My Day at Kentucky Oaks and the Barnstable Brown Gala
Friday morning came quickly following the Taste of Derby party on Thursday night. Waking up to the thought of my day
at Oaks and the Barnstable Brown party was a great way to start the day. I quickly got cleaned up and put on my Vineyard Vines pants, shirt and a bow tie that I had been given from someone special to me. The tie, like my attitude today was bright, cheerful and was sure to make everyone I met smile today.
Getting to Churchill Downs from the hotel was interesting. Not knowing the city of Louisville I had to get a feel for the city and I found that it is a pretty small and easy to navigate place. Louisville is mostly clean and feels like a nice, relaxed place to be. It reminded me a bit of Cleveland but smaller, cleaner and less urban decay than I am used to seeing. So I found my way back to the convention center where I parked for the races and took a shuttle to Churchill Downs. Knowing that I was headed to the Barnstable Brown party tonight, I didn’t want to overdo today or to get myself too tired or stressed or anything so I entered through the main gate, walked around a little to see what was going on in the paddocks, in the betting areas and in the outside area where a lot of vendors were selling everything from mixed drinks to cigars and lots of food. Vineyard Vines even had a truck wrapped and were taking pictures of guests, you can probably guess that the line was really long for photos, so I proceeded to find my seat and get a grasp of this horse racing at Kentucky Oaks.
My seat was incredible. It was in a “Clubhouse Box” and was literally right on the track. I could practically reach out and 
touch the horses as they raced by! I met so many interesting people in the boxes around me, their backgrounds were diverse but everyone was there to have a good time and enjoy the racing. Everyone who asked what I was doing tonight was surprised that I had tickets to the Barnstable Brown Gala and told me that tickets to that event were the hardest thing to come across and that it was THE event to attend the entire week of Derby festivities. I was disappointed to find that my cellphone service was horrible due to the huge number of people that were crowded into Churchill Downs. I tried to text some friends to meet up while we were there, but I didn’t get their responses until I was on the shuttle back to my car. It would have made the races ever better to be able to spend time together but it didn’t come together.
After getting back to the hotel, I relaxed a bit and then it was time to get ready for the highlight of my weekend at the Kentucky Derby. I was lucky to get invited tot he Barnstable Brown Gala to begin with but I was taking the most beautiful girl I have ever known and that was going to make the party, the night and my entire weekend worth the trip. I am not saying it is the reason I went…well, maybe I will try to get you to believe that. I drove to her house to pick her up and when I finally found it, only realizing it was her house when her mom came to the front door, I went in and met with her family for a little bit until she was ready. I shouldn’t have been surprised but when I saw her dressed for the party, I was at the same time a little nervous and just in awe of how amazingly gorgeous she still is. There was no doubt that she was the most amazing girl that would be at the party and I was so lucky to be the guy with her right now. We took a few pictures and then headed to the Gala.
The Barnstable Brown Gala is an A list event (whatever that means). Conde Nast Magazine ranks this event as one of the top 10 parties in the world to go to, and here I am with Abigail and I felt like I was on top of the world. It wasn’t so much the celebrities that were there, or the fact that we were on the red carpet as we entered the party. It wasn’t even the fact that Vineyard Vines was there and took our picture, it was more the simple fact that we were there together, were talking and having a great time together. This article isn’t about how I feel or what is going on between us, it was just great for us to be there. I never wanted it to come to an end.
The party went on practically all night. I finally took Abigail home and eventually back to my hotel. Needless to say, the Barnstable Brown Gala was the highlight of my trip to the Kentucky Derby. I can’t wait to go back to do more exciting things together in Louisville.
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Come back tomorrow to read about my experience at the Derby and who I got to talk sailing with!