Field of Lights

After a delightful day on the coast, we headed inland. You know, just to see if these coasties would melt or not! Last week one of my classmates from high school posted a beautiful photograph on FB. I looked it up, and sent the link to my mom, who then made us this delightful detour to Paso Robles. Though it was hot, and though we rolled into town during the state fair (or mid-state fair), it was well worth the trip. 

Before we headed to Sensorio, we had a delightful dinner at Taste. We're restaurant people, so it's hard to completely surprise us. But this -- we needed directions! You order a duo, trio, or quartet, meaning you choose that number of items off the menu. We had sliders and Brussels sprouts. Oh my -- the Brussels sprouts -yum! I had "summer sprouts" with peaches, goat cheese and pistachios. Mom had the "savory sprouts" with mushrooms, caramelized onions and balsamic. We loooove fancy sprouts. And let's be honest, the garlic fries were on point too!

Okay, on to the main event. Sensorio is an artist installation by Bruce Munro. The first installation is called Field of Lights. It all comes alive at dusk, so we got there just before. Even before dark, it was beautiful!

As it got darker, it just got more magical. There are paths winding through the lights, as well as benches to sit and enjoy. The lights do change color, but they do so very slowly, and almost so subtly that you miss it. 

Through the Field of Lights were the Light Towers. As a nod to the surrounding wine community, there are towers of bottles with lights within. The towers are different colors, and music plays as you walk through. Experiencing this part was far more powerful than it probably is reading about it!

Through the towers were two more installations. One, Gone Fishing, is made of repurposed fishing poles, set over a dry creek to represent standing next to a stream. The other is apparently called Fireflies, though we enjoyed them as jellyfish. :) Art is a little bit about interpretation, right?

And then, we wound back through the Field of Lights, and up to the car. We spent several hours here and loved all of it. If you're close, or can catch one of his installations elsewhere, do it!

Photo creds to the amazing, OG T&L photographer. 💚