The mini-vacation: Maker Mark Day @ Keeneland and Disney

We just got back from driving 2,000 miles in 5 days.  Wooof...my butt hurts from sitting that long, but we did have a great time. Allow me to explain.

Racetracks. Yes, we are bettors

Every year, the bourbon, Maker's Mark, sponsors a day at the Keeneland Race track in Lexington, KY. As we are Kentucky Colonels, I like drinking bourbon, and the wife's Dad and wife live there, we decided to head on up and bet the ponies. 10 races, 5 bets, we walked away with about $65, basically breaking even when you consider we paid for lunch, etc.


It was a nice afternoon, followed by a delicious dinner at a local German restaurant named Marikkas. Brats, sauerkraut, wiener schnitzel and beer? Yes, please!

Maker's Mark day at Keeneland was followed by the Retirement party of the CEO of the company, Bill Samuels. He's the 7th(?) generation of Samuels to distill bourbon and he had a blow out to celebrate. A very large tent was set up in a hotel parking lot in downtown Lexington. There was a band, lighting and sound equipment, food, and of course, booze. Tickets were $10 a pop and all proceeds went to a local shelter for battered woman (insert snarky comment here about booze and abuse).

Yes, those are minis in their headbands

Anywho, people showed up to party, like these two ladies here, who clearly let the booze go to their heads! (I am so punny)

There was also a station, right after you entered, that had a woman strung up by her ankles, hanging upside down passing out fake champagne. I think people thought it was real champagne becuase they were like animals reaching up to her with their glasses. Heck, even I succumbed to the allure of the lady in a red cowboy hat, as I shouldered my way in there.

Hey, gimme some of that, what you sucking on!

As you may see from the shoulders of my jacket, it was wet outside. Rain had started in the middle of the afternoon out at the track and continued throughout the night. By the time we got to the party (around 9:30) it was pouring. The way it was, there had to have been at least 1,500 people in the big tent. If it hadn't been raining, I suspect there would have been much, much more.

The next day the wife and I left Lexington at about noon and started the second half our mini-vacation; meeting my parents, sister and brother-in-law and nephews in Orlando and Disney World.Whoa.

We knew that we wouldn't be able to do the entire 14 hr drive all in one shot, so we figured we'd just drive as far as we could on day 1 and arrive the next day when we would. We'd find a cheap hotel on I-75 somewhere and call it a night.

Can you feel the excitement tonight?

This plan was working fine until we realized we'd forgotten the entrance tickets to the Disney parks back in Auburn (Doh!) So, we made a detour, picked up the tickets at the house (at around 6 pm.) left around 7 pm and stopped in Tifton, Georgia, right of I-75 at about 11:00 pm., receiving a "too fast for conditions" citation from a small town, back-woods Georgia cop along the way (Fun!). Small aside, when I was being pulled over, I took a turn onto a dead end street to get off the main highway. I parked right in front of a house that was having a bonfire in the backyard. The people must have been freaked when the cop's lights stopped right in front of their house!

So, the next day, into Orlando we drove. Now, the boys are 5 and 3 now, and while I think they might be a little young for the whole Orlando experience, I was proved wrong by the excitement that emanated from them the entire time they were there. I mean, look at the youngest!

Hi there!

Ah, just kidding. No, the whole family had a great time, as evidenced by this picture:

And yes, the eldest and I are wearing Pluto hats. I've decided I don't care about my dignity any longer.







As evidenced by the shot below:

Pluto was always my favorite, but Daffy, too

I'm too sexy for this eyepatch!

This one too:

Does Daffy always look angry?

Lastly, while we were getting on rides, my father would pull out his camera and try to take a picture of us all sitting in the seats. He sent them to me and when I took a look at them, I noticed one in particular that made me laugh out loud.

Well done, boy in the back. Well done.

Yes, we were photo-bombed on Pirates of the Caribbean. YES!!!