Horse Hooky Redux

The boys invited me to Horse Hooky in the middle of the day Tuesday and I instantly felt ill and called off work. Health really is one's greatest treasure.

Fairmount Park is now hideously known as FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing. Yuck. We used to take a bar shuttle out here in a package that included a buffet, but both of those things may have been killed by covid or by whatever change of ownership seems to have taken place when I wasn't paying attention. It's for the best though because that was a very sorry excuse for a buffet and I don't feel like punishing my body for any particular reason today.

Man I really like horse races. It's such a gentle way to gamble, and you get to be outside in the sun. Casinos by comparison are smelly caves devoid of both light and the horses that like to prance around through it.

I stuck to my expert strategy of betting on whatever horse has the best name and completely ignoring the odds. I think I may have actually walked away a winner this time which is unheard of.

After the horsing around had completed we went to a bar across the street and interacted with some of the lowest class people ever assembled. We were so pretty by comparison that someone literally bought us a round of shots not long after we walked in.

The Funny Farm

As hiking is one of the few activities that we enjoy that is still safe to do, we are always on the lookout for a new hiking spot. 

I'm going to let their website describe what the heck this place is:

"Willoughby Heritage Farm and Conservation Reserve is a public park where we've recreated an atmosphere inspired by 1950's farming-life, complete with tractors, barns, a 1930's style Craftsman Farm House, and even live animals like pigs, chickens, and goats! We have over 30-acres of wild-life preserve complete with hiking trails, bridges, and vistas overlooking the prairie and other areas. We're open daily to the public, and since we're a public park admission is always free! So come on and explore a little of what life was like in the 1950's here in Collinsville."

I was impressed by the ebony jewelwings flitting about in the woods near the farm.

Collinsville's World's Largest Catsup Bottle Festival

Today we indulged my love of small town festivals at Collinsville, Illinois' 19th Annual Brooks® World's Largest Catsup Bottle Festival Birthday Party & Car Show. What a descriptive name you have there.

Collinsville used to have a Brooks ketchup (the catsup spelling is for heathens) factory that had a giant ketchup bottle shaped water tower. Well the factory moved to Canada (they took our jobs!) but America got to keep the sweet, sweet water tower. The festival honoring said water tower took place at Woodland Park which was also the location of the International Horseradish Festival. Collinsville truly is a city of wonders.

One the most unique things they had going on was a ketchup tasting booth. If you could guess which one was Brooks brand you got a prize. Having never had it before I failed.

Mom pulled out a win though and got this sweet button/ribbon combo.

Fun ketchup fact: ketchup is a descendent of the Chinese fish sauce kôe-chiap or kê-chiap. It being a loan word that can't really be perfectly converted is the reason there are a few spelling variations.

A couple of ketchup-haired ladies caught my eye. Gonna need a picture with them!

Hurray ketchup!

Day at the Race Track

My friend Matt invited me to watch some horse racing over at the Fairmount Park Racetrack. 

Best named horse ever.

Truth, Justice, and Horseradish

I finally got up early enough on a weekend to go to a political march/save America.

After America was saved we headed to Collinsville, Illinois for the International Horseradish Festival.

They had lots of horseradishy foods to try.

We washed it all down with a sinus burning bloody mary.

There was a really interesting talk about horseradish root farming and then a demonstration on how to make the sauce.

We took home a couple of jars of the white root lightning. They were lots of t-shirts with groan inducing puns such as "it's not the size of the root its the way you grind it" and so forth.