Welcome to my Preakness weekend recap! Jeff and I have been going to the Preakness horse race together at Pimlico since 2012.  We each had our own infield experiences in our teens and 20s but you surely won’t be finding those pictures here. I am pretty glad that camera phones and social media didn’t exist during my infield days, not that there was anything that couldn’t be seen. 😉

It has been raining here for a week, so the infield was a gross muddy mess this year.  Our tickets are in the corporate village. It is also inside the track and on grass.  However, this year we were in beautiful, climate controlled tents.  It was the perfect year for the change in tents with the wet, rainy weather.  Jeff and I had the perfect outfits picked out, but with the chance of more rain and muddy, wet grass, we made a last minute change.

On Friday afternoon, the boys and I dashed over to Tractor Supply Company to pick up a quick pair of rainboots.  I love these boots that I found for $20!!

When it rained 2 years ago for Preakness, I didn’t have a rain/trench coat and ended up wearing an old maternity coat that I still had. Not cool! I declared that I was going to get a rain coat so I could have one for the next rainy Preakness. Well, I didn’t. So Friday after I dropped the boys at swim team, I ran out to find one.  I found these 2.

On Saturday morning, I tried on a bunch of dress combinations and ended up going with this one. It is an oldie, but goodie from Lilly and matched my boots perfectly!

We had a great grown-ups only time with Jeff’s family!

We also met up with some of our Eldersburg friends.We were clearly having a great time with them too!

Jeff and I had to sneak our way over to see them and ended up walking through the horse holding stables. I have NO IDEA how we ended up in there, but we did.  It was pretty neat to be so close to these beautiful horses.  Jeff and I realized that we shouldn’t be there about halfway through the stable, so I waited to take my picture until we were through.

The official drink of Preakness is the Black Eyed Susan. It’s pretty delicious! Maker’s Mark also has Mint Juleps to try. I tried a little of each.

Tito’s was also set up in the corporate village.  They had delicious strawberry lemonade and Tito’s, soda, lemon, and lime cocktails.

I only bet on the two races. I picked the winner in the Preakness race!! Big money! 😂

The boys also have a Preakness tradition.  They spend the day with my parents and have a blast.  This year they went to the driving range and played putt putt before watching the race.

This day is a great tradition for Maryland and the Parsons!!

Here’s a look at our Preakness adventures since 2012. We already can’t wait for next year’s fun!!

Preakness 2012: My first year at “fancy Preakness” and I wore my blue-eyed Susan skirt.

Prekaness 2013:

Preakness 2014:

Preakness 2015:

Preakness 2016: Our first rainy Preakness (and that maternity rain coat)

Preakness 2017: I am not a big hat girl. I have a big head and with my hair, once that hat is on, I can’t take it off. So this year, I decided to try a fascinator.

Preakness 2018:

I hope everyone has a great week! We are gearing up for spirit week and Field Day over here. It is a busy, but fun week! I am hoping to finish The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews in the next day or so. It will definitely be a bittersweet finish because I am loving this book and the characters!!

Here’s to a week full of sunshine and books!!

☀️ 📚 😎