Wine and Pumpkins

Over the weekend, a few of my friends and I celebrated our October girl’s night with an evening of wine and pumpkins. Part of our night also involved waiting in line longer than any of us have for anything, with the exception of Wimbledon tickets.  Today I wanted to share our wonderful experience at LouVino in Louisville, Kentucky and a peak at over 5,000 Jack-o-lanterns. Each October, our girl’s event is celebrated around the Halloween theme. In the past we have gone on ghost tours of downtown Lexington and a local bourbon distillery as well as zombie paintball. This year we decided to attend the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular held at Iroquois Park in Louisville. As all great events do, we started with dinner. We chose Louvino in The Highlands section of Louisville and we certainly plan to return. Specializing in small plates, Louvino has an extensive wine, bourbon and beer menu. Wines flights are named after famous Kentuckians and I chose the Jennifer Lawrence, described as well rounded, bubbly and beautiful. It included wine from France, Spain and Italy and was as described.  Other wine flights included the Diane Sawyer, George Clooney and Johnny Depp. As wonderful as the wine flights are, the food is the star. Plates are meant to be shared and we began with the warm brussel sprouts salad that each of us continue to dream about. This dish is absolutely one of the best dishes any of us have ever tasted. Our hope is to attempt to replicate but I question if that is possible. Additional plates included the local roasted pepper and asparagus risotto with goat cheddar and grilled skirt steak with truffle parmesan fries. A friend also had bacon wrapped dates and the marinated steak with the jalapeno hoe cakes. Of course we couldn’t pass up dessert. We we chose the bourbon chocolate beignets (one for each of us) and a dessert wine flight. This is another must have from LouVino!! After diner, we made our way to Iroquois Park and the Louisville Jackolantern Spectacular. This event began on October 13 and runs through November 6 and includes 5,000 carved pumpkins lining a 1/4 mile trail. As this was our first time, we had no idea how popular this attraction would be. We arrived at 8;30 to discover that the ticket line had been closed for the night (fortunately we had ordered our ticket online) and that the wait was estimated to be about 2 and a half hours. We debated on if we should stay but the line kept moving and we thought the wait wouldn’t be as predicted. We were wrong. By the time we followed the line down the sidewalk, through the amphitheater and weaved through more lines, we had been waiting for THREE hours. Yes, that is correct, we waited in line for three hours to see glowing pumpkins. Thankfully, the weather was not too cold and we were able to enjoy some hot adult beverages. I kept thinking that this event wasn’t going to be worth it. However, as we entered the trail, the glow was mesmerizing.   The jack o lanterns were everywhere, in every shape and every size. In many ways it was hard to take everything in. This next photo shows the pumpkins hanging from the trees. It was difficult to get a great photo with my phone.   The Jackolantern Spectacular benefits the Louisville Park Foundation and is truly a work of art. Tickets are $15 for weekend admission and I highly suggest purchasing online. I am still shocked at the amount of people going through. Although I typically do not have issues with crowds, there were a few moments that I felt overwhelmed once we entered the trail. As the trail continued, the crowds began to even out. This was certainly an adventure and one that I am glad we did. If we return to the Jack o Lantern Spectacular, I would go through the week to hopefully avoid the long lines. 

Would you have waited in line three hours? What have you waited in line to see? 

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