Craig and I left for Kentucky and BreyerFest at 11:30 Thursday morning. We are fortunate that it's only a four hour drive to Lexington so we had no need to rush through packing and preparations.
Our own game of Car Jenga went well, although we are certainly not on the same scale as the Car Jenga master, Nancy Kelly.
Craig and me, BreyerFest bound!
Crossing the Ohio River from Indiana into Kentucky.
Rain set in near Frankfort, Kentucky.
Even with storms brewing, Kentucky is beautiful.
A sign of good things to come. (And the rain did stop.)
The Clarion, host hotel of BreyerFest. (Although the event is so big now that there are satellite hotels with shuttle buses running between them, the Clarion, and the Kentucky Horse Park.)
Craig and I checked into our hotel and then went and grabbed some dinner before hitting up the halls of the Clarion.
This item on the menu was SO TEMPTING, but... no. I have lost 70 lbs. since January and am working hard to eat foods that are good for me. But, oh, did this call my name!
Then, it was off to the Clarion for a fun evening of friends and shopping.
So. Many. Horses. (Accidental selfie but it does capture that feeling of awe!)
And people! This is the Artisans Gallery, and while it was crowded, it was not packed and you could still walk through it fairly easily.
Kylee Parks has knocked it out of the park again this year. These horses looked to me like they were 1:6 scale (maybe the horses are Foalzillas that she customized?) and were on a turntable that slowly spun so you could see the entry from all angles. The circus pony lover in me was awestruck.
After chatting with Teresa Rogers and Jennifer Buxton in the Artisan's Gallery and then popping into the Breakables show to trade tent tickets with Heather McCurdy, I headed away from the ballrooms and down the hallway to room sales.
The Clarion hotel folks love hosting BreyerFest and allow participants to put signs up all over the hallways, doors, stairwells, and just about any open space that can be found.
I was specifically looking for two things this BreyerFest - an alabaster Running Mare in really good shape, and an alabaster 5-Gaiter with black eyes. (I already have the red eye variation.) The Clarion is always a good place to look. I didn't find either of them Thursday night, but I did find something else that I had been looking for for a while.
A bay Balking Mule! I have had the seal brown one since childhood but had never found the bay version for a price I was willing to pay. This piece was in Heather Well's room and was quite reasonable. (It was also a treat to get to chat again with Paul Francis who was helping Heather and Mike with their room sales.)
While finding the mule was a fun surprise, the best part of BreyerFest is getting to see hobby friends and catch up a bit. And lots of good friends were there. Like most BreyerFest attendees, I had a list of which rooms my friends were in so that I could pop in and say hello.
Brenda Metcalf is one of the nicest, kindest hobbyists I know. She also has a killer Stone collection.
Nancy Falzone, the queen of Hagen Renakers! I am driving to her home in Illinois this fall as she would like me to write down some of her hobby stories for her. Nancy just celebrated her 80th birthday and is a real classy lady who can tell you anything you want to know about Hagen Renakers.
Susan Bensema Young and Kristian Beverly. Two master tack makers, one with forty years of experience, the other with less than that but producing incredibly beautiful work. Kristian is in the book industry and she and I had a wonderful conversation about literature. Thanks to her, I have some new titles to acquire and read.
My dear friend and fellow Hoosier, Allison Pareis. She was putting up flyers for our September all-collectibility show.
I left the Clarion at 9:30 after having gotten a little shopping done and even more chatting with friends. Time for a good night's sleep so that I am ready for a busy day at Kentucky Horse Park!
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