The Kentucky Oaks of Long Ago
Tomorrow, the Kentucky Oaks is runthe race for the girl stars of the horse racing industry. I can't help but remember the fun we used to have, all those many years ago...
Many years ago, long before terrorist attacks, a small group of my friends got together annually on Kentucky Oaks Day. Just the ladies! We were friends from college, and we had been trained to practice that old saw: Discretion was an absolute requirement in life, but not necessarily restraint. At this point in time, we were all fairly well established in our careers, and enjoyed a little time, away from jobs, children, and husbands, to be with our friends. And Kentucky Oaks Day is Ladies Day!
All of us dressed to the nines to attend the Kentucky Oaks, but for two or three hours in the morning of the Oaks, we left our husbands at home and people watched. OK, so we were just silly. But, we were enjoying the ambiance of the occasion, and we had a wonderful time!
There were six of us, and we met at the parking lot at The Mallthe perfect spot to purchase that last-minute accessory item that was so vital to the whole Derby Look. Ten a.m.-- our very own "D" Day. All of us met at the front door of Bacons, the local department store. Together, we tweaked each others dresses, complimented one another on our shoes, our hair-- typical girl stuff. Then, the one who had the biggest car drove, and off we went to the airport. Parking in short-term parking, all of us chipping in, and, in our lovely summer dresses, we walked all the way from parking into the airport, up the escalator with Pegasus hanging overhead, to the best little people-watching restaurant in town.
Once there, we vied for position with the other patrons. No one else was there, enjoying the scenery, just usbut we had to wait for a table to open up that fit all of us. We had to have a table that was on the edge of things at the restaurant-- the side that looked out over the main floor lobby, where one could watch passengers disembark. Usually a nice tip took care of that little request. Once seated, we ordered one Mimosa each, coffee, country ham, scrambled eggs, and homemade biscuitsnothing that dripped-- and sat there, eating slowly, giggling, and having so much fun! We were ladies in our 30s, and in all our silliness, we had a Code of Honor to maintain.
The Code of Honor at that time involved not calling attention to oneself during Derby Festivities. So, we sat and quietly watched as celebrities walked down the main lobby toward the baggage handling area. At that time, you could see all sorts of famous people! We never, ever staredwe had all perfected the art of looking but not being seen, and we never, ever asked anyone for an autograph! Oh my, the Code of Honor did not allow one to intrude on anothers privacy!
We were discreet, we never ever took a picture, and we never ever made eye contact with anyone but each other or the server. The celebrities knew exactly what we were up to, and often smiled at us as they walked by. We carefully acknowledged their kindness with a nod and a sideways glance... Once past, we tried to outdo each other in nice things to say about them, just in case they had spies planted here and there...
We managed beautifully; after all, we were well-trained. That is, we maintained our sangfroid until Paul Newman walked by. It was too much for us. We grabbed each others hands and stared down at our plates, in agony... We had to look, but, Oh no! We couldnt!
Mr. Newman. Old Blue Eyes. THE most gorgeous man alive. We tried to see him, staring at our plates, our breath held... The excitement between us was palpablea live wire running from one to another, as if we had been plugged in, suddenly. Mr. Newman, bless his heart, saw us, strolled by, and called, Have fun today, ladies! In chorus, like so many little magpies, we chirped, Thank you, Mr. Newman! He smiled...
As soon as he was out of sight, all of us, collectively, let out a whoosh of air, and buried our face in our hands. Gasps of Paul Newman! rang through the air, and all of us, in one way or another, were candidates for defibrillators... We thought that Mr. Newman liked cars, not horses! Our hearts were a flutter, our cool destroyed! We decided that, right then and there, before we made complete fools of ourselves, we would go back to the car and settle down for the drive home.
But first, this called for champagne! We toasted Mr. Newman! We toasted the Kentucky Oaks! We toasted our husbands, who had, in their refusal to take part in such girlish episodes, missed out on all the fun! We toasted Bacons, who carried sun dresses and pretty hats before the season actually started! And at last, we toasted each other, for holding it together until Mr. Newman had disappeared down the escalator!
Looking back, it wasnt that long ago, but werent we quaint? Holy Schmoly, but the world has changed from our innocent looking out from beneath our eyelashes to the camera flashing of today... Of course, now, everyone remotely famous goes to the VIP lounge and is spooned into limousinesthe restaurant is probably closed, and anyone sitting at the table for more than 30 minutes would be forced to submit to a full body scanbut, in the late 1980s, we just wanted to borrow a little excitement.
And we did
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I don't honestly know of any woman who could hold it together when seeing Paul Newman in person. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Oh gosh, he was handsome, friendly, and such a nice guy... We were sprinkled with a little star dust that day!
Anymore, people watching has gotten boring-- because NO ONE comes down the main hall...
The Kentucky Oaks is the run for the Lillies! A fabulous day!
I'm sitting here thinking of 6 girl friends, dressed in all our finery, and maintaining our sophistication, until we were confronted by the ultimate of cool sophistication, Paul Newman...
Thanks so much for your kind smiley faces!!!
Say, I got word yesterday that KY DEP is looking to fill a position for Geologist III. Don't ask me what that means, pay wise, but it may be worth looking into...
Great memory Dowser!
Funny the surprises life affords us sometimes isn't it?
Wonderful, the opportunities we sometimes have! Paul Newman was so nice to us, I think, because we weren't "in his face"... We were just BURSTING with excitement, but we didn't want, in any way, to bother him.
The funny thing? The irony of the whole thing? One of the ladies there was little Sheryl Crow's sister. Sheryl was about 10 years old, at the time...
ROTFLOL. That sounds just like him. His daughter is a little bit younger than mine, so they were on the horse show circuit together. One time in Santa Barbara, they were showing against each other. My daughter was on a relatively cheap horse owned by another trainer who wanted him shown. Newman's daughter was on an expensive, top flight horse. But my daughter kept beating her in the jumping.
In the championship class, he stood near the fence that was closest to one of the more formidable jumps on course. He was wearing sun glasses -- until my daughter was on route to that jump. He suddenly whipped off those glasses, revealing those gorgeous eyes and smiled thatwondroussmile, no doubt thinking it would through off her focus when she saw him. She swears she never noticed him, but everyone else did. All I know is that her horse stayed on course and sailed over the jump with no problem.
Alas. His most expensive movie assets didn't win his daughter a trophy that day. LOL.
Wish I'd been part of your Oaks group. Sounds like such fun.
I wish you had been there, too!!!
LOL, what a funny story about Mr. Newman! She was concentrating on her horse, not those marvelous eyes... What a HOOT!
This time, I only knew two of the celebrities that came, Emilio Esteves and Debra Messing. Other than that, I had never heard of those people!
Oh well, we can't see a Paul Newman every day...