Traditionalist that I evidently am, I love the house above, with all its wreaths and simple spotlights. It's one of my favorite houses. Here's another shot that shows where it has an additional section to the left of this photo, with a big tree all lit up in the front window:
Many of the homes are as tasteful and lovely as this...
...but while I really like that house, I have to admit, for sheer entertainment, I find it irresistible when we look directly across from a house like that one and see this:
(I noticed a few vacant spots there...one can only hope that next year, they'll fill those in and take care of that!)
And for some folks, it's absolutely de rigeur to have palm trees out front when the temps are in the teens:
"Oh, no!"
One home even had a lake, with trees reflecting on the water, which was actually kind of pretty:
It's one of my favorite things to do this time of year, as we drank mugs of hot cider and enjoyed the tour. I took lots of photos of the elegant, stately homes, like the ones below, that are also pretty spectactular, but I had to include some of these others as well--you just wouldn't have believed me otherwise...
Another holiday season's lights captured for posterity.
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19 comments:
Wow! What a great display! Thank you for sharing :)
Irina
Sounds like a good night out! I like the traditional house, too, more than the extravaganza across the street. Too much stimulation!
Not far from us, in a very uppity neighborhood, there is a house where the owners have a separate electrical service in order to support their Christmas display. The house is well known and many people make special trips to visit it.
The neighbors are triply unhappy:
1) They don't like looking at all the lights. It's a neighborhood without street lights, and the sky is usually dark.
2) They don't like the increased traffic and notoriety the Christmas extravaganza brings their way.
3) They are frustrated that no town land-use provision gives them any legal way to stop the show.
The display is so over the top that I don't even rate it as 'Christmas.' Once I moved it into the mental category of 'circus' I was much more able to relax and enjoy it.
{smile}
Love it, thanks for sharing
To each his or her own! I love the first house, and like to be entertained by the others.
Sounds like a super fun evening!
It is amazing what lengths some people go--I do think that many of these really are "circus" shows. One house had a big blown-up contraption that was essentially a merry-go-round for Christmas, circling round and round on the front lawn all night long.
What ARE they thinking!??
I'm totally about the subtle looks myself.
What a riot, Sue. The Griswolds would be proud :) I'm so enjoying all your posts lately, now that you're home and have more time. Love Claudia XOXO
A neighborhood tour is always in rder here, too! We have no over-the-top displays, but the charm and of each different take and the sense that so many of our neighbors participate - and give light to each other always warms my heart. Of course, we try to pick a warm-ish night to walk around!
After Tim moved out of the house, I wanted to do something.......anything.......festive to light the outside of the house. I found a terribly tangled mess of lights in the attic. Not taking the time to untangle them, I plugged the "wad of lights" into an outlet on the porch. It didn't look bad at night, actually, but it was nothing to write home about.
Claudia, good to see you're feeling better--I read that you're headed into NYC with the gang--have fun!
Jeanette, I totally agree--we're always sad that we tend to go see my dad for Christmas, so we miss the neighborhood luminaries show here, which is so pretty.
Jane, that sounds like a riot--I'll bet it was cute--you have a great eye.
ps
I read that and it sounds like we're sad we go see my dad--no--we're just sad we miss the luminaries! xo
LOVE all the decorations! I am in a building with neighbors but try to put lights in my windows but I soooo enjoy making the rounds! One year I saw a house with several large red round chinese lanterns ... it was a stunner!
Love it!
Love it!
Love it!
My favorite thing to do and around here in Astoria they go ape-s---wild - not elegant at all.
I need to take some pics too
Thanks for the reminder Sue!! :)
This post is so much fun - I miss going around looking at the Christmas lights here in France. There are a few houses that are over-decorated but they are very thin on the ground. Thanks for letting us tag along on your tour.
I have always thought that simple was always better. Have a good time with your Dad. Glad to hear Claudia is doing good enough to go to NYC. Makes my heart glad to hear this. I enjoyed the tour.
Thanks, all--our area has all kinds of decorations, and some are pretty outlandish.
Cris, I'm really glad Claudia is up to her annual trip to NYC with the kids, too--they'll have fun, and it means she's doing well enough, anyway! Thanks for thinking of her.
Thanks for the tour. I truly love the first one. It feels like they are honoring their home. We went to the passage of Light at Greenlake in Seattle. They lit 5000 luminaries around the 3.1 mile lake path. It was wonderful even in the rain.
I love the quote! And the pictures of the Christmas lights are amazing. They really get me in the festive spirit.
Thanks, folks! I'm feeling "nesting" now that I'm finally home again, and seeing the lights helped put me in the spirit for the season.
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