Walking through acres of twinkling lights, Christmas carols filling the air along with the joyful laughter of dozens of children darting in and out of festive displays… Just the prospect of wandering through a wintery-wonderland Christmas light display can bring the holiday spirit out in even the dourest Scrooge – until you look outside and, instead of gently falling snowflakes and crisp, clear air, you are met with drizzly, overcast skies and temperatures adequately described as “meh.”
(A lexophile side-note: “meh” is actually a word – The term “meh,” defined as “mediocre; unexceptional, uninspiring,” was added to the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015 – the same year “twerk” made the grade. The term ‘blech’ – also an appropriate description of last Sunday’s weather – also found its way into Merriam Webster’s pages as “an interjection used to express disgust.”)
This was exactly the situation as I prepared to set off in search of Christmas light displays for this week’s Appetite for Adventure. A bit of social media polling, and some web crawling, had revealed quite the anomaly – two area Christmas light displays with the chops to gain national attention on ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight – and yet still charge no entrance fee.
There was a compelling temptation to postpone the adventure – after all, Appetite for Adventure is supposed to show you guys all sorts of ways to enjoy and appreciate the great Northeast Georgia region, not emphasize the occasional drawbacks! But deadlines are deadlines, and duty called.
Turns out, luckily, that proper preparation, the correct equipment, a good attitude, and even better friends can make even the most meh of evenings into an adventure. Oh, and chocolate – chocolate makes everything better!
CHECKLIST
In order to launch a successful drizzly-day Christmas light escapade, you must be properly attired and adequately stocked:
- Boots. This is not the time to drag out the Manolo Blahniks. I would not even recommend your go-to sneaks, and definitely no Vans. Hiking boots – that was my choice for the evening. Good traction in the slick mud of wet fields as you try to revive a half-fainting, slumped inflatable Grinch, and helpful for keeping socks dry, ankles untwisted, and toes warm. Rain boots are another excellent choice – especially for the young – or young at heart – of the bunch. The brighter the color, the better! And If they happen to match check-list item #2, all the better.
- Umbrella. Not that you’ll ever actually use it. Well, the more responsible, adult-like of our readers may actually unfurl them and use them as God and Jonas Hanway (inventor of the modern rain umbrella) intended. The rest of us will continue to either accidentally leave them in the car or use them as swords (what is a Christmas lights adventure if you don’t triumph in a mock duel with your compatriots?), a walking stick, a “poke it, I’m not sure if it’s working” stick, an impromptu tripod, and a necessary prop for a rousing rendition of “Singing in the Rain,” substituting a bedazzled, life-size candy cane for the requisite Gene Kelly-approved light post.
- GPS. Essential for un-losing yourself after you miss the turnoff in the rain-and-fog lack of visibility.
- Warm clothes. Something snuggly that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, even when the weather is miserable, is required to preserve the integrity and longevity of your Christmas spirit. Bonus points for ugly Christmas sweaters.
- Christmas music. You know those radio stations you hate? The ones that start playing 24/7 Christmas carols before the final turnover of the Thanksgiving football games? Now is when they come in handy. Christmas music is essential for the drive to/between Christmas light displays – and singing along is required, even if your voice could make Santa swear (apologies to my friends I roped into tagging along on this adventure with me, and who were forced to bear witness to my inability to carry a tune in a bucket).
- Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate – mostly in piping-hot liquid form, but leave room for s’mores!
Our first stop was in Bowman, in Elbert County. Lunsford Farm is a 9-acre display set in the midst of a 90-acre working farm and is about 55 miles from Clarkesville. Despite the less-than-perfect weather, the Lunsford Farm was open, and visitors were enjoying the expansive walk-through light displays when we arrived at about 8 p.m. It took about an hour for us to make our way through the display, which included huge inflatables, scenes from both new and classic Christmas movies, a 40-foot Santa, a reindeer barn, a 1930s-built Santa’s workshop where children can sit and write letters to Santa, and of course, tons of twinkling lights (more than 400,000 of them!).
On Fridays and Saturdays, Lunsford Farm also offers hot cocoa and popcorn, and Santa and the Grinch can be found for photos. 2023 is the sixth year Lunsford Farms have provided the light display for their neighbors and community, and there is no charge, although donations are accepted. This year, Christmas on Lunsford Farm was chosen as one of three Christmas light displays from across the country to be featured on the 10th-season premiere of ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight (Lunsford section begins at minute 28 of the video), which aired on Nov. 28.
If You Go:
2730 Sand Hill Road, Bowman
Nightly through 12/25/2022
Sunday-Thursday 6-9 PM
Friday-Saturday 6-10 pm.
Check their Facebook page daily for any notes about that evening’s display.
Setting out from the Lunsford Farm at close to 9 p.m. as they were getting ready to shut the lights off for the night, we headed north toward Canon – about a 30-minute drive – to find CHRISTmas at the Goffs. This 3-acre walk-through light display, only about 30 miles south of Cornelia, is open until 10 p.m., and, while not as large as the Lunsford Farm display, it is packed with an amazing array of displays. It is an especially enjoyable trip down memory lane for those of us who grew up on blow mold manger scenes, balsa-wood cut-and-paint Christmas ornaments, and the Christmas Story. Kids (of all ages) will especially enjoy the Nightmare before Christmas display all made and designed by 12-year-old R.J. Goff. On nights when the weather permits, there is a bonfire in the large bonfire pit at the center of the display.
As with the Lunsford farm, there is no entrance fee to enjoy the Goff’s light display, but they also welcome donations, with a portion of the donations going to help with the expense of putting on the light show. Still, a portion of each donation also goes to a local charity, with visitors being able to choose whether they drop their donation in the Franklin Life donation box or the Rainbow Pantry box.
When it comes to recognition, the Goff’s display led the way in national notice, being featured in the Season 1 premiere of The Great Christmas Light Fight show on ABC in 2013.
If You Go:
2035 Starrs Bridge Road, Canon
6 till 10 every night (weather permitting)
Check their Facebook page daily for any notes about that evening’s display.
We planned to make a final stop at Winter Wonderlights at the UGA Botanical Gardens. Their display is one of the top-rated in the state and looks lovely in the posted videos. But by the time we got out of the Goff display at around 10 p.m., it was too late. The Winter Wonderlights light show is a reservation-only event, with tickets available for $15 per person.
Some other recommended light shows in the region:
Reindeer Road in Marietta
Shine Light Show in Lawrenceville
A Country Christmas in Cartersville
Lights of Life in Marietta
Enchanted Garden of Lights at Lookout Mountain
Mountain Country Christmas at Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds
Light Up The Holidays at Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville
The Magic of Christmas in Seneca, SC
Red Bird Christmas Lights in Clarkesville
And since one of the essential ingredients of a successful Christmas Lights trip, regardless of the weather, is lots of chocolate:
Thermos of from-scratch Hot Chocolate
Fills a 32+ oz thermos (divide recipe by 4 if you are just making one cup)
4 cups milk (whole is best, 2% will work)
¼ cup sugar (caster sugar is best, but standard granulated sugar is fine)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s is the standard, Guittard Cocoa Rogue is my favorite)
1 – 1 ½ chocolate bars, chopped (pick your favorite, try different brands and flavors)
¼ tsp. Vanilla extract
Add milk and sugar to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved.
Add cocoa powder and whisk till combined (if you add the cocoa powder first, it will float on top of the milk and not blend well; adding the sugar first gives the cocoa powder something to stick to.)
Melt chopped chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts. Add melted chocolate to milk, increase heat to medium (do not go higher, and do not ever allow to boil, it risks scorching the milk, and it will make your chocolate grainy) and heat, stirring regularly, until well combined and smooth.
Turn off heat and let cool slightly. Stir in vanilla. Add to thermos.
Variations:
Mexican Hot Chocolate: Add ¼ tsp ground ancho chile pepper, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon and a small pinch of cayenne pepper into hot chocolate. (you can leave off the chile and pepper and increase the cinnamon to ½ tsp if you don’t want your hot chocolate to have a bite.)
PB&C: Melt 1Tbs creamy peanut butter in the microwave with the chocolate, and mix as directed.
Peppermint Patty: Drop a candy cane or two into your thermos before adding hot chocolate. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, and shake lightly before serving.
