derby disaster

Teresa, at Grammy Girlfriend, wrote about her dad and how much he loved the Kentucky Derby. It reminded me of my step-grandmother's Derby story. My maternal grandmother died when I was ten. About four years later, my Papa married his grammar school "sweetheart" and they were married for twenty years. Mom (as we called her) was a sweet Christian woman who had been married before but had never had children, so we became her children, grandchildren, and, eventually, great-grand children. She grew up in a small town and lived a sheltered life...... teaching school and going to church. When she was about forty, (which would have been in the 1940's because as she always said,"I was born in the year 01.") she was invited to go to the Derby with her brother and his wife. She was so excited at the idea of getting to see those beautiful horses race. When she got there, she was "so disappointed. I had no idea it was about gambling and everyone was drinking alcohol!" We never laughed at her when she would tell the story, but it was funny to think about her being so sweet and naive. Needless to say, that was her first and last Kentucky Derby! :-)
Have you ever anticipated a big event just to have it fall flat? I'd like to hear about it.