Royal Ascot

My Ascot hat.

Really it's called a "fascinator". It looks like a gravity problem, but it sits at that wonderful angle because it is attached to a discrete little headband. Feel free to laugh. I chuckled everytime I caught a sight of myself.

The Queen, the Queen.... today we went to the Royal Ascot horse races. It was opening day and the most beautiful weather - sunny and 70 degrees. The Queen attends these races. There is a royal procession every day for a mile stretch of the track. It was lots of fun to be so close to her and get a good photo. She was wearing a sunshine yellow coat and hat. Prince Phillip was looking dapper in his top hat.

She is waving at me.... ha!

The Queen's grand entrance - the Royal procession.

One of the only times I've heard the song "God save the Queen". The horse at the rear is having problems because the song started right then and that horse was right beside the speaker.

Ascot is a very famous horse race - at least in England. Famous for the ladies hats and gents in cutaway morning coats and top hats. Really, they wear them!!! We thought we bought the "right" tickets, but come to find out, we were in the equivalent of the outfield seats at a baseball stadium. We were a little frustrated, but when the races finally started we realized we were in a very good location. We had a table right at the track rail. The horses ran right next to us, about 4 feet away. The ground would just rumble as they ran by. Very exciting!

We got a kick out of people watching and checking out all the fancy hats. We - of course - had to buy hats since they are not part of our normal wardrobe. Hats are required in some areas of the grandstands, but "suggested" in the other parts. I only saw a handful of ladies the entire day that weren't wearing a hat. My special hat came from Marks and Spencers. (A fancy "Target") I thought I would see 100s of the same hat, but fortunately only saw a couple. Some ladies go all out and spend hundreds of pounds on their hat - not always money well spent - some crazy, crazy contraptions.

DA kept kidding my friend in the green hat that the local peacocks were circling, wanting their feathers back. I thought it was very pretty.

We had a really fun time. It was a little bittersweet for me though because it will be the last time I see some of these good friends. They are leaving this week for the summer and we will already be back in Texas when they return. sniff, sniff.