Foxfield ... 6th Edition

Yesterday I celebrated my 6th (and quite possibly last) visit to the infamous Foxfield Races. Often touted as UVa's social event of the year, Foxfield offers attendees a quintessentially Charlottesville mix of early morning cocktails, horse racing and seersucker. Usually, Foxfield is a signal that spring has truly sprung -- sundresses and the subsequent sundress-tan lines are viewed as a given. Yet this year, forecasts called for rain. Now any other community would likely have clicked on weather.com, seen the thunderstorm warnings and thought better of spending an entire day trudging through muddy fields dressed in their Sunday best. But Darden, and the greater University of Virginia student body, would not be deterred. To protect ourselves (and the aforementioned sundresses) from the drizzle, we zipped into windbreakers, pulled on rain boats and fashioned makeshift shelters out of tarp, wooden stakes and duct tape. We were rewarded with a fabulous day. The drinks flowed freely, my horses won and we all walked away without those awkward tan lines.