autumn activities

Somehow I spent the majority of my time this past weekend engaged in "autumn" activities. It wasn't intended at first, but it ended up that way and I'm not going to complain about it. I had a fun time doing a variety of fall-ish activities and eating copious amounts of candy-corn. It all started when I drove up to Northern Kentucky to see my boyfriend John on Saturday morning. He had told me we were going somewhere that morning, and he told me what kind of clothes to wear, but he wouldn't tell me the location since he wanted it to be a surprise. I had some guesses, one of them being that we were going to go to Ikea, but I was very wrong. Before we left though we stopped by this area in his neighborhood with some benches and a swing hanging on a tree branch and took some pictures with John's fancy new camera since the leaves changing is something deserving of being photographed.

So, we got in the car and started driving out past Cincinnati. We passed through the area where my Grandma's cottage is and for some reason I started thinking that's where we were going, even though that makes no sense since John has never been there. I am usually not very good at predicting or guessing surprises, and this was no different. Anyways, we ended up turning into a place called Turpin Farms, and I was pleasantly surprised. It had a pumpkin patch, a haunted corn maze, hay rides, apple cider, and a bonfire going (even though it was around 11am). It was very "cute" as I would say, and it was great weather too. I was really happy John took me there because all month I'd been whining to my friends about how I really love pumpkin patches and would love to go to one with John but due to his insanely busy schedule I didn't think it would work out at all. John must have paid attention to my complaints though, and I'm glad he did.

We took a short little hay ride around the corn and bean fields, and since it was so early we were the only people on the tractor. We took a bunch of photos, of course. Afterward we just walked around and explored, and I attempted to select a pumpkin for the Grove. I picked one out in the patch, but then I abandoned it when I discovered the area with a crazy amount of pumpkins already cleaned up and for sale. I ended up giving in to the moment and got a pumpkin, 4 gourds or squashes, and a mini pumpkin too. Also right before we left I discovered a farm animal area, and the little pigs there were just so precious I think I'll have a hard time ever eating bacon or ham again!

Once we left the farm, we picked up John's brother Chris and headed up to Columbus. It is around a 2 hour drive so we got to John's Mom's house around 3pm. We spent some time playing with her dog, Lieben, who really makes Pokie look bad since he is both thin and obedient, haha. Also we spent some time just chatting, and went out to dinner at a French restaurant.

After that, when it was sufficiently dark, we headed over to this place called Old Ohio Village. It has old buildings set up in the style of a town from the mid 1800's, and it had people dressed up in period costumes. You could walk around the town in the dark on walkways lit by lanterns, and go into whatever houses you want. Each one had different activities, and I learned some interesting historical things. Some of the workers were letting guests play traditional folk games where you can predict and learn things about your future. For example, I threw shoes over my back and a woman interpreted it as meaning I am strong-willed and argumentative. Maybe true, maybe not. Also I did this activity where you spin around and grab an object on a string. I picked an orange, which means I will be wealthy someday. Nice! Luckily I didn't grab the cotton because it means I'll end up an unmarried spinster! It was interesting to walk around and see what all they had, it was really cold but it added to the somewhat quiet, creepy vibe the little town had. It reminded me of the movie "The Village" a little actually, and at times I would see scenes or images that made me feel like I had truly traveled back in time. They also had an event where a man read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" out loud, and then a headless horseman ran past.
Sunday morning we got up early and Chris made everyone a delicious breakfast of puffed apple pancakes! Mmm...

We then drove back to Cincinnati, dropped off Chris, and drove down to Lexington where I had arranged to meet up with my friends Jenna and Skip for the day. We met up with them and my friend Ryan at Keeneland, for the fall horse races! We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was perfect! We had a lot of fun there just talking and making bets. We also had fun watching when the jockeys parade the horses out on the promenade for people to see before they place any bets. Nobody ended up winning anything, but it was still a good time as always. I just love the atmosphere there, and it truly is an experience unique to Kentucky. John took some good photos of the races too. Once we had our fill of gambling and horses we met up with Danielle and had dinner at Ramsey's, a southern style food place only a block away from my house in Lexington. It was nice to catch up with everyone, it made me realize how much I miss my friends who don't live in Lexington! Overall, it was an awesome weekend. Lots of time spent in transit, but it was all worth it.
(as a final note, all of the photos in this entry were taken by either myself or John, so be proud!)