Welcome back to Travel Tuesday! Last weekend (as some of you might know by now) I went to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby.
This was my second official year going and it's hard to say, but this trip was even better than the last; I flew in a private plane for the first time, I made it on the Kentucky Derby snapchat story and I won big at the track!
Pretty exciting stuff, right? Let's get started:
Packed up my things Wednesday night for our flight out on Thursday. Had to give a little sneak peek of the things I was packing on instagram:
Flights are crazy expensive to Louisville for Derby weekend. Last year Andrew and I flew in to Cincinnati and drove to Louisville (just a short hour drive). So knowing that this year, we flew into Atlanta to meet up with my sister and then fly to Louisville from there.
Caught a nice view of the island as we were leaving!
When we landed in Atlanta, we were driven over to the private airport to board the plane (!!!). I of course ate some popcorn and watched the draft before we boarded.
This was our plane! A good family friend of ours who took us to the derby arranged the flight to Louisville. It was really really cool! I was free to move about the cabin...
My sister and I once we got into Louisville #bathroomselfie
We got in pretty late Thursday night so we popped on over to the hotel and passed out.
FRIDAY:
During the day on Friday, I got dressed for Oaks, met up with friends, ate Chick Fil A (yay!) and had a massage.
SEE THE FULL LOOK HERE
Andrew and I also found time to take some blog photos. For the most part, it was a pretty relaxing day!
For dinner we went to Z's Oyster Bar and Steak House. Ohhhh man oh man was it delicious! We had an array of food to choose from for appetizers and for the main course I chose the duck.
I'm a total meat eater and I usually always go for a rare steak but whenever there is a good duck option on the menu I find myself ordering it and never being disappointed!
After dinner I met up with a few friends and we went to karaoke outside of downtown. It was a total dive bar, beer was $3 and it was awesome. Of course I sang (I love karaoke)! My go to song is "Shoop" by Salt and Peppa and lets just say I killed the club.
Saturday:
The day was finally here! Derby!! The gates open around 10am (near the start time of the first race) but the actual Kentucky Derby race wasn't until 6:45. So we got to the track around 1pm which gave me the time to get ready!
Half the fun of going to Derby is picking out your hat. I had a little anxiety since I wasn't in Kentucky the year to try one one, but it all worked out! I worked with Head Candi (who make my hat last year) this year and she makes the most amazing hats. If you're ever in the market for a hat, fascinator or hascinator you should definitely check her out!
She makes custom orders (which is what mine is) and she has a way of making it unique so you're not just a hat in the crowd while also making it fit seamlessly into your look!
Here was Andrews look for Derby -- thanks to Vineyard Vines for the sharp threads! (See what he wore last year here)
Here's my full look:
We were once again blessed with amazing weather! It was a perfect day and I even got a little color. Thankfully my hat covered most of my shoulders so I didn't get an horrendous tan lines.
We watched all the races, ate a lot of food and sipped on some mint juleps. It was a great day to win some money! There were also so many people there this year. I found out that this Derby set a attendance record (by a lot) and it was like I had thousands of my closest friends with me.
We won big on the race by picking American Pharaoh and boxing some of the field. It was a lot of fun really getting into it and it paying off! The cheers and screams were so fun.
But then in a flash it's over. It's so weird how the whole day works. It's like you wait and are anticipating the entire day for two minutes of action. Sure there are other races but it's always just such a weird feeling after the race that it's over! Either way it was still the most perfect day!
After a day of being in the sun and on our feet, we were really really exhausted. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a place near the hotel and then passed out.
SUNDAY:
It was our final day in Louisville :( We spent the morning hanging around, resting and packing for the trip home. We got to the (busy) private airport in Louisville packed up our things, and were off to Atlanta!
Watch / Bracelet / Bracelet
On the decent down, I was able to hop up front with Brandon and experience a full landing. Of course I didn't touch a thing but it was still so so so cool. Fun fact: when I was younger, I wanted to be a pilot and I'm still to this day trying to figure out where I can take flying lessons!
On our trip back to NYC, we flew over the city and Andrew was able to grab this shot. Pretty cool way to come home, right?
And that was it! Short and sweet but oh so fulfilling! I can't wait to go back again next year.
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