♥ Falling For Louisville ♥: Holiday

Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts

♥ Waterfront Independence Festival ♥

>> Monday, July 4, 2011 – Downtown, Events, Holiday, Music

Every July 4th, Louisville throws a huge party on the Waterfront Great Lawn! There is street food, games for the kids, live music, and of course, fireworks! This year, the festival fell on Sunday and Monday. I decided to head down on Sunday the 3rd to see The Band Perry perform. I arrived at the river around 7:45pm, found a spot on the lawn to spread my blanket, and enjoyed being outside and people-watching. At about 8:30, a huge, ominous storm cloud began approaching from the Northwest. We were certain we were going to get dumped on, and some people began abandoning their spots for cover. I stayed put, though, and as the temperature dropped and the clouds rolled over, not a single drop of rain fell! The clouds stayed as it got darker, and the sky lit up with lightning. At 9:00pm, The Band Perry came on. I couldn't see a thing from where I was sitting, but it was such a nice night that I was just enjoying being outside listening to the music. They sang for an hour, and at 10:00pm, during their last song, the fireworks began. The combination of fireworks and lightning was pretty cool to see! It was a quick display, but still very festive.

♥ New Year's Eve Dinner Cruise: Spirit of Jefferson ♥

>> Saturday, January 1, 2011 – History, Holiday, Landmarks

For New Year's Eve, I went on a dinner cruise on the historic Spirit of Jefferson riverboat. I was accompanied by my dad and his friend, Peggy, and we had a really nice time! The cruise lasted about three hours, and it was a pleasant 70 degrees...almost unheard of in Louisville in January! I was glad, though, because I was getting over a bad cold and appreciated being able to go outside to enjoy the cruise without freezing!

There was dinner, champagne, and dancing. The crowd was more low-key than I expected (I did make a new friend of a gay hairstylist and his man-friend! ;-), but I completely enjoyed being on the water and having the wind blowing in my hair! I didn't even mind that it started sprinkling a bit towards the end.

An awesome view of the Louisville skyline from the boat!

♥ Hollydays Art and Gift Market/Louisville.com ♥

>> Friday, December 3, 2010 – Holiday

Some of you may know that I recently accepted a part-time gig writing for Louisville.com. My job is to write several short articles per week detailing events and attractions around the city. Pretty cool, huh? :) If you would like to check out the website and follow it (it changes daily!), that would be super great! Otherwise, please take a look at my latest article on Hollydays.

Girls Night Out kicks off Fifth Annual Hollydays Art and Gift Market [Louisville newbie]

By Sarah Hinds on December 3, 2010 - 10:14pm.

If you are looking for the perfect gift for the stylish women (and men) in your life, visit the Fifth Annual Hollydays Art and Gift Market at the Mellwood Arts Center this weekend. Hosted by the Junior League of Louisville, Hollydays showcases handmade clothing, ornaments, and fudge from talented craftsmen and women.

The Junior League of Louisville is a service organization made up of over 550 women in the Louisville area. As stated on its website, “the Junior League of Louisville is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, to developing the potential of women, and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.” Profits from the Hollydays event directly benefit the mission of the Junior League.

L to R: Jennifer Kramer, AVP of Fundraising, Austin Hancock, Co-chair for Hollydays, Jami York, Co-chair for Hollydays

Friday, December 3 kicked off the event with Girls Night Out. Offering pretty pink cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the room was filled with an atmosphere of excitement and warmth. Large enough to provide a great variety of wares, yet small enough to feel like an intimate gathering of friends, Hollydays is a must for anyone wanting to get into the holiday spirit. While strolling the aisles at Mellwood, one can stop to taste a bite of gourmet chocolate and become mesmerized by sparkly, handpainted wine goblets. There are over 50 vendors represented at the show. There is also a silent auction featuring local cookbooks, photography sessions, and themed gift baskets.

On Saturday, December 4 at 9:30am, stop by Hollydays with your family to have breakfast with Santa! Krispy Kreme donuts will be served, and your children can have their photo taken with the big man himself.

On the final day of Hollydays, Sunday, December 5, moms can enjoy a Princess Tea Party with their daughters. Featuring cupcakes, cookies, and fresh fruit, girls are encouraged to dress up as their favorite princess or tote along their most cherished doll. The Tea Party begins at 2:00pm.

Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center

1860 Mellwood Avenue

http://www.juniorleaguelouisville.org

Dec. 3, 6 pm - 9:30 pm
Special Friday Night only: Girls Night Out $10

Dec. 4, 11 am - 5 pm
Dec. 5, 12 noon - 4 pm
$5 day pass

Special Events Planned:
Friday: Girls Night out - Food, Music, Drinks & Goodie Bag starts at 6 pm
Saturday: Breakfast and photos with Santa sponsored by Krispy Kreme starts at 9:30 am
Sunday: Princess Tea Party with Cinderella starts at 2 pm

Saturday, December 4, 2010 - General Admission Shopping

Sunday, December 5, 2010 - General Admission Shopping

Find Hollydays on Facebook

Photos: Courtesy Junior League of Louisville and Sarah Hinds, Sarah Kate Photography

♥ Louisville Slugger Museum/Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown ♥

>> Sunday, November 21, 2010 – Holiday, Landmarks, Museums

I took a trip today to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum. I know many native Louisvillians who have never set foot inside this tourist landmark, but I thought I would break the mold and go learn something new about my city!

The iconic giant bat (It is 120 feet high and an exact scale replica if Babe Ruth's bat!) at the entrance to the museum is one of my favorite parts of Main Street. I'm not really a fan of baseball, but something about the bat just grabs my attention every time I drive or walk by. I think its a really cool landmark!

The museum is actually much smaller than I expected. There is only one main exhibit room, and there is not much to it. I'm sure that fans of baseball will get more out of the exhibits than I did. Still, I did learn some interesting facts about how the size and makeup of baseball bats has evolved over time and how they are made.

The best part of the museum is the tour through the factory. For about 30 minutes, I got to see where every official bat in MLB is made. This factory is also responsible for crafting the bats for college baseball, little-league teams, and for sale in sporting goods stores. It was so impressive to see a piece of wood carved into a perfect bat in 30 seconds flat! Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed during the tour, but I snapped this one through the window in the museum lobby.

Everyone leaves the tour with their very own souvenir-sized wooden baseball bat! Pretty cool!

Here are a few more photos from the museum.

34,000 pound limestone baseball glove sculpture.

For those interested, there are also batting cages at the Slugger Museum (for an extra fee).

Special for the holiday season, there is a Peanuts display at the Museum through January 2 called, Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

No photographs were allowed inside, but it was essentially a collection of copies of Peanuts comic strips dating back to its creation in 1950. There is also a television playing A Charlie Brown Christmas. Next to it is a display with letters written by children after the first airing of the holiday classic cartoon in 1965, pleading to have it shown every year. That was pretty neat to see.

So, that's basically it! All in all, a worthwhile venture! And now I'm a Louisvillian who can proudly say that I have, in fact, been the the Louisville Slugger Museum!

♥ Festival of Trees & Lights ♥

>> Sunday, November 14, 2010 – Charity, Events, Holiday

The 21st Annual Festival of Trees & Lights was held this weekend at Louisville Slugger Field. The festival continues through the week and concludes with the Snow Ball gala next Saturday night. It may seem a little early in the season for it, but it was still fun to go out and see all the trees! It was even better that the weather turned quite a bit cooler today. It definitely put me in the holiday spirit! I may have to go watch White Christmas now... ;-)

There were hundreds of Christmas trees and wreaths of all sizes decorated by citizens of Louisville. Some trees were decorated in a very classic manner...red, green and gold...but most trees had different themes...G.I. Joe, Disney Princesses, musical instruments, Hershey's, butterflies... The trees are displayed and put up for auction with proceeds from the event going to the Kosair Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

There were also activities for the kiddos...magicians, arts and crafts, face painting, build-your-own gingerbread houses, and pictures with Santa! In addition, some local children's dancing and singing groups were scheduled to perform throughout the day, but unfortunately I did not stay long enough to catch one.

Here are some of my photos from the event!