Last weekend, I went to the Lights Festival in Cadiz, Kentucky.

It. Was. Amazing!

My best friend and I made a weekend out of the trip and headed up to Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday afternoon. I go to school in South Carolina and she's working in East Tennessee, so we met in Knoxville, Tennessee and drove together from there.

The festival was scheduled for Saturday night. When we got to Knoxville, we found out that it had been moved to Sunday night. But, we rolled with the punches and just spent that afternoon in Nashville.

Starting with the Parthenon.

It was wet and pretty cold, but it was beautiful. If you haven't been, you should definitely go check it out. I had a religious experience just being surrounded by all of the symbols and beauty.

We rented a hotel room about 20 minutes outside of the city and headed back in first thing the next morning. Then, in the rain, I got this picture.

Big cities are the dream, right?

We spent a few hours in Nashville and had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. It's fantastic. Then it was time to head out to Cadiz!

So how the Lights Fest worked was they told us the festival was in Nashville, but they actually meant about an hour outside of Nashville because it has to be in a big field. There was a lot of driving involved, but that's the fun of a road trip.

We eventually found the town and parked in the middle of this giant farm. We walked around a beautiful pond and entered the festival grounds, where they gave both my friend and me a packet. The packet included a lantern, a marker, a sticker, and a flashlight.

We settled down near a tiki torch on a blanket and listened to the first band played.

Reason number one to go to a Lights Fest! There's live music!

At my event, there were two artists: Beau James and Jenny Leigh. I personally preferred Beau's music, but Jenny Leigh was adorable and hilarious.

Then there were the food trucks! Second reason to go, awesome food!

Have you ever had a foot long corn dog?

What about a dark chocolate covered pineapple, with crushed up potato chips on top?

SO. GOOD.

Eventually the people in charge handed out sparklers and there was an impromptu dance party. This was a family event, so there were kids, parents, and millennials dancing everywhere! It was insanity, in a good way.

Unfortunately the weather was not letting up, and we could not release our lanterns. We got to keep them, and we were invited back to a rescheduled date free of charge.

By the time I got home, it was five in the morning. My best friend had work at seven, and I had things to do for finals week. I was exhausted and slightly wet from the rain.

I would do it again in a heartbeat.