My tradition passed on by my dad.

[GreenMeanie]

We kind of grew up poor but the thing I remember most about Christmas is on Christmas Eve my dad would gas up the car and we would just drive around looking for lights. So now I find myself taking my kids out looking for lights and there just isn't as many as I remember as a kid. That is one reason I got into Computer controlled Christmas lights. I hope to get people in my area to decorate again. It sounds strange but Christmas Eve is my favorite day with the kids wondering what presents Santa will bring and the getting ready to go look for lights.

[cspelling]

I too remember as a child driving around neighborhoods looking at the beautiful lights and decorations with my parents. It was such a nice family thing to do. You're right though, these days there isnt nearly as many houses decorated, most likely cause the high cost of electricity.

[kelly88]

My parents don't drive so we never got to do things like that. But for the last few years the week before Christmas we go out with my aunty in her car looking at decorations. This year I passed my driving test though so I can go around in the dark looking at all the pretty lights :D It's great!

[Christy Carol]

BF and I will be loading up the parents next Thursday nite in the old 4 wheel drive sleigh to drive around and look at the lights. We are going into the city to look at a big display they put on each year by the river and then just drive thru different neighborhoods and check out what everyone has put up.


:wiggy:

[MinaHarker]

My family does that too. Throughout the season mom will take me to look at decorations. There aren't many anymore though...

[RavenHardt]

it seems in recent years....people have forgot the beauty of colored lights...and have gone more for the clear ones.....am I the only one who has noticed this?

bring back the colors of christmas !!!!! :wiggy:

[Christy Carol]

I agree!! I have always been a fan of colored lights. No offense to anyone who perfers clear but arent they just the same as light bulbs? I can take a lamp shade off a lamp and get the same effect. I think when the icicle light craze hit it really hurt the use of colored lights. I am glad to see more options with those and am seeing alot more of the colored variety than in the past years but to me there is nothing like a house lit up with C9 colored bulbs!

[joyful]

When I was growing up, one night of the Christmas week was set aside to go and look at the lights. People did not decorate early back then so everything was reserved for the week of Christmas.

As my parents got older they started spending Christmas eve with us in our home and we took them out to see lights. I remember one Christmas Eve it was raining actually pouring but we went. LOL, hard to look at lights through windows covered with rain but the best part was being together for that's what Christmas is, love, family and celebration.

[GreenMeanie]

I remember a Christmas Eve in the 70's and pouring rain too. But we also still went looking for lights but being from New England the temps felt odd for that time of year. Made getting in the Christmas mood hard.

[Chillywilly]

My wife and I sometimes takes our children at Christmas time to see the lights. I am going to set a date on the calendar this year and going forward to make sure we keep this awesome tradition going.
:merry:

[Head Elf]

Up here in the high desert I was surprised to see that my little community does Christmas right. Almost everyone has some type of decorations and lights on their houses. If we want to see some other lights, it's a 76 mile drive to see them (either way). When I was little, they didn't decorate back then. But we would go into town and see the center of town decorated. Or we would take the train into Chicago and look at all the window displays and be amazed and awed.

[JanaBanana]

When I was little our tradtion was opening up our stocking on christmas eve or one present...

Today with my own children we do things like take a Christmas boat cruise on the lake to see all the lights and Santa. We also drive around looking at lights... on Christmas Eve we always read them "Twas the night before Christmas"

[Merry Sage]

I did that with my two children, right up until they were teenagers; drive round looking at the lights on Christmas Eve.

[Sunshine73]

That's a great tradition! Isn't funny that, as adults, the Christmas memories that we cherish the most are the ones that don't have anything to do with gifts?

We used to drive around looking at Christmas lights as well. Our town used to have a "luminary" display the weekend before Christmas. It truly was magical...nearly every street in the entire town was lined with paper bag luminarias, every house was decked out in it's Christmas finest, the local radio station would play tapes of the local school's Christmas programs, and one of the church's in town would put on a live Nativity display. There were some neighborhoods where there were wandering carolers, bonfires to keep warm, people selling hot cocoa and chestnuts, etc. People would drive around, slowly, with just their parking lights on in order not to detract from the beautiful glow from all the lights and candles.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, that practice has fallen aside and I have to say that I truly do miss it.

[Minta]

Unfortunately growing up we didn't drive around looking at lights. Back then my mom was a stay at home mom and from thanskgiving up until Christmas my dad took on a part time job a few nights a week to pay for christmas so either he was working or was to tired to take us around looking at the lights.
However I do remember making cookies with my mom every year about a week for Christmas. She would make several different ones during a 2 day bakefest.
I do the something similar now. In the beginning of the December I will set aside a day to make certain types of cookies with my daughter helping me and then around the last weekend before Christmas I do a 2 day bakefest. I make alot of cookies but I also gives some away as gifts too. My daughter loves to help me mix the batter and to decorate the cookies. She always sneaks a cookie here or there when she thinks I am not looking, the little sneak! LOL! We like to go looking at the lights too. Now we do it the same nights nights I make cookies that way I can bring a tin of home made cookies and a warm drink for everyone to enjoy while looking at the lights.

[MissKringle]

We
walk around the street just as it got dark, Christmas here is summer & quite safe to walk around in my aunt's neighborhood, the light's were a fantastic display every house had at least one thing but last year only about three houses lit up, why? I have no idea, it will be even less this year because we're having it at our house & in our neighborhood about 3-4 houses out of 4 streets light up.
BRING BACK THE LIGHTS!

[MrsH]

Where we live in Florida, you can submit your address to the newspaper with a small description of your display. They publish these in the paper so you can plan your "light viewing" route. They really decorate like crazy here. We like to hop in the car, windows down and drive around to see the lights. There is one house that even decorates the inside of their garage. You get out of the car and view the Christmas village that fills their garage. The man who lives there also dresses up as Santa and takes pictures with the kids. There is a small donation for the pictures, but I'm sure that pays for his horrendous electric bill.

[Billy Battles]

I never drove around or anything like that. I (probably like a lot of people on here) love to sit in the dark with the only light is from the Christmas tree and drink hot chocolate. I was very happy to recently discover my girlfriend loves to do that also.

[Cedarfarm]

Oh these are such great posts...thank you! I needed that today!!

Yes Sunshine, most of my favorite memories about Christmas are not gift related, I can thankfully say. We weren't poor, we were comfortable. Dad taught us the value of a dollar. Things were not given to us, we had to earn them. That's why the best memories are things like going for rides to look at the lights and making my own ornaments and cards (as a kid) buying the cheapest "cut glass" candy dish at Woolworths and wrapping it up 2 weeks before Christmas, knowing my Mom would be absolutely AMAZED at my impeccable taste in presents...(Hey, she did go on and on about how beautiful it was...lol!)
I still love going out on Christmas Eve ( If I'm not hosting the family party ) and looking at the lights...and wondering if I'll make it home in time for that Jolly St. Nick to arrive.

[Amanda Elf]

We take a night during the week leading to Christmas to look at the Christmas lights (the ones we haven't seen while driving to my parents or into town).
Not as many decorate as I'd like to see..we do have one lady though that is a little over zealous..she has so many..you don't know what you're looking at...lol.

[Annette1990]

I too have always loved cruisin' around...I even got my little girl loving it too...every year it doesnt matter if it's only one person in town she's ready to go.