Festival of Lights

On Saturday we took a trip to Natitoches to their 84th annual Festival of Lights.  It's about an hour away, and we really didn't know what to expect.  We knew there was fireworks at 7 pm, and restaurants there to eat dinner.  

What we didn't know was that everyone in the state of Louisiana would be there.

Natitoches is a fairly small town/city, mainly known for where Steal Magnolias was filmed and for the Festival of Lights.  There is really only one way in and out.  Lots of people and lots of cars.  It was fairly painless to find a parking spot, we randomly turned where we saw lots of people coming down so we assumed there was a parking lot of some sort.  The parking lot was a grass field off a real parking lot.  It worked.

We get to where all the lights are, and it was pretty cool.  I didn't get many pictures because it was SO crowded and Taylor wanted to be carried.

There were lots of lights along the Cane River, the other one I took came out blurry.  I think I might be in need of a new camera.

Anyways, we saw that the restaurants were PACKED and the few food stands had LONG lines.  So, I told JT to wait in line and I would take Taylor to see some lights and hear the band playing.  

We found a spot under the big Christmas tree and camped out waiting for him to return with fried food goodness.

See, blurry.

Taylor thought it was fun to take pictures of ourselves.  Whatever keeps her entertained! 

JT came back with a footlong corn dog! 

Taylor actually ATE it.  She normally won't eat the hot dog part (I know, what kid doesn't eat hot dogs?  This kid) and will just eat the cornbread on the outside.  I blame it on it being dark and she couldn't see what it was.  I might try that with other things she won't eat.  Anyways, he got a couple of their famous meat pies (seriously, they are also known for their meat pies) and a chicken strip basket and fries.  I can just hear my arteries clogging up.  

The fireworks started as we were finishing up eating.  Taylor was in awe.  

That is, until the end when it got really loud.  Then she got a little scared.  

All in all it was a successful outing.  If we do it again, we will go earlier bring lots of blankets, food, and just camp out by the river for the afternoon.  That is what most people did.  

The lights were a sight to see, it was just hard to see them with all the people trying to push through.  We were glad we went because Taylor enjoyed it so much.