Some history was made this year at the Belmont Stakes and I was there to watch it all go down! We almost axed going this year after last year's transit disaster, but after they made some adjustments to the event we decided to give it another go and I'm so glad we did! Besides, I mean you need an excuse to wear a big floppy hat once a year right? 

The main differences with the event this year was that tickets were sold in advance and the attendance was capped. It was still packed, but more manageable. They also made better use of the space by putting some food trucks in the front and other vendors in the back. Crowd control and train station renovations made the transportation MUCH more effective -- definitely an upgrade from the 3 hours it took us to leave least year. So bravo event/traffic/security coordinators -- the whole crew -- I'd say things were much improved.

 Some of my lady partners in crime! :)

Our crew was staked out near the finish line when it came down to the big race. I can't totallyyyy say I actually saw American Pharaoh cross the finish line (I needed to be like 3 feet taller to see over the crowd) but I can confirm that people were losing their minds when he won! 

I did catch a shot of them on their way to the winner's circle though! I will say it was pretty awesome to be there for the first triple crown winner since 1978! I've been to 3 triple crown races now and I can now say that the third time was definitely a charm! Congrats to American Pharaoh! 

Okay, okay so California Chrome didn’t take the Triple Crown and there was no history to be watched, but I still need to tell you how Belmont went!

Being a Triple Crown and all this year I made sure to make plans accordingly. 1.) Check with my friends for a head count on who was heading to the Stakes, check. 2.) Plan on getting to the train station earlier than precious years to avoid some of the chaos, check. 3.) Set up a said meeting spot once we arrived so that if we branched off we had a spot to meet back at, check check. I did everything I thought was beat practice to make the event day go smoothly, and for the most part it worked out. Definitely some bumps in the road, but not totally terrible.

As expected, transit was pretty atrocious. We waited quite a while before making it to the front of the line, had to split up from a few groups of friends, the train was late, and then the train went apx. 5 mph the whole trip. Once we made it though things ran pretty smoothly. It was definitely a lot more crowded than usual {which is still pretty crowded}, but it wasn’t unbearable. It was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun! I’m not big at betting, but I did bet on two horses for the day 1.) FiftyShadesofGold — I never read the 50 Shades of Grey books butttt I sure do love gold ;-) and then 2.) California Chrome. I ended up being a big loser for the day, but it was fun regardless.

Some other cool things that happened were there were performances by LL Cool J and Frank Sinatra, Jr. leading up to the Belmont race. Can you say awesome? I loved LL Cool J as a kid, so that was definitely a treat and hearing Frank Sinatra, Jr. sing New York, New York, was pretty awesome to say the least. 

All and all I’d say it was a pretty solid day. Nice weather, great company, some yummy lemonade and kettle corn? Solid! Getting home was a 3 hour nightmare {NY Times did a decent write-up if you want to read}, but all and all a fun time! Definitely an event I recommend!

It’s that time of year again… Time for the Belmont Stakes! Even better, California Chrome is going for a Triple Crown! Will he be the first horse in 30+ years to make it happen? We will see! Because it’s a Triple Crown, the event has been getting more exposure than it even does on normal year {which is a lot} so I decided writing some tips were in order. I guess you can call me an old-timer when it comes to the Stakes now that this will be my 4th year attending. Through the sunshine and the rain, I’ve made it out there. So here you are my top 5 tips for attending:

1. Get into the theme! Fun hats, cute sundresses, whatever your heart desires. This is as close to the Kentucky Derby that NYC is getting and while it certainly isn’t that it’s still fun to get a little dressed up.
2. That being said, wear appropriate shoes or plan accordingly! It’s a long day at Belmont and the place isn’t exactly tiny.. so please for the love of God don’t wear the highest heels you own. If you’re race day outfit simply can’t go on without sky-high heels, put a pair of flats in your purse. Trust me on this one.
3. Set up a meeting spot. We usually go to Belmont with a big group of people and having a general area to meet up is key. People are going to branch out and walk around but by having a “hub location” you know where to meet up if you get split up or someone’s phone dies {if only iphones could hold a charge all day}.
4. Make sure you check the security policies. You used to be able to bring in items from outside and now they even have restrictions on purse sizes too. All  in the name of keeping everyone safe! Check them out though so you don’t have to worry about tossing anything before you get in.
5. And finally.. Be smart about what you drink. The bathroom lines get pretty ridiculous at the Stakes so it’s something to keep in mind. Plus, you don’t want to be that person on the train ride back to the city. Keep it classy guys.

Have fun everyone and go California Chrome!