SW USA 2024: The Canadian Coddiwomplers
Coddiwomple: “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination."
My Ole Kentucky Home Parade
It has been raining everyday since we left Guelph, I'm beginning to think we'll never need our sunglasses or use the numerous tubes of sunscreen we have with us. Anyway, the tradition when camping and it's raining is of course to visit a museum. We had three choices in Louisville (pronounced Lou-a-ville) for our outing on Friday, the Muhammad Ali Museum, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory or the Derby Museum. It wasn't a hard choice for us although I'm sure all of them would have been interesting.
I know we are not seeing Kentucky at her best this time of year. The blue grass is brown and we've had foggy grey skies and wet ground the entire time. When/if we come back, we'll have more time to take in the sights.
The Derby Museum is actually part of Churchill Downs. They aren't racing right now as it is too cold. The place is huge - besides the museum, there are the grandstands, the clubhouse, the paddock and extensive stables. This year the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby will be happening in May.
We arrived just in time to join a free guided tour of part of the racetrack. Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She told us of the history of the Kentucky Derby and building of the racetrack by Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. (grandson of explorer William Clark). Clark's father-in-law was an accomplished horse breeder and trainer, and introduced Clark to horse racing. They attended the English Derby at Epsom Downs where Colonel Clark conceived the idea to build a racetrack in Louisville. He leased 80 acres of land from his uncles John and Henry Churchill, for whom the track is named.
The Kentucky Derby is the longest continuously run sporting event in North America with the first derby held in 1875. The Run for the Roses is always held on the first Saturday in May with two exceptions: in 1944 at the end of WWII when gas (for running things) was limited to essential functions only and in 2020 because of the pandemic. In both years, the race was held later in September, in 2020 there were NO spectators at all. The Derby is the first race of the American Triple Crown and only 3-year olds can race. So a horse has only one opportunity in its lifetime to run for the roses. The winning horse is draped in a blanket of red roses.
We went out to the track and were able to see (from a distance) the original building (1895) with the famous two spires and where Millionaires Row is located. There are additional tours for a fee that take you to other areas of the famous club house but we didn't opt for them. We were pretty close to the finish line and the starting pole though. Churchill Downs was designated a National Historic Site in 1982.
Our guide asked the group who was the most famous racehorse in American history. Being a Canadian Coddiwompler, I of course piped up that in Canada that would be Northern Dancer! She laughed but went on to tell us about Secretariat who won the Derby and was the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown in 1974. Secretariat's time set a track record that still stands today (1:59 & 2/5). Before him, this track honour was held by Northern Dancer (2:00 flat also a track record from 1964 to 1974), there is less than a second between their two times.
Upon his death, a vet performed a necropsy on Secretariat and discovered that his heart was about 2 1/2 times larger than a normal Thoroughbred heart. Later in the museum exhibits we also learned that he had an excellent height at the withers and additional muscle in his hind quarters. On the way back to the museum, we passed the "finish line post" that was in place when Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby.
We took a break to visit the Derby Cafe for coffee and hot chocolate. It is also a bourbon bar. It was pretty quiet as it was near closing time. The bartender had no customers so he brought us a tourist magazine and pointed out his picture on the inside cover! He was proud to share it with us. It's a good guide, too bad we didn't see it until our last day in Louisville.
We continued on to the exhibits part of the museum where you enter through green starting gates! There was so much information and statistics! It is well worth a visit if you're in Louisville. There are also several "photo ops" included in the displays.
There was some renovations done a few years back to the spires on top of the clubhouse and a very old flag was discovered. This flag that once flew over Churchill Downs has been preserved and hangs in the museum. Our guide asked us to take a look and decide what the remnant resembles.
I was most interested in the traditions and the fashionable (some not so fashionable but fun nevertheless) hats. In 1875, Colonel Clark wanted the stakes race to be an important event and he and his wife encouraged people attending to dress to the nines which was the beginning of the hat craze I think. On display and in photographs we could see some of the best and most outlandish millinery creations, some rock star paraphernalia from the Rolling Stones and a recreation of the hat worn by Queen Elizabeth in 2007.
There is an area where you can search for films of the derby by year and watch the race. Unfortunately, I didn't check on how far back the films go but, of course, I found 1964 and watched Northern Dancer run.
However, the best part of the museum is a movie called "The Greatest Race' shown in an oval gallery. The movie is displayed on a huge screen that runs around the top of the gallery. Viewers sit on stools that revolve so you can watch as it moves around and sometimes it covers the full 360 degrees. At first I was slightly dizzy swinging around to see it all but that didn't last long. The images were spectacular.
It was a good afternoon. I would like to go back and watch some races but NOT during Derby week, I understand it can be pretty wild and the prices at our campground rise to $150/night. I can only imagine what a hotel room would cost!
On Saturday we left Louisville in the rain and set out for Tennessee, once again on the Interstate. We had a long day of driving but finally arrived in Parker's Crossroads and found a lovely campground. It's a very small village and there's nothing much to see there except a Civil War Battlefield with a rather large Visitor Centre. Maybe we'll stop on our way out.
We spent Sunday sleeping in and doing some chores. We did change timezones along the way and got mixed up about the time here vs at home so we missed the live broadcast of the Harcourt service and had to catch up with the YouTube recording. The sleeping in was so good though.
So long for now.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too, and Clifford the Big Red Truck.
A great blog, second only to "Moffat's' on the Road" (haha-9 months of RVing 2008/9). Churchill Downs brought me back to a similar visit with my parents as a young girl and filling my Sunday best coat pocket with soil from the track - to be found again a year or so later. Lead on and take us with you!
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