A Tradition

A few years ago, we started a holiday tradition of visiting Christmas light displays at the beginning of December. We have enjoyed the beautiful light presentations at Busch Gardens and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. We once accidentally came across a gorgeous light display in the middle of nowhere and enjoyed it just as much.

Last year, we were in California. I found several places with spectacular light displays, but having lost our jobs to Covid, we did not want to spend the money on the big productions. After giving up on finding an opportunity to see lights, we finally settled for driving by a lovely light display in Fredericksburg, Texas.

While we have since gone back to work, we are not making pre-Covid money, so we are still careful with our budget. So I was pleased when I happened upon an article about a family in St. Petersburg, Florida, who has won awards for their annual light display. Since St. Pete is only about an hour away, we decided to make a day of it.

Brunch, Disc Golf, and Fog

We have gotten into a habit of having a brunch date on Mondays at First Watch, so we went for brunch and then headed to Largo for a round of disc golf at Taylor Park Disc Golf Course. Neither one of us played well, but we enjoyed the game, the beautiful weather, and we even spotted an alligator.

After our game, we drove to the beach and down the coast. As the cooler evening air settled in, a thick fog descended on the beach. I knew the water was there, but we couldn’t see it. The fog was so dense that when we stopped for a drawbridge opening, we watched it through the haze of the mist even being only a few cars back.

Without the ability to see the Gulf, I focused more on the sights. Driving through St. Petersburg Beach, I enjoyed the row of palm trees that ran down the median. Each wrapped with red tinsel garland, they were gorgeous.

Dinner and Lights

We reached Billy’s Stone Crab just before sunset. We went up to the rooftop deck, thinking it would be a great place to watch the sun descend over the water. While it was a pleasant atmosphere with live music, we realized that dinner at a table would work out better for us and went downstairs to the dining room. As it worked out, we ended up at a table in the dining room with a beautiful view.

After a lovely dinner, we continued to The Oakdale Christmas House, a walk-through light display on half an acre in a neighborhood. What started as a modest light display 45 years ago has grown to an extravaganza of more than half a million lights climbing 70 feet in the air. In addition, there are model train displays, mirrored balls, giant inflatables, over 700 moving and animated objects, and a bubble machine.

We enjoyed walking among the lights and looking at the various displays. The most remarkable thing is, while there are boxes available for donations to help cover the $5000 electric bill, there is no charge to walk through and enjoy the lights.

While it was strange to enjoy Christmas lights in a tank top instead of being bundled up with hat, scarf, and gloves, I think I could get used to that. It was a spectacular day and a great way to kick off our holiday season.