Christmas Lights around Town

Tara and I took a Christmas light tour tonight.  We loved doing that in FL, only we had to PRETEND it was 31 degrees and the eve of a snowstorm.  We would grab hot cocoa from 7 -11, crank the A/C up on high in the SUV, pop in a Christmas CD and drive through the many sub divisions amongst which we lived.  We always had so much fun, and the lights were awesome.

First tonight, we headed to Skippack Village to see the luminaries that were set out each Wed and Fri night from late November until tonight.  I love luminaries, they have been one of my favorite things about Christmas Eve for many years.

I still recall when I was young, my grandmother coming home from having spent the Christmas holiday in Albuquerque, NM (is that not one of the hardest words to spell... I never get the first u right!) with my uncle's family, and telling us about these "paper bags with candles in them" that people put along their driveways and sidewalks.  Soon after, they seemed to sprout up here and there in our area, our church lined the driveway in front of the church with them, and before too long entire neighborhoods were alight with luminaries on Christmas Eve.

Do people do this in  your area?  I didn't see it as much in our part of Orlando... maybe I just wasn't in the right place at the right time.  Anyway, I was not as "awed" by the luminaries in Skippack, I guess too much other lighting from the busy road, street lights and other Christmas lights.  Don't get me wrong it was very pretty, just the luminaries didn't stand out too much!

 

 

I liked this window.

 

We stopped in a little jewelry store and I bought one of my final Christmas gifts, and then we headed to see what else we could see.  I picked two neighborhoods to drive through, figuring with the size of the houses.. they had to have some good decorations.  Maybe they are upper echelon to have inflatables and such in their front yards.  Many many elegant white lights, but not the major stuff we were looking for!  These are all very nice, and about as "over the top" as we got tonight.  Tara says she felt like a stalker!

 

 

We then headed to "downtown" Lansdale.  (Lansdale is the small town (borough actually) which I live just outside of, we share a post office, but our location is governed by a Upper Gwynedd Township.... PA is so confusing with all of it's local governement!)  Lansdale has seen better times, but they are trying hard to turn things around.  I think the downtown area has improved in the six years I have been gone appearance wise, but Iggy might be a better judge of that!  On a Friday night before Christmas back in the 70s (before the mall moved in), Main Street would have been alive with shoppers.  On this night, I saw very little in the way of foot traffic!  Our destination was "Railroad Plaza" (next to the train station) to take a photo of the Christmas tree and Menorah.  It is a nicely designed spot, glowing and twinkling with tiny white lights.  There is a Kugal Ball in the center (turned off for the winter).

 

 

So, that's a little of my world.  We are anticipating with great excitement, the snow that is approaching.  Still now sure what we will be getting.  The amounts I've been hearing are 2"-10".  I will take somewhere in between, enough to stay on the ground until Christmas!