Whenever I first decided to run a half marathon in all 50 states I just started picking races that were the closest instead of picking places I wanted to go. After a few of them I realized that I should pick places I would want to see and make the most of it. I have wanted to do the Kentucky Derby race for several years now but it just hasn’t worked out, until now! This was the year I finally got to do it and it did not disappoint. This is probably my second favorite race I have done, Indiana being my first because that’s where my husband purposed!
When we first got to Louisville we checked into our hotel, The Galt House. It was huge and really nice, but when my husband made the reservation over the phone he was told we could have a late check out since I was in the race. When we were checking in she said he couldn’t. He even mentioned he was told over the phone we could check out an hour later and she said we could for an additional charge. I just feel if we were told something over the phone we should be accommodated, especially after paying that much for a room. Anyways, our room was really nice and it was walking distance to the race expo, the race start line, and restaurants, so that was a plus. Once we put all of our stuff in the room we headed to the race expo. Since Jim Beam is made in Kentucky they had a booth there at the expo giving tastings. I had never tried whiskey before so I thought I would give it a try…….definitely not for me, haha. After I got my race packet we walked around downtown Louisville a little.
A blogger group I’m in on facebook mentioned a little coffee shop called Please & Thank You that has Louisville’s best chocolate chip cookie, so of course I wanted to go see. That’s where we headed after the expo and thought we would just walk. It was a little further than we thought and when we got there they had just closed. As usual I didn’t think to look at the hours. After that little adventure we decided to go eat dinner. We went to Fourth Street Live which is the cutest little area with restaurants and a stage for live music. We ended up eating at Hard Rock Cafe because it’s one of our favorites, but this time it wasn’t the best. When we travel we at least visit a Hard Rock to get a guitar pick charm for my bracelet. I love that I have that little souvenir of the places we visit and it’s something we always do together. When we go to a new place my husband always checks if there is a Hard Rock. Speaking of my husband, I forgot to mention that’s the “we” I’ve been talking about in case you didn’t put that together, haha. He always goes with me to my races. I couldn’t ask for a better husband!
The only thing I don’t like about race days is how early the races start. Most of the time the cities are on eastern time and we are on central, so they start an hour ahead making them super early. I know it’s because they have to close down streets and they want the races to finish before it gets too hot, but I am not a morning person, haha. Anyways, this race was so much fun because we got to run through Churchill Downs where they have the Kentucky Derby. That was so cool to see and we even saw horses practicing because it was the week before the derby. Be sure to watch my April Vlog because you can see inside Churchill Downs, I’ll post it below.
Once I got showered and changed we packed up and got ready to head home. Before we left we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and checked out the gift shop. They had all kinds of cool things and you can even get a bat engraved with your name. We didn’t do the tour but now we are wishing we did. I guess that means we will just have to go back, then we can try the cookie place again and actually check their hours, haha.
One of the things I love most about going to these races is trying new places and spending time with my husband. We always have so much fun on road trips and he is so encouraging and supportive throughout the race. He helps keep me going!
I hope y’all enjoyed reading more about my 9th state! Let me know in the comments if you have been to Louisville before and what your favorite thing to do was! I really would love to back back one weekend so we need recommendations for next time!
Click the picture to shop my outfit!
