Kentucky Derby - May 4th
 

Louisville, KY is home to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. This is one of the most exciting sports events in the world, often referred to as "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports". The official Kentucky Derby The 128th Running of the Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4th. The Derby events kick off two weeks before the Derby with Thunder Over Louisville, one of the most impressive air and fireworks shows in the world. There are many events right up until the Day of the Derby itself that you can check out at:

http://www.kdf.org/

I'd be delighted to host an FT event for this year's Kentucky Derby weekend, May 3-5.

Yeah, I'd probably be interested in attending. Have some friends there I haven't seen in a while, so would be nice to combine a visit with an FT event.

Spiff, and Monsieur Angel, as for now, that May wknd is blocked for Louisville... would be a pleasure meeting up with y'all again, is Madame Angel coming as well?

(calling loco miler....)

La Belle

I'm interested, though it's too early for me to commit. I have no idea what my schedule will be like then.

La Belle -

Oui, j'espere que oui pour Madame Angel! Now if we can just get "loco miler" to post the rest of his PiP 2001 photos.....

Monsieur Angel

Glad to see folks are interested in coming! There are some reasonably-priced accommodations at the moment but they won't last long.

For those of you who were at the NOLA event and/or have Mardi Gras beads, they will come in handy at the Derby, too.

Since we have plans to leave for UK and a canal boat trip at that time we would not be able to make it. But we are interested in the Thunder Over Louisville event (two weeks earlier.) After losing my shirt so many times over the ponies http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Jerrie and I know we would enjoy the fireworks a lot more. Are you planning to be doing anything (ft oriented) for that event?

I would be delighted to lead a group to the river area to watch the air show and fireworks, followed by an evening on the town. I am slated to take the PE exam the day before so I will be in the mood to have some fun!

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 02-03-2002).]

Spiff, just bringing this thread back to life to see where we stand on the Derby, just tentatively setting up a spring schedule..

Let's see..

Thunder Over Louisville is Saturday, April 20th. I would be happy to take a group of folks to the Ohio River for the airshow, thew fireworks, and dinner/drinks sometime in the mix there.

The Kentucky Oaks is Friday, May 3rd. A great race day that is a little "tamer" than the Derby.

The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4th. Fun starts early but is well worth the trip to Churchill Downs.

I belive there are still some decent hotel deals to be had if you can handle not staying right downtown. I'll be happy to assist with transportation so that the number of drivers is as close to zero as possible.

Spiff - First I want to thank you for your offer. I am surprised after the wonderful gathering that we recently had in dus that the community does not want to get together more for events. It appears sometimes that Community has almost become the itinerary forum and people post they are going to be somewhere and do the locals want to host a lunch or dinner. I am not being a critic of this as I have been part of the hosting of such events and just the meeting of fellow members of the "community" of flyertalk in and of itself is a rewarding experience.
But imho there is nothing so grand as having an experience at an event with fellow community members.
Now having stated all of the above I am going to have to say that Jerrie & I are going to have to beg out as we have to decided to join the larger group of flyertalkers on May 31 at the navy pier in Chicago. Although for sure the fireworks are not as spectacular as Thunder over Louisville we are not able to attend both events (due to constraints on Jerrie's vacation schedule) and have opted for the windy city + community members in attendance.
Once again I wish to thank you for your offer and hope that we meet in our future travels whether in San Francisco, Louisville or some far-flung place of the world.

magic111,

Glad to hear that I'll be seeing you and many others in the Windy City at the end of May!

Spiff

More events have been added/updated for the 2002 Kentucky Derby Festival at http://www.kdf.org/default.asp .

Go Baby Go!