Anyone who knows me will tell you, I avoid crowds at all costs. (Long before Arabella was even a thought Jarmon and I were brainstorming ways to avoid Disney… and that brainstorming continues to this day). Unfortunately, my distaste for crowds means I miss out on some really cool stuff— festivals, light up nights, Black Friday deals… and until tonight, Overly’s Country Christmas.
I have many fond memories of Overly’s from my childhood. Back when I was a kid the display was at Harry Overly’s house. You would drive past, Santa would say hi and an elf would give you a candy cane. It was magical. And it also raised money for charity. Well, Harry has long since died and the display has both moved and grown. For the last 20+ years the display has been at the county fairgrounds (another place I avoid like the plague). I remember visiting the Overly’s display in its new home back in elementary school. The addition of food stands and gift shop— added to the holiday magic. In high school, clubs I belonged to would staff the Country Kitchen and I got to serve hot chocolate to revelers. When I worked at KDKA, I did live shots on opening night— and interviewed Henny Hemlock (the talking tree) live in the 6pm newscast. In the years since, I’ve only admired Overly’s from afar— never daring to veer off the main road taking me past.
Enter Arabella.
Arabella LOVES lights. Like honestly, she’s obsessed. How could we not take her to a magical light display that’s a short five minute drive from my parents house?
So tonight we bundled up and piled into DD’s car. The line to get in was significantly shorter than we expected— but it moved SLOW. That didn’t matter a bit for Arabella— for her, it was love at first light. Once we were on the fairgrounds property we cranked up the Christmas music on the radio (the station Overly’s directs you to) and got her out of her car seat so she could take it all in. She was mesmerized. It was like the rest of the world faded away and it was just Arabella and thousands of Christmas lights.
The setup has changed a bit over the years. Overly’s used to be more of a place you drove through— and got out at the end if you felt like it. Now, the getting out at the end part seems to be the main draw.
We made our way through the lights letting Arabella take in every last one. It was especially cool to see the old lights that were part of the original display. The significance of characters that were a big deal to my generation, likely lost on the kids of today expect for the bright lights illuminating them. Heck, there were some characters even I didn’t recognize. To me, the old stuff is the best stuff. I can see fancy lights anywhere— it’s the old stuff that makes this display unique and authentic.
After making our way though the lights (it’s a short ride, but it takes a while) we changed Arabella’s diaper in the car before venturing out. She was cranky, but we were undeterred.
We snapped a few photos in the light castle on the way in. I wanted hot chocolate, but we decided to see what else was around before getting in line— and sadly, never made it back.
We visited the gift shop— which is now much more extensive than I remembered— and bought Arabella a Christmas teddy bear. My mother let her pick between the light brown bear and the dark brown one. Arabella, not surprisingly, picked the one that looked like Baxter. The woman at the register cut the tag off for us and told me she followed me (and Arabella) on Facebook. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t both excited and flattered by that 😊
After the gift shop we hit the restrooms— and then walked past some cutouts that made cool photo opps. We also walked past the manger. It was around that time that we realized Arabella was fading. We decided it was too cold to take her on the train or a horse drawn carriage ride— maybe next time. And the line for Santa was longer than our little princess was realistically going to keep her eyes open. So we decided to head out. We stopped to see Henny Hemlock on the way to the car, but by the time we found her Arabella was sound asleep. Too bad— I know she would have gotten a kick out of the festively lit talking tree. Next time!
After Overly’s we stopped at the Village for dinner. At this point, Arabella got her second wind and was wide awake. She played with her new bear, sipped on her bottle and ate several teething biscuits. She also tried the sauce from my gnocchi— and perhaps more notably, DD’s chocolate pudding. She seemed to be a big fan of the pudding. Oh, and how can I forget the soda. Jarmon suggested giving her a taste of my mother’s soda from a straw. Luckily, she didn’t seem to be a fan– but the taste alone was enough to get us another badge toward the #parentsoftheyear distinction we are so aggressively pursuing.
We we got home, Baxter was happy to see us. Though I’m pretty sure he was also thankful to have had a break. He and I played fetch for at least an hour today, which resulted in him being covered in mud. Not just a little mud, but rather it looked like he had jumped in a mud pit. I gave him a bath in the laundry tub using bar soap (all I had)— and he crashed. Not surprisingly, he was rearing to go once again when we got home. This time, we played fetch inside. It was a good night.
Trina Orlando 