WTF?
Yes, I live in a strange town.
But no matter what the occasion or festival, when something interesting finally happens in Lexington, I grab my camera and go.
I don’t know the historic reasons behind it (something about a famous prostitute…or as they were politely called back then “madam”…being from here) but my humble town of 300,000 hosted its first annual bed race on Thursday. The participants put on togas and pajamas, consume some beer, and then push beds with wheels at a frantic dash through downtown.
Do you find this strangely sexual?
There was a collision, but aside from a little road rash, both teams got up smiling and continued the race carrying the remains of their beds with them. Maybe the Kentucky Ale helped.
I didn’t care what they were racing, the 70F degree weather and positive chi were good enough reasons to get out and walk around in my much missed flip-flops.
After the races, I plodded around with some friends on the first official Lexington pub crawl. Unlike the last one I did which was in Munich, Germany, there was no group leader and you moved at your own pace. You could really only tell the people that were crawling by the orange bracelets that they wore, but it did earn us a free ride in a Hummer stretch limo to various spots around downtown.
Unfortunately, the 70F degree weather is now a fading memory and it is expected to snow again tonight. The weather here has a cruel sense of humor. The next time that nature cooperates, I plan to hike around downtown and take some pictures of local culture here…without being able to hit the road for a while its the closest thing to vagabonding that I can hope for.
Fortunately, my friends are good enough to make up for the disappointing lack of Buddhist temples, poisonous snakes, and Indonesian culture that I should be experiencing right now.
Tags: bed race, best of bluegrass, Kentucky, pub crawl, USA
Greg
I haven’t seen a bed race in years! We used to have them in my home town when I was younger, I have pictures of my dad racing through downtown Mayfield, toga and all! Great pictures!