Way back in the day, let's say way over six years ago, I attended this wonderful festival. It was packed, lots of vendors, great food, fun family atmosphere...you name it, they had it. Let's fast forward six + years till now. OH EM GEE! Multiply what I experienced the last time by at least ten! Either that or my memory has been seriously affected by having three children. It's still the same festival, but it just has gotten A LOT bigger! Picture 50,000 people from almost every walk of life, and you've got a close estimate of what's going on there.
It's definitely been over six years because it happens to fall on the weekend of our anniversary or Mitch's birthday and we've always had other plans. This year, our anniversary fell in the middle of the week and so does his birthday so Et Viola...we decided to go. Now I had seen on FB that there were some serious festival traffic, and it was backed up for miles! Did that deter us? Nah, we figured if we went on Sunday morning as soon as the festival opened then it would be easier to get into. We figured the church goers would put a dent in the amount of people attending. Wellllllll, we were sort of right. Note: If you all want to go next year and you see that the Imperial Exit is backed up at least a half to 3/4 of a mile, just go down to the next exit, which is the exit for Barnhart, hang a left at the bottom of the ramp, then another left once you go under the highway, and double back. Trust me on this one! You get there in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the headache. If eight years of marriage has taught me anything it's that Mitch doesn't wait in lines and there's always another way!
The weather this year was absolutely positively amazing! You couldn't ask for better weather at the end of October in the Midwest! I'm soaking up as much sun as I possibly can! I truly believe that if the weather was crappier outside then the numbers would have severely dwindled, but the weather this year brought everyone, and their brother out from under ever rock, and every nook or cranny for miles and miles!
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| Your guide on this journey. |
It didn't take long for the girls and I to find ALL sorts of fun stuff to go looking thru.
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| One of many hats she wanted to get! |
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| They have a train that goes around. Super fun for kids! |
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Some great vendors selling their merchandise to one and all.
I bet there had to be over 200 vendors this year. |
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| Treats GALORE! |
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| The Blue Owl is famous, but The Dough Depot is my favorite. |
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| And who doesn't love Halloween headbands!? |
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| Along with $35 fuzzy blankets rocking Hello Kitty? |
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| Or Frozen... |
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| You can even grab yourself some Cowboy Soda for $10 a mug with free refills. |
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| The vendor food is to DIE FOR! |
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| If your lucky mom will even let you ride on her back. |
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| One of the 7 impromptu parking lots, $5 per car goes to a great cause! |
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| OH the line we never waited in! |
All in all, I HATE, LOATHE and really can't stand crowded areas. Wigs me out, but the openness of Kimmswick made the 50,000 people not so bad. It's a great little town to visit anytime you're close to St. Louis. If you take my advice and wait till Sunday and go the back way you shouldn't have any problems getting in. Also, if you want this to be a totally free venture, park at Winsor School and they have free shuttles that will bus you into the festival. Either way it's a great way to spend a beautiful sunny Sunday in October with your family. Good clean fun for everyone!
Did you ever get any apple butter? It looked like great fun!
ReplyDeleteWe had some in the fridge so we didn't get any. :) Plus we are so close it doesn't matter we can get some later if we want to. :)
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