If the holiday season feels like it's speeding by quicker than you can enjoy it, you're not alone. You can slow things down a bit by taking a stroll (or drive) through one of the many light displays in our area. Morning Edition host Andrew Garcia and I chatted about some that will put you in the yuletide spirit.
There are several places around the North Texas area where you can see holiday lights and get some steps in while you're at it. One place that’s great to do that is Vitruvian Park in Addison. You can take a stroll on the paths around the pond and see over 500 trees wrapped in a million colored lights.
There’s a big debate over colored vs white lights in holiday displays. I personally am on “Team Colored Lights” and Vitruvian Park is a big reason why. The lights on the trees there reflect off the pond in an explosion of color. The scene at night is breathtaking. The trees look like jewels spread out in a black velvet jewelry box.
Andrew noted that if you’re looking for a counterpoint to the colorful lights of Vitruvian Park, the gold lights of the Dallas Arboretum’s Christmas village are beautiful. He recently went with his mom, Senta Leuck, to see the 12 Days of Christmas display.
She had a lot of fun trying to remember the verses to the song.
“Is it six dancers dancing? Asked Senta. “Or six maids a-milking?”
After some time guessing, she finally spied an egg on the display.
“Oh! Six ones a-laying!” she triumphantly yelled.
“She got pretty close,” said Andrew. “It’s actually six GEESE a-laying, in case you were wondering.”
From walking paths and quaint Christmas Villages, we segued to a bigger display for all the Clark Griswold’s out there.
In fact, you could say Prairie Lights in Grand Prairie is the mother of all light displays. The drive-thru experience features 4 million twinkling lights set along 2 miles of path, many of which arch over the roadway. At the halfway point you can stop at the Holiday Village. The kids can explore the walk-through forest and carnival rides while you relax with some hot chocolate and kettle corn. Then, jump back in your car for the second half of the drive which includes an amazing light-filled tunnel.
To close things out, Andrew and his wife Emily decided to check out the bigger neighborhood displays in their area of town. They found one at a house on Marquita Avenue in East Dallas, where tens of thousands of lights dance in sync with a radio broadcast of Christmas songs.
Andrew wanted to surprise Emily, so she was amazed when they drove up to the house.
“It’s a light show with a radio station! Who did this?
As it turns out, the sparkly house is the 11-year passion project of the Allen Family. This year they recruited 7 of their neighbors to create an even more beautiful display.
“Aww…look at this! It’s so sweet!” said Emily. “If you’re a mom you’re going to love this.”
“Moms, dads, kids and really anyone of all ages will have a good time, even our dog Elsie was entranced by the lights,” said Andrew.
Andrew added that if you do go, make sure to stick around for the song "Carol of the Bells". “It’s an epic way to end the night and it might make you think about how you want to decorate your house next year.”
“We have to buy a house so we can do this!” said Emily.
If you’re looking for more yuletide glow, be sure to check out our list of area light displays. And for more holiday events head to Go See DFW.
The Go See DFW calendar is a partnership between KERA and The Dallas Morning News.
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