Warning - this post contains a lot of pictures of Christmas lights. If that's not your thing, then do not proceed further.
C took me to Bellingrath Gardens a couple of weeks ago to see the Magic Christmas in Lights display. We went on a random Tuesday after one of his interviews, selected to try to avoid potential crowds so that I would have free rein to take photos without disruption. The weather has been delightfully cool at night recently, so I got to suit up in a colorful pair of tights and a warm jacket to take on the evening. We got there right as they were finishing up selling tickets, giving us about an hour and a half or so to wander the gardens before they were fully closed for the evening - which ended up being about the perfect amount of time.
You start off in a slightly underwhelming area of the grounds and pass through a greenhouse full of poinsettias before really getting to experience the many, many light displays - starting with a beautiful Christmas tree and including a huge variety of randomness that you might not come to expect from holiday lights [see: the Under the Sea themed walkway].
I loveeeeee all of the lit up trees, all pretty and colorful like this. Especially in combination with the snowflake lights hanging down from some of the taller trees.
Animals! Or animal-ish things. I love that they threw in the Coke bottles with the polar bears - can't have one without the other, you know.
Somewhere around the halfway point [I think] we stopped to buy hot chocolate from a little food stand. The perfect accompaniment to the slightly chilly evening air and the festive atmosphere.
All the gingerbread people lined up in a row was one of my favorite displays. It translated so well on camera!
Flowers. Lots and lots of flowers, everywhere you looked.
Welcome to Asia, I guess?
I wish I had more commentary to offer, but obviously this is a very visual experience so me trying to narrate things comes across as largely pointless.
Do you have any fancy Christmas light displays where you live? We went to the Galaxy of Lights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens the first year we lived here; that entailed driving through in our car, so getting to walk around Bellingrath and get up close and personal with the lights was really cool.