When I was a kid, my dad would load everyone in the station wagon during the holidays and we’d drive around neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. Like the tradition of mailing out physical Christmas cards, stringing up lights seems to be fading into the past. Except for the few Clark Griswolds out there seemingly lighting up entire neighborhoods, it seems fewer and fewer homes twinkle and glow during the holidays, but I still crave that “Holiday Lights” experience.
The good news … several companies have stepped up to fill the ever-growing void and, much to my delight, one near me is FUN and FESTIVE!
As we drove to the location for “World of Illumination, Rockin’ Christmas,” Greg and I laughed about how it felt like a high school date. With movie theaters closed due to COVID-19 and parties essentially eliminated, the light show is a great date night for any age … and for families.
Tickets must be purchased in advance and time slots are available every half hour. Like the drive-in theatres of old, your ticket pays for a car … take as many friends and family as will fit (legally) in your vehicle.
We arrived at the time I chose when I booked online. We must have picked the perfect time, because there were line queues set up for what looked like large crowds. We drove up, got our ticket scanned and the masked attendant handed over our 4-pack of 3D glasses before giving us the FM Radio frequency for the music and making sure we knew to turn off our headlights.
We dropped the top on the convertible and inched our way through the maze of lights set to rockin’ holiday music. WHAT FUN! Lights blinked and flashed in-time to the tunes cheerfully playing on the radio.
Kids giggled and oohed and aahed out the windows of family-loads of SUVs and minivans. At one point, the van in front of us stopped and a father and daughter hopped out for a quick picture. I don’t recommend trying it – an attendant waved a flashlight wand and shooed them along so they wouldn’t hold up the slowly crawling line of cars. We laughed at the situation – which was a less-than-a-minute delay and clearly filled with joy.
The whole drive through the lighted pathway took almost exactly 30 minutes. As we drove through the exit gate, we hummed along with the tune still playing with big, childlike grins on our faces.
We might make it a new tradition … and next year take along a thermos of hot cocoa!
There’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored. Start a new tradition of your own that will leave you smiling through the holidays.
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