Our day at Royal Ascot

The day finally arrived!!!  The day for Brad and I to enjoy Royal Ascot.  I finally was able to find a wrap to match my dress, thank goodness!  It was so much fun to get dressed up and to see Brad looking so dapper in his morning suit and top hat.  The kids were convinced Brad was a magician and they kept asking him if he was going to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

I took the kids to school all dressed and got lots of comments!  Brad picked me up in the car and we were off!  It took about an hour to get there, and we did a little bit of driving through the countryside.  We arrived about 30 minutes before the gates opened at 10:30 so we just walked around a bit and watched all the people!  

We saw many very interesting dresses, and hats of course.  There were many skalpers looking for tickets.  We also saw several videocameras set up to interview people about their dresses, and right across from the royal enclosure was a place for "Owners, Trainers and Jockeys."

I absolutely loved seeing all the men in their morning suits and top hats!  

We went in right around 10:30.  The queue was not long at all, and everyone was very civil and polite. We were in the royal enclosure, which is the area with the most strict dress code. As we walked in, to the right was the paddock area.  

The grass was so green and the whole area was surrounded by flowers.  The union jacks were flying and shown everywhere.  Inside the building were many food vendors and bars, as you can imagine!  

KFC rented the Trackside restaurant, at the far end of the track.  As we walked in, they offered champagne and canapés (what a fancy word!).  I met several people who work with Brad, as well as many franchisees.  Brad was allowed to remove his top hat inside the restaurant, which I think he was relieved about!  

A tipster who works for the race course came in to give us some tips about how to bet, as well as give us the updates on the horses who had scratched.  They also has someone walking around with lucky dip tickets for £20.  It was basically tickets that had been already picked: 4 in each envelope.

We ate a delicious lunch.  The starter was pannacota cheese in an egg shell that actually looked like a hard-boiled egg, as well as duck pate inside a small Apple with bread crisps.  Lunch was lamb and beef with potatoes.  Dessert was fruit with a white chocolate cake.  We finished up just in time to see the royal procession!!!!

The royal procession began at 2:00 with the queen as well as other members of the royal family riding in horse-drawn carriages through the course and then into the paddock area.  It was very cool to see her!!  

And apparently, we could have placed a bet on the color of the queens hat.  It was mint green.  Brad was very impressed by how subdued the crowd was; I have a feeling if William and Kate were there, more people would have been cheering.  The queen was pulled by white horses, but she was followed by two or three other carriages that were pulled by brown horses.

After the royal procession, it was time for the races!!!  We placed our bets and went out onto the terrace to watch the race.  The first race was actually a pretty short distance, so it was over pretty quickly.  We didn't win; we took the advice of the tipster on the two sure fire wins, but only one panned out and he came in third!

The second race included the Queen's horse, Peacock.  In the program, the breeder is "THE QUEEN."  She needs no other name than that!!  I think he placed third.

The biggest race of the day was the Gold Cup, the fourth of the six races.  Brad and I decided to go out onto the grass close to the track to see that race.  

We were so close, and we could see the box where the royal family was seated; we could just glimpse the top of the queens mint green hat.

 The race was 2 1/2 miles so the horses ran past us twice.  And I picked the winning horse, on a whim: Trip to Paris.  Too bad I didn't bet quite enough to fund a trip to Paris!  

After the race, we walked out to the paddock where they also present the awards to the horses.  There is a large horseshoe for the First place horse, and then a place for the second, third and fourth place horses to stand.  

And the Queen, of course, presented the gold cup so we were able to see her again.  She moves pretty slow, and she got right down to business.  

How cool for the jockey and the owner to be able to shake hands with the Queen!  She's apparently very much a horse lover.

A couple of our neighbors were also at Ascot for the day, in the grandstand area, so we went and met them for a glass of Pimm's, which is a very British drink. 

a gin-based alcoholic drink, served typically with lemonade or soda water and fresh mint.
It is very good, especially served with fruit in it!  YUM!!

Then we walked back to the restaurant, and I decided to quit while I was ahead and no more bets for me!  Brad placed a bet on the last race, and then we tried to cash in our lucky dip, but our lucky dip was not lucky at all.  One of the ladies who was sitting at our table won £350 on HER lucky dip!  

After the final race, there was some singing around the bandstand, which we heard a little of as we headed out.

It was an absolutely perfect day!!!!  We were so lucky with the weather, and it is an absolutely stunning place.  I love getting dressed up and spending a day at the races.