Talladega

What do you get your dad on his 56th birthday? The opportunity to go 169.41 mph around Talladega. How's that for a cure for mid-life crisis? In all seriousness, it was a great idea for a birthday present for my dad, and all credit goes to my mom. Though my dad's birthday was in March, we celebrated in May with a trip to Talladega. After a driving lesson, dad got to drive a race car around the track for six laps, topping out at 169.41 mph. He said it was an experience like nothing else. We were all out there cheering him on, complete with posters! Here are some pics from our afternoon at the track.



After driving school, the drivers came through the crowd like celebrities!

With the drivers on the track for a special tribute to U.S. soldiers before the racing started.

He suited up in real racing gear.

With Ryan before taking to the track.

Not sure who the random guy is in this pic or what possessed him to join our family photo. Random.

Kyle and Ryan watching from the platform.




That's dad! And, yes, there were multiple amateur drivers racing together on the track at the same time. Crazy, I know, but they all had instructors in the seat next to them who weren't afraid to jerk the wheel and gain control of the car if things got out of control.

Pulling in after six laps.




You can tell how excited dad was as he described the experience to mom.


This was my second trip to Talledega (first time was for a field trip as a kid) but I have yet to go for a race. They say it's crazy fun, but I'm not a huge nascar fan (sorry, driving in circles gets a little boring in my book). Still, I think I'm going to have to add it to the list of lifetime experiences to check off. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

A-Day Volume 2

A few more pics from A-Day which mom took.

A-Day

I'm a little late on this update but wanted to be sure and post some of the great pics we took during our trip to Tuscaloosa for the A-Day game a few Saturdays back. Everyone was decked out in their crimson, white, and houndstooth. I believe this is the most distracted from the spring game I have ever seen my dad, but he had an adorable little distraction in Isabella. Mom took some other great pics with her camera, so I'll post those once I get copies. We had such a fun family day in T-town, and it was great to get in some college football before the long, dry summer hits. I heard someone say on Twitter that yesterday marked the halfway point of the college football off season. Only 120 more days to go...but who's counting?

Off to the Races...and the Brewery

Though I'm a good month behind blogging this post, it's actually more fitting coming the day after the Kentucky Derby. Earlier in April we visited Robert's sister and brother-in-law in Lexington, Kentucky. Lexington is home to the Keeneland horse track, a smaller version of Churchill Downs where the Derby is run in Louisville.

We timed our trip to coincide with one of the weekends in April when Kenneland is in operation. While there, we were able to catch five races and saw two of the horses that competed in yesterday's Derby - Stately Victor and Paddy-O-Prado. It was our first horse racing experience and was really entertaining. There were about 12 races during the entire Saturday, starting every half hour or so, with folks making bets and claiming winnings all in between. It was quite the party. The funny part was there wasn't too much difference between Keeneland and the infield of Talladega. The acohol and good times are in full force, and the only difference between the inebriated crowd is that they're wearing seersucker suits and sundresses instead of cut offs and t-shirts.

Some of the horses on show before a race.

Trying to figure out bets. Once we learned the differences between win, place, show, and across the board, it was on. We each paid $5 for entry plus $2.00 for the race book while the horse listing and another 50 cents for a pen. We gave ourselves $20 each to bet and we didn't collect our winnings until the very end so we could know our exact tally on winnings and loses. Robert ended up making about $10 on his $20 and I ended up losing $10. (I need to remember this when we go to Vegas....). When you count our entry and other fees, it ended up costing us a little less than a movie out but we had tons more fun.

We had lunch with the family (Robert's parents met us in Lexington for the weekend also) at Wallace Station, where they are famous for Hot Brown sandwiches. The food was fantastic, and both times we went the line was nearly out the door, so you know you've come upon a good thing when the locals are out too.

Earlier in the morning before making our way to Keeneland we dropped by the Woodford Reserve Distillery. All whisky made in Kentucky is bourbon because of the way the limestone rock round in the area affects the water that is used in the distillation process. All seven bourbon makes in the U.S. are found within an 80-mile area of Kentucky. There's a special bourbon tour that you can participate in that lets you tour each distillery.

The sour mash; looked like a huge vat of cheese grits but smelled awful.

The Scottish copper barrels are unique to the Woodford Reserve distillation process. Other bourbon makers use a different method.

The barrel room was my favorite. The rich smells of the bourbon and oak were incredible. The bourbon ages for four years in here. I could have set up a cot for life.


Special thanks to Liz and Mike for planning such a great tip for us. I feel like we were able to see authentic Lexington, and it was nice the timing worked for Robert's parents to meet us up there. We hadn't seen the Adams family since Christmas. Love me some springtime in Lexington!

Easter

We spent Easter at my Big Mama's with the Haskew side of the family. It was great to get the whole family together, and all the kiddos made the Easter egg hunt lots of fun. Here are a few pics from the day. I was especially glad we were able to get some family group photos.