Derby party

Anonymous left a comment message that she or he had never heard of the Derby party so I thought I would explain what it is. I think the tv ads say..... "Louisville, Kentucky; the place where a two minute horse race is the perfect excuse for a two week party." You can read more about it here and here. Or you can do an internet search using the words Kentucky Derby Festival.

The Derby festival starts with a gigantic fireworks display then has a variety of types of races and parties over the next two weeks. Some of the races held are bed races, rat races, balloon races, marathon races, steam boat races, and so forth.... all leading up to the main horse race on the first Saturday of May. The horse race is called the Kentucky Derby.

In the area of Louisville where I live; the derby is used as a reason to visit the "old home place" or for a family reunion. Also, lots of celebrities come to town for various "rich people" parties on derby night. Of course, these rich people / celebrity parties are held on the rich side of town.

Many years ago the "not famous or rich" people decided to start having their own version of a party on derby night. There used to be two areas for these parties. One of these parties has stopped because the neighborhood was torn down. The other party place happens to be in the area of Louisville where I live. Almost every home in this area will have a barbecue grill smoking away. It's the food of choice for the reunions and parties around here.

A few years ago this local party started to get way, way out of hand. They called it cruising on Broadway. The party drew lots of out of town people who had no connection to Louisville or this neighborhood. There were so many cars, motorcycles, and people that it required hundreds of police and several helicopters to control the crowd.

In the years that followed (when the violence got extremely bad) the city officials decided to put a stop to the cruising. Thank heaven!! It had gotten so out of hand that many people who live in this area started leaving town until the party was all over. This party has been much more controlled in the last two or three years. There seems to be fewer out of town unknowns and more people with a connection to the area. I haven't heard the news reports this morning yet but I saw far fewer cars and motorcycles on my street yesterday. Of course part of that might be due to the economy too.

Today the people will wake up, nurse their hangover for awhile, eat some left over barbecue, visit family one more time, and gas up their vehicles to leave for the trip home. The celebrities will head for the airport to get on their private jets and go to the next party place. By this evening all will be quiet and normal again.

As you can see, I didn't go to my daughter's house after all. They brought the baby here instead. So today I get to sit on the floor and jibber jabber with Ladybug while playing with noise making toys. I think it's time for me to make breakfast.