Day at the Downs

While visiting my family in Ohio Keith and I met at Churchill Downs for a quick 36 hours and spent the day Saturday at Churchill Downs.  Like ALL racing adventures, multiple stories worth telling - just adds to the continuing fascinating adventures I am so fortunate to enjoy during my retirement! Two excellent tales to tell ..... for the detailed racing day, CLICK HERE

When I booked the trip I went to Expedia to find a hotel close to Churchill Downs and the Interstate for convenience.  Found a Howard Johnsons Express Inn and when I went to pay for it my Expedia account popped up a window saying, "Congratulations, you have earned enough points to pay for your hotel stay!"  So the hotel was FREE!  Next I needed to get a car for transportation from my Mom's home in Columbus to Louisville.  I tried adding on a car to my flight on Southwest airlines but when I went through the purchase process the total price was going to be $250 and change for a week's rental.  I don't think so.  I then googled car rental agencies close to the house and found one for about $110.  I'll take it!  Then when my Mom picked me up at the airport and I asked her about taking me to the car rental place late on Thursday she asked which agency it was.  When I said Enterprise she reminded me they would pick me up!  So I called them and arranged that, which also allowed me to cut a day off of the rental.  The Enterprise people picked me up about 10 am on Friday and I returned the car Sunday morning.  What could have been about a $400 weekend expense for hotel and car turned out to be less than $75!  WHOOOO HOOOOO!  The next great story to tell was about the first evening in Louisville.  Before leaving Columbus I asked my Mom if she could think of any good restaurants from when we used to visit Louisville that we could go to.  She said the only one she could think of off the top of her head was the Galt House - which is a VERY nice (and expensive) restaurant.  I knew we wouldn't want to spent that much money so I figured I'd ask at the hotel.  When we arrived Keith told me he had a place he wanted to try that was recommended to him from a guy he works with in Illinois who graduated from the University of Louisville.  The name of the restaurant is the "Troll Pub Under the Bridge."  Keith told me he was told it was right under a bridge, across the street from the basketball arena in downtown Louisville.  Because Keith had never been to Churchill Downs we decided to head over to the track and check it out.  This would enable Keith to get a Racing Form to handicap the races and get a quick tour of the iconic facility before the big race day.  As soon as we walked in I checked out the gift shop because for over five years I've been looking for a Churchill Downs polo shirt, but all they have had is Kentucky Derby shirts.  Even when we visited here in 2011 for the Breeders' Cup and 2013 for "Downs After Dark."  I'd looked many times online but to no avail.  But today, lo and behold a full selection and so I purchased one and a lapel pin!  We walked around and I showed Keith the "biggest jumbotron in the universe," the iconic twin spires, and where we'd sat for the Breeders' Cup (right on the rail at the 16th pole; where we had seats for the 2012 Kentucky Derby; and where we were - and planned to be tomorrow - for Downs After Dark in 2013.  We then headed over to the Derby Museum to check out the hours for tomorrow morning prior to our day at the races.  After finding out they opened at 8 am - plenty of time to see it all before racing began, we set out for dinner.  We found the pub using the GPS but as we "arrived at your destination" we could not see the pub until it was too late and we passed it.  Unfortunately we were on "the bridge" from the name of the place and this carried us across the river to Indiana!  We made a U-turn and found a parking lot right across the street.  We descended the stairs - a la "Cheers" and found a really cool pub with a unique menu.  But here's the best part....when we asked the waitress about what the building had originally been she told us that it was the ORIGINAL GALT HOUSE!  How ironic.....we were going to eat at the Galt House and in fact we did!  When we left the pub and looked, not only was it genuinely across the street from the arena, you literally could walk out of the arena after a U of L basketball game and within fifty yards be in the pub - after walking, as the name implies, under the bridge!  A very unique experience as you can tell from the photos below. 

We were both tired from a long day of driving and were asleep early.  Saturday morning we awoke, checked out and asked for a close by breakfast spot.  So happy to discover that within two blocks of us was one of my favorite breakfast restaurants, a Cracker Barrel!  By about 8:45 we were at Churchill Downs to check out the museum.  An added benefit was we had arrived before it cost to park and found a spot right on a side street, saving us $10.  Got inside the museum in time to see the next showing of their featured film, "The Greatest Day In Racing" followed by a half-hour tour of the Churchill Downs track which included a walk around the paddock and out to the track while learning several things about the history of Churchill Downs!  Didn't know we'd get to do that and it was very interesting, even to me who has been here several times and seen most of these things.  Pics from the morning's walk:  

We then headed into the museum and looked around for about an hour.  We had about an hour before the gates opened so we walked across the street, got a soft drink and chatted out in the car before goin inside.  We got box seats right on the finish line and found a table in the simulcast area to "hunker down" for the day.  I won two races on track and scored with three simulcast races from today's "Breeders' Cup Preview" programs at Belmont and Santa Anita, including my BET of the Day at Santa Anita with California Chrome.  More photos of the day and race-by-race analysis and stories can be found on my racing journal, click here.  Right after the final race we headed back to the hotel to pick up Keith's car, say good-bye and head out on our separate journeys.  The weather for the drive back was gorgeous and I made great time, arriving back in Columbus about 9:30 pm.  The end to another great adventure of my retirement!

A Day at the Downs

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