05-04-2008, 11:25 AM
Friday, May 2, 2008
It's 5:30 P.M. Friday, May 2, 2008. Tori and I leave work to head for Louisville, Kentucky. We are staying at Days Inn, Louisville, Kentucky. We stopped off at Shelbyville, Kentucky to eat dinner at the Cattlesmen Roadhouse. After dinner we loaded back up and headed to Days Inn. We arrived there about 7:30 P.M. and unloaded the van to settle in for the night.
It's 5:30 A.M. on May 3, 2008. Up we get to head to Churchhill Downs. It's pouring, and I do mean pouring down rain. We dressed and loaded up the van and off we went to Churchhill Downs. A quick stop at drive through McDonalds and off we go. We arrived at Churchhill Downs at 7:15 A.M. and was very lucky to get a parking space at 6th Street. When we arrived only about 50 people were standing outside of Gate 17 going into Churchhill. We had our picture made by Fanfoto so we could order a picture of us just waiting to get in. The gate opened at exactly 8:00 A.M. and we entered Churchhill Downs. The whole race track was so clean and just waiting for all to enter. In about one hour all the waste started dropping onto the ground and it began to look like hundreds of thousands of fans were in attendance.
Tori and I head off to Gate 10 because a lady from Courier Journal called me Friday at work and told me that Taylor would be arriving over at the Red Carpet at Gate 10. We ran into Ted Gay, Vice President, Business Development and he instructed Tori and me how to get over to the Red Carpet. When we arrived there, we were instructed that we had to stay behind a twelve foot fence and couldn't go beyond it or we would be asked to leave. We did obey the rules! It sucked, but what could we do. By now it was around 11:00 A.M. and I needed to start placing our bets for the day which would free up our time to wait at the Red Carpet for Taylor to enter. We decided to have a little lunch and head back over to the Red Carpet. When we arrived back we ran into the owner of Monba and we talked with him and his friends for a bit. We weren't aware of who he was because people tell you all sorts of things just chatting but we did see him being interviewed later and realized he actually was Monba's owner. I should have had Tori take a picture of me with him but I just wasn't interested. I'm on Tay Watch!
Then around 3:00 P.M. the stars started coming in. As we waited patiently, I took out my sign "Soul Patrol, Brendon's Mom". Everyone starting asking about the sign. I told them we were part of Taylor Hicks' Soul Patrol and was there to try and get a couple of pictures of him on the Red Carpet. It was around 3:30 P.M. and a gentleman that saw the sign came over to Tori and me and said that Taylor would be arriving with the celebrity basketball players on the next tour bus and sure enough, up pulled the bus and they started unloading. Tori starting yelling, granny there is Taylor! She was right. He stepped off the bus to hear us yelling "Soul Patrol, Taylor Hicks". He waved at Tori and said "Hello". He quickly acknowledge that he saw us but had to wait there for a bit until he received his instructions. After about a minute, over he came to Tori and me at the fence. I told him "Taylor, I'll be in Birmingham next weekend" and his reply was "that is great". He said hello to Tori and then off they took him to the Red Carpet. Darn, it was just a matter or a minute or two. We did get a few pictures and I did snap a picture of him doing his "Whoooooo"! Then he disappeared inside of the tent. Off Tori and I ran to enter back into Churchhill Downs to greet him as he came through Gate 10. The waiting again was pure hell but finally I saw him appear with the basketball players. As I waited to smile and greet him again with Soul Patrol, my granddaughter snapped a picture of him coming through the gate. We actually tried to follow him to the Skylight elevators but the crowds was too tough to get through. I did manage to get a picture of him standing inside waiting for the elevator but it isn't the best picture. I did it, I actually go close enough in hundreds of thousand people to snap a few pictures of him. I'm ok now. I've had my small talk with Taylor and my Taylor Fix! I'm off now to watch the races.
I did bet Big Brown to win across the board and he did win. I collected $26.80 on a $2.00 bet. I hope Taylor took my advise and placed that Soul Patrol bet on Big Brown. We didn't see Taylor any more that afternoon. I was happy, hungry and very tired when the 11th race started. We settle down for a bit and waited for people to clear out and actually bet on the 11th race. Didn't win a thing and it was starting to get very cool for the evening so Tori and I left and headed home. That's all folks! Oh, by the way Monba finished dead last in the Kentucky Derby.
What pictures we did get, I'll have to post a little later today. Soul Patrol!
It's 5:30 P.M. Friday, May 2, 2008. Tori and I leave work to head for Louisville, Kentucky. We are staying at Days Inn, Louisville, Kentucky. We stopped off at Shelbyville, Kentucky to eat dinner at the Cattlesmen Roadhouse. After dinner we loaded back up and headed to Days Inn. We arrived there about 7:30 P.M. and unloaded the van to settle in for the night.
It's 5:30 A.M. on May 3, 2008. Up we get to head to Churchhill Downs. It's pouring, and I do mean pouring down rain. We dressed and loaded up the van and off we went to Churchhill Downs. A quick stop at drive through McDonalds and off we go. We arrived at Churchhill Downs at 7:15 A.M. and was very lucky to get a parking space at 6th Street. When we arrived only about 50 people were standing outside of Gate 17 going into Churchhill. We had our picture made by Fanfoto so we could order a picture of us just waiting to get in. The gate opened at exactly 8:00 A.M. and we entered Churchhill Downs. The whole race track was so clean and just waiting for all to enter. In about one hour all the waste started dropping onto the ground and it began to look like hundreds of thousands of fans were in attendance.
Tori and I head off to Gate 10 because a lady from Courier Journal called me Friday at work and told me that Taylor would be arriving over at the Red Carpet at Gate 10. We ran into Ted Gay, Vice President, Business Development and he instructed Tori and me how to get over to the Red Carpet. When we arrived there, we were instructed that we had to stay behind a twelve foot fence and couldn't go beyond it or we would be asked to leave. We did obey the rules! It sucked, but what could we do. By now it was around 11:00 A.M. and I needed to start placing our bets for the day which would free up our time to wait at the Red Carpet for Taylor to enter. We decided to have a little lunch and head back over to the Red Carpet. When we arrived back we ran into the owner of Monba and we talked with him and his friends for a bit. We weren't aware of who he was because people tell you all sorts of things just chatting but we did see him being interviewed later and realized he actually was Monba's owner. I should have had Tori take a picture of me with him but I just wasn't interested. I'm on Tay Watch!
Then around 3:00 P.M. the stars started coming in. As we waited patiently, I took out my sign "Soul Patrol, Brendon's Mom". Everyone starting asking about the sign. I told them we were part of Taylor Hicks' Soul Patrol and was there to try and get a couple of pictures of him on the Red Carpet. It was around 3:30 P.M. and a gentleman that saw the sign came over to Tori and me and said that Taylor would be arriving with the celebrity basketball players on the next tour bus and sure enough, up pulled the bus and they started unloading. Tori starting yelling, granny there is Taylor! She was right. He stepped off the bus to hear us yelling "Soul Patrol, Taylor Hicks". He waved at Tori and said "Hello". He quickly acknowledge that he saw us but had to wait there for a bit until he received his instructions. After about a minute, over he came to Tori and me at the fence. I told him "Taylor, I'll be in Birmingham next weekend" and his reply was "that is great". He said hello to Tori and then off they took him to the Red Carpet. Darn, it was just a matter or a minute or two. We did get a few pictures and I did snap a picture of him doing his "Whoooooo"! Then he disappeared inside of the tent. Off Tori and I ran to enter back into Churchhill Downs to greet him as he came through Gate 10. The waiting again was pure hell but finally I saw him appear with the basketball players. As I waited to smile and greet him again with Soul Patrol, my granddaughter snapped a picture of him coming through the gate. We actually tried to follow him to the Skylight elevators but the crowds was too tough to get through. I did manage to get a picture of him standing inside waiting for the elevator but it isn't the best picture. I did it, I actually go close enough in hundreds of thousand people to snap a few pictures of him. I'm ok now. I've had my small talk with Taylor and my Taylor Fix! I'm off now to watch the races.
I did bet Big Brown to win across the board and he did win. I collected $26.80 on a $2.00 bet. I hope Taylor took my advise and placed that Soul Patrol bet on Big Brown. We didn't see Taylor any more that afternoon. I was happy, hungry and very tired when the 11th race started. We settle down for a bit and waited for people to clear out and actually bet on the 11th race. Didn't win a thing and it was starting to get very cool for the evening so Tori and I left and headed home. That's all folks! Oh, by the way Monba finished dead last in the Kentucky Derby.
What pictures we did get, I'll have to post a little later today. Soul Patrol!
Great recap, and can't wait for the photos-