McAdenville Christmas Lights

Our second attempt to start celebrating Christmas--and I note that I am frustrated that so many "Christmas events" end on December 25 instead of beginning on the day--was a bust. I document it here perhaps to have a better experience next year!

I learned of a tiny town of 700 residents called McAdenville not 15 miles from here that is known nationally as "Christmas Town USA". We could drive there and see for free half a million lights on display. We hadn't driven to see any lights yet this season, so Mama declared Saturday night was The Night to Go. (Sunday night we already have plans, and Monday night, the last night of the two-week display, we'll be busy at home with Christmas Eve.)

Cue Gilligan's Island music for our "three-and-a-half-hour tour . . ."

We loaded the children up at 5:30 (note to self: dress them in pajamas next time), and Margaret fell promptly to sleep since she had skipped her nap that day for about the second time in her life.

The traffic jam began miles before the Exit 22 to which we were directed by this website. Don't take another exit, it said! If you take another exit, it will be wrong, all wrong, and you won't be able to see lights! Why were all those cars getting off on Exit 23 (which we reached first), we wondered? They must be very confused and they're going to miss out. (Note that upon seeing the backup on the highway is when the smart husband would have abandoned this tour and taken us home, but he very patiently kept going to my sake.)

TWO HOURS LATER of winding through the one route through the town (as locked in by orange gates and police cars), we reached where the cars were entering town from Exit 23. By boldly ignoring directions, those cars cut out two whole hours of driving through the darkened part of town without any Christmas lights at all. Note to self.

And note that, for numerous reasons, it is very difficult for an eight-month pregnant woman to sit in a car with no escape for three and a half hours. Very problematic, indeed.

At this point, even the children were asking to go home. No hype from Mama about half a million lights was worth being in the car for so long. I sat there in the passenger seat surfing on my iPhone and found the official McAdenville website that warned that many visitors sit in line all those hours only to have the lights turned off at 11:00 p.m. without ever having reached them. It was warned that drivers arrive in town before the lights are even turned on at 5:30, and preferably not on a Friday or Saturday.

As we slowly crept toward Exit/Entrance 23 and I knew it was our one escape hatch back to home for who knows how many more hours, I asked that we hop on the freeway. Note that Kind Husband was very patient and never offered an I-Told-You-So.

So, notes to self and my local friends for next year:

*   Go early in Advent or don't go at all.
*   Go on a weeknight.
*   Be there before 5:30.
*   Ignore instructions for the sheep and get off on Exit 23.

The night ended with easily transferring sleeping Margaret to bed, dressed still in her daytime clothing. But any mama knows what happens when a toddler falls asleep for the night two hours early . . . she was awake and very hungry at the crack of dawn today!