Derby Kick-Off

We moved here to southern Indiana from Virginia. My husband was raised here, I'm from Calif.
With the move came my education of a few new southern traditions and holidays. Mainly the High HOLY day know world wide as THE KENTUCKY DERBY. Yes, it is pronounced in upper case. CHRISTMAS, THANKSGIVING, THE KENTUCKY DERBY. Only after you have lived here for about 10 yrs are you allowed to say DERBY. The pre-DERBY celebration is weeks long.
The kick-off is tomorrow with a celebration called "Thunder over Louisville". If you ever have the opportunity, GO TO Thunder. I may be banned from every KENTUCKY DERBY party for years to come for writing this but, I like Thunder as much as the KENTUCKY DERBY. Thunder is known as the largest fireworks display in the U.S.
Years ago, at the end of Desert Storm, we took our four children to Washington D.C. for the "end of the war" celebration on the Mall. The fireworks went on and on, it was breathtaking. Set to music, over 20 minutes if I remember correctly. It was wonderful to share that with our children but at the same time we knew they were now spoiled for smaller county celebrations.
The 1st Thunder we went to we were stunned. That's the only way to describe it. I think any fireworks I'd seen in my entire life fit in the first 10 minutes of Thunder. Thunder takes a good 30 minutes of solid fireworks, not 1 or 2 but possibly 10-15 at any given time, utilizing 2 bridges and 2 (maybe 3) barges. Nearly a million people gathered on both sides of the river at 9:30pm. People camp out the night before just to save "the good spots". Tomorrow we will brave the crowds to see the air show, eat the elephant ears once again but this time we will view the awe that is Thunder thru the eyes of our 4year old grandson Isaiah.