HATS & HOMEBREW
Hats
I couple of days ago, I mentioned the Kentucky Derby and its traditions. One of those traditions that gathers a lot of attention every year is the array of showy hats. Mostly the women seem to be the creative ones, but every once in a while you get a gentleman who gets into the Derby spirit as well. At the official Kentucky Derby site, there is a gallery of pictures of recent hats.
The first and the last in the series are my favorite. I'm going to post them here (with attribution) and hope that nobody gets mad.
(photo: Dan Dry/Power Creative at the Kentucky Derby site)
I like this one because it's huge and an attention-grabber, but there are elements of style as well.
(photo: Chris Burkhardt at Kentucky Derby site)
I don't know who these people are, but I love them! Amidst all the seriousness of the race, with the training and work and getting bets in on time, these folks know that the essence of the Derby is to celebrate and have fun!
~~~oOo~~~
Homebrew
One of the things that absolutely SHOCKED me about Kentucky when we moved here was that there are still places that are "dry" - where it is illegal to sell alcohol. There are no restrictions on making your own, you just can't sell it. And my brother and sister Kentuckians are an enterprising bunch, so there is quite the thriving homebrew community out there.
And I make a distinction between homebrew and moonshine. People hear 'moonshine' and they think illegal production and distribution and hillbillies, (like Granny Clampett's 'rheumatiz medicine' on the Beverly Hillbillies)! And while I cannot declare unequivocally that 'moonshine is now mainstream' you do tend to see bottles in liquor stores with the term on the label. We even got a bottle of "Blackberry Moonshine" that was packaged in a Mason jar (of course!) a while back. We used it mostly for cooking. No really! For drinks we are either a Dr. Pepper, Coke Zero or sweet iced tea family, and in the biggest cups we can find. And that's just not the way to drink moonshine, if you are looking for any kind of 'pleasant' experience.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Don't hesitate to click on the logo at the very top to visit more of the participants in the 2015 Blogging from A to Z Challenge!
The hats can be amazing! As for moonshine, my parents once owned a house on the road out in the country called "Bootlegger Road." If you called it by its regular name, no one knew which road you were speaking about! During Prohibition, several bootleggers lived down there, because it's right on the river.l
ReplyDeleteI love the hats! What a fun tradition :)
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
Can you imagine wearing some of those hats?
ReplyDeletebetty
I'm really liking your theme - such a lot of information about Kentucky. The ONLY thing I know about it is that in Florence KY there is (or was in the late 70's) a water tower that said FLORENCE Y'ALL on it. I would see it as I hitchhiked up and down I-75 between Ohio and Georgia (but that's another story). Anyway, great posts, lots of fun stuff and your writing is so friendly and personable - it's like you're just telling me a story!
ReplyDeleteLoved the Derby hats, specially the one worn by the gentleman. Even some states of our country are 'Dry' too and there are some days which are marked as 'Dry Days' in rest of the country.
ReplyDeleteHi, there! I have a sister-in-law in Bardstown we visited recently--during the 15" snow storm! Yuck (I'm from AZ). This is an interesting and different theme idea. I also write cozy mysteries and am blogging about mystery terms for the Challenge. I hope to see you at www.samwriteaway.blogspot.com
ReplyDelete