Frozen Thunder

Saturday's Thunder Over Louisville kicked off two weeks of special events and activities leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Even though we've been in Louisville for 2.5 years now, this was the first Thunder that the wife and I have gone to, and we almost froze to death. It was cold, windy, and rainy. But we stuck it out.

The airshow began at 3:45, with several airplane acts entertaining the smaller-than-normal crowd. We went down to the festivites at 6:00. I went to our neighbors to borrow their lawn chairs, and as I stepped off of their porch, this is what I saw:

A B-52 Bomber. It's the biggest airplane I've ever seen. And it was just a few hundred feet over my head as it circled inland to make another pass over the river. There were several other Military planes that flew over, including F-16's, and the B-2:

Then there were the acrobatic Red Baron bi-planes, doing looptie-loops and barrel rolls while in formation:


Promptly at 9:30, the largest firework show in the US began. Fireworks started going off from 2 different barges and from the 2nd Street Bridge. For nearly 30 minutes, the sky was filled with colorful explosions:








These pictures are not mine. The pictures I took didn't turn out very well.

Thunder was great. I wish it had been warmer, but I can't control the weather. The next two weeks are great for the city of Louisville, with the climax taking place on May 7th at Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.