Mansfield Covered Bridge Festival

Another Mansfield Covered Bridge Festival in the books! I was really looking forward to this year because I wasn't able to go last year. Trips and other autumn things just got in the way. The Parke County Covered Bridge Festivals run for about a week, so, yes, there's a lot of opportunity to go, but also not. 

Once again, I was here for the food. I had loaded fries, a lemon shake up (honestly have to stop getting these, I just suck up seeds), a s'more, chicken noodles and mashed potatoes, and pumpkin ice cream. A bit disappointed we didn't have time for a funnel cake, but there's always next year! 

I didn't purchase many items this year. I am trying to be more picky when it comes to things like this (and thrifting) and it's working! Things just weren't lighting up for me as much. I found a cute pair of vintage stockings for Christmas, what appears to be a homemade wall hanging from a coaster (neat idea honestly), a vintage Disney record of Halloween sounds, and some chocolate fudge. I was thrilled to see a lot more thrift/vintage/antique type finds instead of the Amazon warehouse things. There were many lamps I wanted to bring home, but they were just a bit out of range in what I was willing to spend. 

While it's always my grandma and I who go, there are some visitors who join us. This year, my partner joined us and it was so much fun sharing this with him. Not sure he'll continue going each year like me! It's definitely not for everyone, but always happy to share in the experience, especially with my loved ones. 

We only visit the Mansfield Covered Bridge Festival and I'm keen to start exploring the others in the area. While I expect the items to be similar, I think exploring the different bridges and areas would be a lot of fun. I would just need to prepare myself to spend an entire day exploring. And realize that maybe I won't get through all of each in a single day. Impossible, really. I should also think about going two days instead of one. It's a long-ish drive (about an hour and a half) and splitting it between opening and closing weekend could be fun. Something to think about.