DISCOVER • EXPLORE • EXPERIENCE
Rob Miracle 
And hopefully for good. 2024 was a strange year for us. Day jobs and PTO were not kind, so we made the choice to stay home and do things nearby. That meant no Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Derby Festival for us. It was another year of not being on the Belle of Louisville for the … Read more
It’s Derby week and that means people are racing things. Horses? Sure. Hot Air Balloons? A must. Rubber Duckies? Why not? But one of the more entertaining and unusual things to race are… beds! Dozens of teams spend weeks preparing their beds to race in this two-part competition. The first part is about the party. … Read more
The Pegasus Parade is one of the oldest events during the Kentucky Derby Festival. The mythical winged horse is the official mascot of the festival and the parade. In fact many people ooh and aww over the inflatable Pegasus as it rolls down Broadway For as long as I remember, the parade has been held, … Read more
In the pre-dawn hours of the Saturday morning a week before the Kentucky Derby, dozens of trucks and vans pulling trailers, and hundreds of cars lined up on Pee Wee Reese Drive in Louisville, Kentucky waiting to enter a back gate into a large field between Runway 6 and Runway 15 of Bowman Field. An … Read more
While Thunder Over Louisville is the official kickoff to the Kentucky Derby Festival, the main thrust to the festival starts on the Friday before the Kentucky Oaks with the L&N Federal Credit Union Great Balloon Fest. For 2023, this is a three-event mini-festival dedicated to racing Hot Air Balloons. Friday morning, the pilots take to … Read more
For 33 years, the Kentucky Derby Festival has had its formal kickoff with fireworks. Over the years Thunder has grown to include an air show. The free event draws upwards of 800,000 fans to the shores of the Ohio River to take in this afternoon and evening spectacle. For airshows, most of the action happens … Read more
The past six years have put a serious damper on our ability to travel and bring you great stories and photography from the Kentucky Derby Festival. Between cancer, rotator cuff surgery, and then a couple of years of COVID, it’s been a real challenge to “festival”. But we are back for the 2023 Kentucky Derby … Read more
After our successful return to North Carolina after spending two weeks in Louisville, it’s time to look back on the two weeks. While our normal adventure lasts 10 days (Friday thru Sunday spanning the week before the Kentucky Derby), this year, we drove up to Louisville two Friday’s before the Derby to take part in … Read more
The theme of the this year’s Kentucky Derby Festival should have been “Wet and wonderful.” Two balloon races cancelled, a balloon glow postponed. Rain. Rain. Rain. Cold. Cold. Cold. Thurby – rained. Oaks – Rained and the Derby day forecast? Rain and Cold. But the forecast also had rain chances dropping about mid-day and an … Read more
The Kentucky Derby has run for 143 consecutive years and is by all accounts the most prestigious horse race. It’s for three-year old horses who will run 1.25 miles against the best other three-year old’s. But the day before, another race that has run for the same 143 consecutive years on the Friday before the … Read more