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Beautiful Lights, 2023 Edition
While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I still love the lights. I grew up celebrating the arrival of the New Year, and while this was borrowed from the Christmas traditions, there was always a tree for the New Year, ornaments, and lights.
It might be just me, but it seems that the holiday light displays are becoming more widespread, for sure when made as attractions. Or maybe it was always around and I just never took my time to notice them – but I definitely do now.
Newport Rhode Island is one of our favorite travel destinations in general, and particularly during Christmas. We visited Newport back in 2017 to see Christmas decorations, and thinking about that visit, I couldn’t believe that that visit took place 6 years ago. This year, we also decided to visit the Sparkling Lights display which was shown in the evening at the Breakers. As you can imagine, I have a bunch of pictures to share with you. But before we visit Newport, I would like to mention my hometown – Stamford, Connecticut.
Stamford always has some beautifully decorated houses we loved to visit over the years. But this year, we had a “notch up” experience. Driving back from our local supermarket, my wife said “hey, wait, I want you to turn around”. When I asked why, she said that she saw a glimpse of a nicely decorated house on a parallel street, and we should go see it. When we got there 2 minutes later, the view greatly exceeded my expectations – might be the best Christmas lights display I ever saw at a private house – and the best part was that we could park the car and just walk around the decorations. So let me start my inundating display with these pictures:
And now, here are the pictures from the Breakers, the Sparkling Lights display:
Here are a few pictures from the Elms:
And probably my favorite of the whole Newport trip – the Marble House:
Hope you enjoyed!
Magic of the Season
While I don’t celebrate Christmas, its magic is not lost on me. When I saw an email advertising Christmas lights display at Longwood Gardens, the decision was quick – we should go and see it.
Longwood Gardens, also known as Dupont Gardens, are located in the town of Kennett Square in Delaware, a few miles away from Pennsylvania border. We had been regular visitors for a long time, as Gardens are absolutely beautiful. Some of our perennial favorites are the Fireworks and Fountains events, which are typically run during the summer – you can come with your own blanket and chairs, find a spot, and enjoy a beautiful display of colorfully lit fountains, working in full sync with the fireworks and classical music. However, we never attended A Longwood Christmas event as it is officially called.
Boy, was that the right decision. We got tickets for 4:30 pm (the event has timed tickets which are better be acquired in advance – the event was sold out for the day we were visiting), and this was a great choice of time as we still got a glimpse of the sunset and then enjoyed the Gardens. The lights, the music, and overall organization were nothing short of stunning – and what you see below is a gimps of our enjoyment.
If you are anywhere within the driving distance, the event worth a hassle – find the time before January 5th to visit and enjoy – or put it already in the calendar for the next year. I’m sure you will greatly enjoy it.
Here you go:
Last Bottle Sign Up ($10 credit)
Talk-A-Vino 