Countdown to Derby Day: A proper introduction

• Steve Ryan / Wikimedia Commons

Two minutes out of the gate and the Kentucky Derby’s finished, famously lasting no longer than a future Chi Omega’s nervous beau after prom. But, after all, performance is hardly the point - it’s all about the dress, the shoes, the limo, the corsage. So too at the Derby, where anticipation, ritual, and pageantry matter more than the short-lived event itself. Which is why we’ve been prepping for our inaugural pilgrimage to Louisville for, like, a year and a half. This week, we’ll reveal all the tips and tricks and insider knowledge we’ve picked up along the way in a series of posts that will mark our countdown to Derby Day. Okay, not all of our tricks. Like any Southern lady worth her salt, we’re keeping our cards pretty close to our chests - or, rather, hidden in our hats.
?
Between the two of us, we’ve lived in Indiana, New York, Boston, Paris, California, Seattle, Chicago, and Bangladesh, but we claim the South, and we’d like to think the South claims us. Our accents might slip occasionally (blame the original “90210” and “Gossip Girl”) and we’re hardly Junior League material, but we would’ve voted for Carter if we were alive then, and we never run out of lemonade or sweet tea (that’s a lie, but we sure wish it weren’t). But damn if we weren’t bred for the ultimate Kentucky cotillion, no less than Secretariat. That’s what we tell ourselves, anyway.