Bird Key Yacht Club horses around at party

The first thing greeting guests when they arrived Saturday, May 1, at Bird Key Yacht Club was Chef Joe Santangini’s Kentucky Derby-inspired dinner creations. A table in the lounge area was loaded with plates displaying the night’s dinner, including fried green tomatoes with crab salad, burgoo, an original Kentucky Hot Brown, Derby cake, Derby pie and more.

The next stop was the bar, where, reportedly, seven batches of mint juleps had been made to serve the thirsty crowd of 100 people.

As is tradition, the women in attendance were decked out in fanciful hats, and even a few men in the crowd were sporting cowboy or straw hats.