This trip has no doubt been a bucket list item for as long as I can remember. And it definitely did NOT disappoint! My Dad’s birthday is on May 8th and it was always a dream of his to attend the Derby one day since it always fell right around his birthday. He is no longer with us (he passed in January 2014) and my brother and I have still been talking about making it happen ever since we lost him.
We talked about this trip for the last couple of months but didn’t commit 100% to it and finally we got the green light to GO! My brother thought that the best way to look for tickets was to wait until the last minute. He remembered that ticket prices typically went down right before the event and we would just wait to grab some. Well…that’s what we did and who knows if it was the right thing to do or not, but the good news is that we got some!!!
I ended up working with a ticket agent (Bob) at www.eseats.com and they were super helpful and wonderful to work with! We knew that rain was in the forecast so we either wanted tickets that were undercover or that we had the option to go inside and be undercover if we needed to. We opted for tickets in tier 312 row B (rows D and up are under cover) and they turned out wonderful! They were not under cover, but our views were fabulous and we had the option of going inside to hide from the rain!
Hat | Dress | Purse | Shoes | Jewelry (c/o Jewelers Trade Shop)
Dress {$22}
It was so much fun meeting up with my blogger friend, Katie Grabner. She blogs at www.ClagettDesigns.com and is also an interior designer. She has gorgeous taste! She lives in Ohio, so it was so much fun to get to meet her and her hubby at the Derby.
Since we had tickets in the 3rd tier, we had access to the 3rd floor walk around area. I had heard that security was pretty tight throughout the derby and they definitely did check our bands going up to the 3rd floor. But once we were up on the 3rd floor, we got pretty lucky and the four of us girls worked our way up to the 4th and 6th floor Millionaires Row!! So bad of us, but we had SO MUCH FUN!! 😂 These tickets/floor offer private tables for individuals and their drinks and a very nice buffet is offered to all of the guests. They also have their own balconies to walk out on and watch the race. During my ticket research, I would say these tickets all run around $2,000 per ticket.
We were in and out of Louisville in just one day, so sadly we can’t say that we saw much of the town, but Churchill Downs was absolutely beautiful!! Even in the rain :). It was also pretty amazing to be there when history was made!! Country House comes in for the dramatic win after Maximum Security was disqualified!
I definitely hope to make it back to this event one day! The people watching had to be my favorite part. There was still so much that I know we didn’t explore and I never even placed one BET!! I couldn’t believe it. Even though horse gambling isn’t really my thing, I still LOVE to gamble! So I have to go back just for that 🙂
