Kentcuky Derby Festival

OK so here is the deal. The KY Derby is amazing. And it's probably my favorite time of the year and I hated it when I was in college in NC and I couldn't be in Louisville for the festival. For people in Louisville, the Derby is not just one day. It is a two week celebration. And it's always right when spring really starts to warm up, everything is so green, the dogwoods are blooming....amazing. The festival consists of over 70 events, culminating with Oaks and Derby. More on all of that later! So for the next few weeks, this little blog will be an insight to the awesomeness since 75% (aka three of my four readers) live in DC. Losers. With the occasional Daily Fluff.

Tomorrow is Thunder over Louisville. It is the day long kick off to the Derby Festival and one of my favorite events. And for more than a decade, it has remained the largest annual pyrotechnic in North America. Didn't know that little ole' Louisville was so cool did you??

It all starts around 3:00 with the airshow which I get to hear practice today as the jets zoooom by my office building. But the stunts they do are amazing. The little kid in me always loves watching the airshows, the jets, and the aerobatics. Another fun fact - did you know that the Thunder Air Show is ranked as one of the top five in the nation??? Pretty cool. Then around 9:30, the fireworks begin. When I was little, Thunder was always a day long event that involved trekking down to my mom's office building. She (luckily) had a corner office that faced the Ohio River and was a great (and air conditioned) place to watch all the days activities. I could watch the planes cut through the buildings downtown and then watch all the fireworks from her 14th floor vantage point. We would also venture down to the Chow Wagon on the Belvedere to stuff our bellies with Snow Cones, Funnel Cakes, and my personal fav, Frater Taters. How can you not love that??

These days, my mom no longer has her amazing office. But last year, two of my good friends moved into a house with a perfect vantage point. So an adult appreciation of Thunder has come on. Now, I get to their house around 3 to see the start of the airshow, and spend the afternoon drinking and eating while appreciating it all far from the body to body crowd that is down by the River. And tomorrow starts even earlier with a little engagement party they are throwing for me and Stud. They will have tons of Bloody Mary's. And Stud's Best Men are coming in from out of town to celebrate with us this weekend. Going to be a great/epic weekend.