I grew up just a few miles from Churchill Downs, but I did not go to the races for the first time until 2007, to Oaks for the first time until 2011, and to the Kentucky Derby for the first time until 2012. Well, I quickly regretted all of that wasted time and have only missed going to the track during Derby weekend once since then.

I’ve had seats, I’ve done the infield and the paddock, and I’ve even been in the Stakes Room… with a brief appearance to Millionaires Row on Derby Day!! That was literally bucket list material, and I might have tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

That being said, leading up to Derby, I have seen a lot of lists of what to bring, what to do, where to park, etc. So, I decided I wanted to join in with a few tips of my own.

I truly could not tell you how many times I have started blogs (or journals or diaries before that), only for them to last just about one post. I think my LiveJournal account is the longest running thing I ever wrote in consistently, with my current Yelp reviews coming in second. (Yelp reviews are essentially my blog posts about restaurants and other businesses, after all!)

That being said, I have been told time and time again, "You should start a blog." However, blogging takes work. Work I am not sure I necessarily want to put forward. While I think Facebook and whatnot are a little easier, I did come up with a name I liked some months ago. A name I sort of fell in love with.

I was thinking about a Britney Spears classic, Lucky. You know--"This is a story about a girl named Lucky," and, "She's so lucky; she's a star." (You're singing it now, right?) Then I took my beloved hometown: Louisville, KY. Lou, KY. LouKY. I'm so LouKY.

Back to the song... She's so LouKY.

So, we'll see what happens here. Whatever it is, I am so lucky and sooooo LouKY, so you can expect some of that.

Doing Derby: Six Tips

And she's off...