Dragon Boat Races and a Fancy Camera

Some of you might remember that time my friends and I stumbled upon dragon boat races in Scotland. It was a good time--a happy accident.  However, I didn't realize that dragon racing was, you know, a thing. Apparently people race dragon boats all over the place. About a week ago, I learned that Louisville had a dragon boat race coming up, and I knew I had to be there. For old time's sake. And for new time's sake.

However, I don't know about where you are, but Louisville's experiencing a cold front. So, I knew it would be chilly, but I didn't expect the cold front to be, well, cold. Had I known, would it have deterred me? Of course not. (Side not: It was actually warmer and sunnier in Scotland, and that's just sad.) I bundled up in layers and headed to the river with a fellow GTA, who thankfully brought a warm, fuzzy blanket. That blanket saved my life.

I can only imagine how cold the dragon racers felt, though. I mean, some of them had furry vests and shoes on because they were pretending to be Vikings and some of them had exiting hats on (see the picture below), but most of them were in thin, normal clothing. Sadly, no one dressed up as Romans, and no one danced to the "YMCA." However, we could hear Vietnamese (?) music playing in the background.

Forget the woman's hat. That was mainly an excuse to show you
a picture of this adorable, curious child.

The people in the picture don't look as cold as I felt, but trust me when I say it was freezing. (Guys. If this is what a September cold front feels like, I might not survive the winter.)

Anyway, for those of you who haven't been to a dragon boat race, you're in luck! My parents are super awesome and gave me a nice camera for graduation, so I took pictures.

This, my friends, is a dragon boat race.
(Also, I'm trying to understand Lighthouse, a photo editor thing.)

Here's a guy who really wanted a good view of the races. I applaud his efforts.

You get the gist. Teams race in boats with dragon heads, and the super cool teams dress up as if it were Halloween or something. And on that note, I'll leave you with a picture I took to show my dad that I kind of know how to use my camera on the manual aperture setting.

This is me, attempting to be fancy.
(Hi, Dad!)

Cheers!

Haley