Louisville, KY to Natural Bridge State Park

This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed disturbingly early. Sadly, Handler 2 still wasn't feeling all that well, but we had a breakfast date with the Downs.


We arrived at the track and headed up to the posh Aristides room, only to find that we had been moved into the even more posh "Stakes Room". I don't know what the difference is between the two, but apparently it was an upgrade. We were seated at a table with a bunch of folks from Insight who were having a "work breakfast". They all seemed nice. Handler 1 indicated that breakfast was excellent (especially the french toast casserole with syrup and whipped cream!!!), but Handler 2 opted for a bagel, which he couldn't really eat. Oh well, at least we were able to get some cool photos...like the famous twin spires:


And we got to watch a number of the Derby and Oaks contenders work. Here's a shot of Mission Impazible, longshot winner of the Louisiana Derby.

Here's Endorsement, who unfortunately, came out of the work with an injury and will have to skip the Derby. But it was an awesome shot.

After we watched the pretty horses running around the track for awhile, we explored the stands a little.

We also took a turn around the Kentucky Derby museum, recently renovated after being drowned last August. We got to see a number of interesting artifacts. Oh, and this guy:

That's Chip Wooley, and if you just said "Who?", you're no worse off than Handler 2. He's the trainer of Mine That Bird, last years' Derby winner.

Having perused Churchill Downs for as long as its parking Nazis would allow us (just a note, but what kind of people make you pay $45 a ticket for breakfast, then charge you $10 for parking and tell you that you must be out of there by 10am?), we returned to our hotel to change into more comfortable clothes. Plus, Handler 2 needed a refill on his meds.

"Oh, if my dad could see me now."

Then it was back on the road, heading south to:

Mary Sue and I are on honeymoon!

Although we didn't embark on this adventure expecting to see lots of wildlife, we did get a glimpse of some wild turkeys.

For some reason, whenever the handlers saw one of these bird they just started mumbling something about "bad college experiences".

We grabbed some food at the Mammoth Cave Hotel cafe. Handler 2 was finally feeling well enough to force down some food, and ordered the chili. It had spaghetti noodles in it...and the less said about that the better. Let's look at the pretty cave instead!

See, wasn't that fun?

After finishing our tour of the depths we set out across the great state of Kentucky, through the heart of race horse breeding country, to the Natural Bridge State Park. Handler 2, being on the codeine, couldn't drive, and as such, Handler 1 was forced into the position of driver (which she rather disliked). Meanwhile, Handler 2 was thrust into the temporary position of navigator. However, after a while he found himself unable to speak, which made it very difficult for him to give directions to Handler 1. This resulted in him attempting to direct Handler 1 through the use of hand gestures and the holding up of fingers (to indicate the number of the upcoming exits).

"What is that supposed to mean?! You know I'm driving and can't look at you, right? One? Eleven? One hundred and eleven? Exit 111?!"

Let's not belabor that point. Kentucky, apparently, knows how to do state parks right. Not only does this one have some nice trails, a pool, and mini-golf, but the rooms have balconies.

There's a little dining room that serves slightly better than cafeteria fare, but it overlooks a promenade with bird feeders. The handlers spent dinner watching hummingbirds and cardinals. Their server (who Handler 1 thought looked like Jessica Simpson, Handler 2 disagrees) tried to get Handler 2 to try a bunch of cough remedies she'd used to help her own recent cold. Luckily, Handler 2 was feeling quite a bit better by then, so instead we all retired to our room for the evening.

Quote of the Day:

"Ziggy is predicting my chances of being well enough to hike tomorrow at 20%."