and they're off... the countdown begins

It's a big weekend here in Louisville... Derby Weekend! Yes, it's that time again. Horse races, gambling, big hats, mint juleps, and celebrities. The mint juleps I could do without *yuck* but the rest is pretty exciting. Today is The Kentucky Oaks and has a pink theme this year in support of breast cancer awareness. A lot of people take off work today to go to the track for Oaks and schools are out today as well. Although they don't actually get off for the race, they call it some sort of 'developmental day' - yeah whatever.
Tomorrow is the big day though and I have my horse picked out. It's a long shot but I'm going with West Side Bernie. Papaw's name was Bernie so it only seems right that I go with that horse. My other pick is Mine That Bird. The jockey I always bet on, Calvin Borel is riding him and I also like the name because Papaw was a bird watcher. Kind of unrelated but another cool thing I found is that there is a Derby Barbie. I don't remember even seeing one before so I guess that means this event is moving on up to the big time!

I hadn't planned on going to Churchill tomorrow but the closer the race gets the more excited I'm getting. I may have to head over there after all. The last time I went was with Russ a couple of years ago. His company supplies workers for some of the different areas and he gets an all access pass so he can check up on them throughout the day. He got me a pass too and we went walking through Millionaires Row and the Turf Club. While he was looking for employees, I was looking for celebrities. I saw quite a few, mostly sports guys, but it was still pretty neat.