I like horses. I do not like beer. The Budweiser Clydesdales are majestic.
I invariably felt a tinge of sympathy for Hoss Cartwright’s horse on BONANZA. Hoss was a big boy. I’m a big boy.
The seersucker suits and outlandish hats at the Kentucky Derby are spectacular.
Thus ends my lesson on Equine History In 20th and 21st Century America.
Questions?
Like many, our family gathers together to watch the Derby. Everybody picks “their” horse based on the name and the design of the jockey’s outfit.
In other words, we don’t know much of anything about horse racing.
As a broadcaster, I’m always impressed with the call of the Derby. “Down the stretch they come!”
My favorite horse name, ever, is Thunder Gulch. He won the 1995 Run For the Roses.
The Triple Crown is cool, but the Derby is the thing.
Kentucky is horse country. I was super-excited to visit our nation’s most famous horse-racing track.
Normally, I commit an unreasonable amount of research to our next adventure, so I can share everything I’ve learned with Sophia and Miles.
I didn’t do anything in preparation for our visit to Churchill Downs.
First of all, don’t be surprised. Churchill Downs doesn’t “do” visitors. It’s a working race track. They don’t do tours. A dress code is in place for some areas.
Don’t despair.
The Kentucky Derby Museum does everything, and more. You don’t have to go anywhere else. The museum and the track share a wall. It’s the same place. The same parking lot. The museum is too the left of the gigantic statue of Barbaro and the track is too the right.
Two different websites, but it’s no big deal.
The Kentucky Derby Museum is everything you could possibly want. They offer scheduled tours of Churchill Downs and the exhibits are top-of-the-heap-no-doubt-about-it-better-than-anything-you-can-imagine-wonderfully-fantastically-outrageously-ridiculously-good.
Really. I promise.
I incorrectly assumed Churchill Downs was perched in the middle of a horse pasture and I was expecting to park in a bluegrass-colored field.
Shame on me.
Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum are situated in downtown Louisville. The parking lots are paved. Signage is everywhere.
Look up. The Twin Spires are historical landmarks and the first indication you’ve arrived in a place steeped in tradition. Excellence. Style. Magic.
The staff members are precisely what central casting ordered. Kentucky is not geographically in the deep south, but I felt like I was stepping on the porch at the family homeplace, nestled between moss-cloaked oak trees and magnolia blossoms.
The opening film is breathtaking. The screening room replicates the shape of the track and the images are projected 360 degrees. (It’s not particularly easy to explain. Make it work. It’s spectacular.) I wept. Sometimes, the moment is so good, the only appropriate response is tears of joy.
The exhibits are… well, I’ve used most of the adjectives in my wheelhouse. The exhibits are extraordinary. Interactive. Engaging. Educational. They’re fun!
The tour is brief, but spectacular. We stood on sacred racing ground, in the owner’s box (I don’t know what else to call it) right beside the track. Extended tours are available.
Track renovations are underway, so the view was mildly obstructed by machinery and mud. But, gimme a break. They have to do maintenance and upgrades and all that stuff. It’s part of being a responsible caretaker. Not a big deal.
Fact is, we ran out of time. We spent so much time reading and playing and learning on the first floor, we didn’t get to explore much of the second level. That’s completely on us, not them.
The bottom line: I like museums. I love museums.
I’ve been fortunate to visit many of the world’s great museums. My list of favorites includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris and the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington.
My mama took me to Washington, D.C. for July 4th in 1976. We visited the National Air and Space Museum on its fourth day of existence.
I’m not easily impressed. I’m rarely dazzled. Vikki and I don’t typically visit the same place twice. The world is so big, we want to explore new places and embark on new adventures.
The Kentucky Derby Museum is easily in my top ten of the world’s museums. Bravo. I loved it. We loved it.
You don’t have to be a horse racing fan to appreciate the offerings. The experience will not be lost on any soul that has yearned for excellence and holds a deep affinity for tradition.
That said, we’ll return to the museum and Churchill Downs for the Derby.
I want to watch my wife in a sundress and a wide-brimmed hat she can’t wear anywhere else. I want to share a mint julep with our daughter. I want to help our son tie his bowtie to match his seersucker suit.
I’ll be there, too. Straw hat. Pocket watch. White shoes. Everything else, I’ll figure out between now and then.
Jeffrey Griffin 