 2 days, Lexington. Not much in Lexington itself on our sightseeing list but it gives as a good location for a couple of Scenic Byways to explore tomorrow and then our plans beyond. It’s amazing that quite often our path bypasses a massive shopping mall or outlet center or the like ! And today we found the “Outlet Stores of the Bluegrass” on our way to Lexington. I’m not complaining though. I stock up on work and other clothes at ridiculously low prices you just couldn’t match at home even with the exchange rate ! And it keeps the navigator happy !
So with bags under our arms, we arrived in Lexington late afternoon. As we got toward Lexington, we found scenery we had not seen in a long time – mountains and forests ! Well large hills in any case ! So we are looking forward to our drive tomorrow which will provide more of that !
Dinner was at Carabba’s Italian Restaurant nearby – after we managed to avoid the vagrant in the hotel carpark who wanted to give us his life story about his uncle having just died from liver cancer and he had just walked for 6 hours from Highway 102 to get here !
More from Lexington tomorrow.
Today’s Trivia – Starters in the Kentucky Derby, the oldest continuously held horse race, have had names beginning with every letter of the alphabet except for “X”.
Trivia PS – On our Churchill Downs track tour today we saw a horse called Tim Tam won the race in 1958 – I wonder which came first – the biscuit or the horse ? Well…. it was the horse ! Ross Arnott (Arnotts Biscuits) attended the 1958 Kentucky Derby and decided that the name of the winning horse, Tim Tam was perfect for a planned new line of biscuits. Tim Tam biscuits were released in 1964.