Off to the Races!

As mentioned in a previous post, we had weekend visitors.  My dad and Debbie drove over from Iowa to bring us some beds for the office/guest room.  They got in late Friday night after our event and then stayed all day Saturday.  Matt and dad set up the beds and they will work perfectly because the room isn't huge and we still have to use the room as an office as well.  Saturday morning we went to my favorite little town of Midway.  This time we were able to browse through the shops. 

In Midway, the train runs right through the center of town- I thought that was pretty cool and very old-timish!

We ate at Wallace Station...  it's famous for being on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"- a show on the Food Network.  They had a delicious chicken salad sandwich! 

See... I told you Guy Fieri was here... 

Late afternoon we headed up to Keeneland Race Track.  They only race horses 2 months of the year (April and October).  It happened to be opening weekend for them.

The first step to betting on a good horse is to buy a book of all the races.  In the book they give you horse stats, trainer stats, jockey stats etc.  Then, we headed over to the paddocks where they walk the horses around for you to look at before they race.  This is where I pick my horses-- I pick based on name and which horse is the best looking.  

**Sidenote: The people in the middle of the paddocks are the owners and trainers.

When you've made your decision (you have about 30 minutes or so in between each race), you head to the betting window.  Yes, we bet on three different races.  We knew how much we wanted to spend that afternoon and had no problems not going past that amount (especially after losing most races!).  

Then you head over to the track with ALL these people!  The place was packed!  We always found a place to sit though (probably because they felt sorry for the pregnant lady!).   The only part I didn't like was the constant smell of cigars... people love their cigars at the track apparently.  

The horses get loaded.... 

And off they go...  (that man got in my way! It would have been an even better pic!)

I like watching the back half on the big screen... the screen also posts the winners as they come across- this is very helpful for those "photo finishes".  I bet on 1 horse in 3 different races and they all came in 4th place... clearly I can pick the 4th place winner, but that doesn't count for anything!  I guess picking by name and appearance doesn't work out too well... It was still fun though! 

That was our weekend!  I was extremely tired after all of that and spent Sunday relaxing after church.  I just had to leave y'all with my favorite part of the farm.  It's completely yellow and all ready for Fall.  I love this little drive on the farm, so enjoy!