Halle and I have been so excited to participate in this British tradition. We got to see the queen AND wear a fascinator. What’s not to love?

We rode to the Ascot racetrack on a PACKED train. We had to stand for the entire 45 minute ride. It was a party train! Champagne corks were flying, everyone had their Pimms, people were laughing and chatting and everyone was dressed in their finest. It was a blast. Except for the standing and squished quarters for 45 min 🙂

We all disgorged from the train and made our way to the venue. I needed to pick up my ticket so I asked one of the security guards for directions. He said, go up the stairs, over the bridge, take your first right, then a left, the down the road, then left again. Ummmm…not sure I got all that, but thanks. Girls were already carrying their high heels and just walking barefoot along the roads. Although I felt a little underdressed, at that moment I was pretty glad not to be wearing heels.

We finally made our way to the Windsor enclosure where the party atmosphere continued. There were picnic table everywhere and food stalls and betting booths galore. Our first order of business was to make a bet on the color of the queen’s hat. We picked the Yellow category which included orange, peach and gold. Our family had also placed bets on the color, with the winner getting £1.

Next we found a spot for our picnic blanket and ate our lunch. Which, of course, included a salami and cheese sandwich, strawberries, and a pain au chocolate. I’m pretty sure we’ve eaten that for 14 days straight and we still love it! While eating we did a lot of people watching. It was so fun to see all the beautiful dresses, hats and fascinators. I loved the men in their top hats too!

We lined up at the fences early so we could get a great view of the Royal Procession. We did not want to miss the Queen. It’s practically the biggest reason we came! She was wearing Lime green! So, we didn’t win our bet, but it was amazing to see her up close. She hasn’t miss a day at Royal Ascot since her coronation 64 years ago.

We stayed at the fences for the first race. We had placed a both ways bet on Fairyland and she pulled through for us! She won third place. And we won £4!

Now things were really rolling. Halle commented that she thought 99.8% of people there were going to go home very drunk. She said, “Me, you and that little baby over there are the only ones sober.” It was true!

Halle does a great job telling about the rest of the day, so I’ll let here take it from here.

On the walk back to the train station we saw a man selling flip flops. What a genius idea! We also saw a giant cat with a sign that said “As Cat” It was super funny, but I have no idea why the cat was there! It was such a fun day being fancy with my girl!