#260: Kentucky Derby (pg 633, 2nd Ed pg 795)

May 2019

145th Kentucky Derby

Eight months ago, our dear friends moved to Louisville.  I immediately called and asked if we could come out and visit them for the Derby!  They graciously said yes and several months later, here we are!

Walking down to the paddocks and checking out all the beautiful horses.

144.... soon to be 145!

We studied up on how to place our bet (name of track, plus race number, plus dollar amount, plus what you want your bet to be (Win, Place, Show, Exacta or Trifecta), and then horse number.

And then we waited for the races to begin!

Sitting in the grandstands with the famed spires in the background.

Looking at pictures is one thing, but let me describe the experience..... Everyone all around you is decked out from head to toe in their best duds - their fancy hats and bowties. Everyone is jolly and sipping on a mint julep.  You make your way through the crowds and study the beautiful horses and see the jockeys up close.  You peruse the program and review the history of each thoroughbred.  Then you go to the window and place your bet, and smile as the woman at the counter calls you darlin'.  Then you take your seat and the race begins.  As the horses make their way around the track and enter the final turn, you can feel the vibrations of their hooves and speed as turn the corner and then you see them racing full speed ahead.  All at once, the crowd rises and cheers for their horse.  It's such a multi-sensory experience.  The sound, the smells, the visuals.... and all of that mixed with an event steeped in history and tradition.  But you don't get that just watching it.  You have to be there to experience it.

Verdict:  The four of us that went together discussed this after the fact and we all decided the answer to this is Yes.  And the reason being is my description above.  It's unique.  There's nothing else quite like it.

Tip:  Consider going on Thurby (Thursday) or Fair Oaks (Friday) instead of Derby (Saturday).  You get the same experience with fewer crowds and cheaper tickets.  Also, if you're a novice horse racer like me, it's good to know that there are ~11 races/day.  They start ~1:00pm and run about every 30 minutes until 6 or 6:30 at night.  

#259: Sanibel and Captiva Islands (pg. 607, 2nd Ed pg 755)

April 20, 2019

Finally made it to Sanibel and Captiva!

First stop: Visitors Center (Highly recommend - very helpful and informative!)

We asked for a lunch recommendation at the Visitors Center and they suggested the Laughing Cow, due in part to the fact that this great community park is located right next door. So, when we were told we had a 25 minute wait before a table would be ready, it was no problem!

Enjoying our lunch at the Laughing Cow.

From there, we went to explore the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, which covers 1/3 of the island.

Hoping to see some gators, but no such luck!

But we climbed to the top of the observatory and saw some cool birds.

From there, we went to Blind Pass Beach, which was recommended to us by a local as a great place to go shelling.

Ill be honest..... we didn't love it.  There really weren't many shells on the beach, it was extremely small, and parking was terrible.  We stayed for about 15 minutes and decided to move on.

We drove over the bridge and made our way to Captiva and went to check out Jensen's, another recommendation by a local.  We were told this was a great place to see manatees.

We found the manatee area and waited for a while, but sadly no manatee sightings.  Rats!

And then on to another local recommendation - the Bubble Room!  This place is decorated like Christmas year-round and has bubble lights everywhere (thus the name).

This is definitely an "experience restaurant" with themed rooms, tables, etc.  Very fun!

But what they are most famous for is their cake!  They have about a dozen different types of cake, which sell for ~$8/slice.  The slices are HUGE and the cakes are fun, gourmet conglomerations.

The ice cream cake - yum!

And the red velvet.  Two slices fed our family of six!

And the outside of this place is as quirky as the inside.  Super fun place to check out!

But since the main reason we came here was to check out the shelling, which we heard was awesome, and we had no luck at Blind Pass Beach, we decided to check out another beach, so we made our way back to Sanibel and decided to try another beach. This time we went to Bowman's beach.

My favorite picture of the day!

Look at all those shells!  The beach was almost entirely made out of shells, or so it seemed.  And there's my boy, combing the beach for the perfect shell. 💙

It's not comfortable to walk on, but sure is cool to see!

Writing our names with shells

The shell-filled shore-line

And, because it stormed the day before, we even had some decent waves!

Two thumbs up for Bowman's Beach!

Then we made one last park on our way "home" (to Marco Island where we were staying for the week).  Another local recommendation was to stop by this random campground on the side of the road out of town and ask to see their birds, ducks and monkeys.  So, we did.  And sure enough, they were there!  This is entirely free and a short, fun stop.  Kids loved it!  They have tons of exotic birds, ducks, swans, monkeys and lemurs.

Three lemurs

Verdict:  No, I don't necessarily think you have to visit these islands before you die.  But I still highly recommend visiting here.  We sure had a lot of fun!