Kentucky Derby and Oaks

Our travels take us through the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee as we make our way to the Bluegrass State, Kentucky. In Berea, we visit a true treasure, the Kentucky Artisan Center. Here we’ll shop for handmade Kentucky arts and crafts. This afternoon we travel to Bardstown, one of Kentucky’s oldest settlements. We check in our hotel for a three-night stay. Dinner is included this evening. (D)

Today we take our seats for the Derby’s famed “Little Sister,” the Kentucky Oaks. Your ticket includes a “Fast Access” pass, allowing you to bypass lines and it offers admission to the Hospitality area. (Tickets are reserved in the First Floor Grandstand Sections 121 & 122.) We enjoy an included Derby Fare lunch today while enjoying the race. Also included is a celebrity jockey meet & greet where you will have a chance for autograph signings and photo opportunities. Don’t forget to wear your pink as the Kentucky Oaks honors cancer awareness and its survivors. (L)

We arrive mid-morning in preparation of the “Run for the Roses.” The Kentucky Derby runs a distance of one and one quarter miles in just over two minutes. It’s run by the fastest three year-old thoroughbreds on earth. Today, we’ll witness first-hand from our reserved Grandstand Seat the “most exciting two minutes in sports,” the “First Jewel of the Triple Crown” plus the five stakes races proceeding. Your ticket includes a “Fast Access” pass, allowing you to bypass lines and it offers admission to the Hospitality area. (Tickets are reserved in the First Floor Grandstand Sections 121 & 122.) The Derby Fare meal is included today. (L)

Derby fever has infected us all. In Lexington, we’ll see thousands of acres of beautiful Kentucky bluegrass. Here we visit the Kentucky Horse Park, the only park dedicated to the horse. This is also where Man O’War is buried, the Calumet Trophy Collection rests, and many retired champions are stabled. As we depart for home, we recall the last exciting four days and the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. We arrive home late evening.