Four Festivals in Four days: Day Two

Today was the Jack Pine Studio Glass Pumpkin Festival His glass studio is a big draw in the Hocking Hills. I've never been to it. I had looked at Google Maps before I left (because I'm old apparently) My GPS was obviously not taking me Google's way. I know what it's doing, going the LONG way which is faster in some ways because it's highway.

I go off Vigo road...and it immediately becomes a different road not on Google. I go a few miles and no signs of 327N which was supposed to be right there (If I go on that south it'll take me back home) . I give up, turn around, go the long way. I get to OH-180 and GPS says you have arrived.

No, dear I'm in some Trump worship back country hellscape but I AM on OH-180 so I just watch mail boxes for the numbers so I know where to go (I did several years of home health, I'm a map reader, know the tricks) OH loves having a road go one way then take a 90 degree angle...multiple times but I get there. I peek into the 1001 degree studio and nope out of that (I've seen glass making many times. It's one of the things I would have liked to learn to do but between bad shoulders and asthma I don't think it's meant to be)

So these glass pumpkins are gorgeous. I do mean gorgeous, some are even flattish on one side like real ones. the little ones start at 65, the medium at 100, I didn't even check the big ones. They have the hand-carry grocery store baskets. I'm surrounded by people (in the dozens) with 4-8 pumpkins each. I mean yeah I got a 5$ coupon for prearranging my parking but my god. I mentioned I was surprised at how many people were buying to the lady next to me. Well they ARE collectibles and he only does it once a year.

Yeah, okay but are they really?!? There is at least 50 left from last year and this year's pumpkin of the year has at least 100 and more coming out all the time (this is just day one) . I decide, okay I'll buy one for mom. Let's pick up one I'll like down the road. I found one that was somehow 25$ less than all the others. It's my favorite color (purple) and in the basket it went. Suddenly I got pulled to this black one with blue glittery drips. It's also on sale....100$ later some dumbass has 2 overpriced hand blown art glass.

I liked the other vendors and did get mom a tiny octopus (blue glass). And that's it. I bypassed all the jewelry. I'm rather proud of myself for that. There was one thing I nearly bought. This woman was hand painting canvases and turning them into clocks. It was halloween themed with ghosts/bats being the numbers. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like unprotected canvas would just get dusty and very hard to clean (and it was nearly as much as the two pumpkins together) I gave it a pass.

My best buys were food. Schmidt's (from Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village in Columbus, a staple since the 1880s) had a food truck. Gimme your giant hot dog smothered in kraut and fried onions AND OMG is that a black raspberry cream puff?!?! Yes please. And then there was a boba tea place that Americanized it. I had the Lake Logan, strawberry lemonade/cotton candy tea/kiwi bobas. SOOOOOOO sweet, so good, so tired (my sugar is probably off the scales)

On the way back (since my GPS knows my address exists) it took me back the way Google Maps had it and if I hadn't turned around I would have found 327...eventually)


Before I left for the festival, I was talking to my parents and I could hear my dad laughing at me. Everyone knows I hate heat. If you don't know it, the Weather Channel lets you check weather in like a half dozen zip codes. MY area was hotter than FL, GA and even Las Vegas. It was 90+