My Day At The Races
I’m not really ‘into’ horse racing but I have always wanted to go to the big events, you see them on TV, everyone dressed their best, drink in hand, few bets placed, it just looks like a fun day out.
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For me this year is the year I finally start doing things I want to do, what I mean by that is really to stop putting things off, I can’t justify the cost, It’s too far to travel, I don’t have a suit, I’ll go next year maybe. I’ve said that to myself for the last 6 or 7 years, it was always ‘I’ll go next year’ But how many more years and times am I going to put it off.
I’ve done the same thing with all-sorts of things in my life, so focussed with being debt free, so focussed with building a new life that I actually stopped living life! I’ll get debt free before I go out, I’ll get the business to somewhere before I invest time into my social life. Always an excuse but actually, I’m just putting off things I want to do aren’t I.
I ended 2023 In such a weird mindset, I closed down my successful digital marketing agency, I wrote to clients who were giving me a six figure salary and told them, I’m moving onto new things and they need to find a new partner, I promised myself that 2024, I’d start living life again, because you know, it really is too short.
Grand National Tickets - Which Stands Are The Best?
I looked at the ticket prices and almost didn’t go, regardless of wanting to ‘live life’ more, it’s also got to match my living within my means setup, especially whilst on a debt free journey, I mean, some of the stands came at a cost I just couldn’t justify spending. I looked at what you could call the ‘fancy’ stands and they seem to come with meal packages and drinks packages, I wasn’t interested in any of that, I’m a festival goer, just recently went to Butlins Big Weekender, I’m totally fine being in the crowd and the hustle and bustle.
The hustle and bustle of Aintree races seemed to be called ‘the Festival Zone’ pretty much just a free for all really, no actual designated spot, just find a space trackside, right up my street.
What To Wear At The Grand National?
Alright I’m really overthinking this now, this is turning into a girl planning her prom dress, I’m sat looking at last year’s Grand National on Instagram, now I’m reading the FAQ’s on Aintrees website. Seems to be that the unspoken rule is men wear suites, women wear dresses, the website didn’t say that in those words but pretty much the gist of things.
But I don’t own a suit, I used to live in suits when I was an office bound workabee but I hated that part of my life so when I started my new life I set up an office from home (before working from home became a thing) and I sent all my suits to the ‘chazzer shop’ I knew I should have bloody kept one but sod it, looks like im off to buy a suit….
I zapped myself out of the mindset of suit shopping very quickly, 1 because I’d rather stick pins in my eyes that clothes shop but 2 because when the f**k would I wear a suit again… next year’s Grand National maybe? ha forget a suit.
I decided to opt for a white shirt, cream chinos and a suit Jacket! Zoe seemed to have the same dilemma and didn’t want to buy an outfit she may not wear again and opted for a summer dress, heals but with the addition of a new purchase being a fascinator. Check us out 👇🏻
What's It Like At Aintree Races On Grand National Day?
I think The Grand National is given a bad name by the a*******s at The Daily Mail. We’ve all seem them spread their usual negativity and hate, pointing out drunk revellers and such.
We got the train into Liverpool early Grand National day morning, Liverpool centre was as busy as you could expect with one of if not the biggest event of the year going on. Being seasoned drinkers we know we are a long way off the old ‘eating is cheating’ rule and if we didn’t put something substantial in our bellies, we’d probably end up being the Daily Mails latest target.
We opted for a place called The Philharmonic Dining Rooms for our pre-national bite to eat, cracking find! It’s an old apparently listed building, we had a couple of drinks and good meal – Pie and mash! Just what you want before further daytime drinking.
We hopped in a taxi back to the train station then straight onto a train to aintree, the station was jam packed full of race goers, most with beers in their hands so my idea to get train beers was a hit! There are bands playing, the atmosphere is brilliant with a train to Aintree every 5 minutes or so.
When we go to Aintree the station is literally at the races, there was a stage, dancers and lot’s of horse racing protesters making noise. The queue in was a bit lengthy – probably 20 minutes or so but you probably could have guessed that.
Once in the races it’s hustle, bustle, it’s loud, it’s bloody expensive, long queues at bars, long queues to place bets at bookies and people bumping into each other every second but come on, I expected absolutely nothing less. If you’ve done a musc festival, the national is a walk in the park.
We didn’t sample any of the street food on offer but did grab drinks, massively overpriced but again, got to be expected.
All in all, my first experience of The Grand National was an absolute ball and I’ll certainly be going back next year.
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