Canterbury Downs 2017

Canterbury Downs 2017

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for July 23, 2017

It was my 47th birthday this week so we spent a lot of time celebrating the fact that I'm really, really old.

On Wednesday night, we went out to eat with Grandma Linda and her friend Mike.  We went for some Australian food which was quite good and apparently very authentic.  You want a little Shrimp on the Barbie, do ya?

The best part was the free dessert they gave me.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited to dig in to it.

On my actual birthday, we went to our favorite restaurant, Benihana.  William was our chef and he did a great job at chopping up our food.    It's SOOO good.

He even made us a special little flower for my birthday.  Which was nice.

On Friday night, we hooked up with our good friends, Jason and Jen, for a trip to Canterbury Downs.

Those horses run really, really fast.  The only hard part is guessing which ones are going to run the fastest.

I try to think I have some skill at picking horses, but my technique would probably be roundly criticized by people who know what they are doing.  I usually start by looking at their names and pick the ones that inspire me most.  If that doesn't work, then I go down and watch them walk around the circle before heading out to the track.  If any of them buck off their jockey, I pick that one because you know it's extra spunky.

Jen is a high roller and buddies with one of the horse owners, so she got us access to the owner's suites where we finished off the rest of our night.  I was kind of hoping when I heard this that would mean free booze and food, but no such luck.  They were good seats, though!

On Saturday night, we had the honor to attend Thomas Nguyen's graduation party.  He and the boys have been friends for many years now and we are excited  for him to graduate and to see what the future has in store for him.

The food at their party was SOO good!  I really need to go on a diet soon.  I just have too many good opportunities to eat!