One of my favorite family traditions growing up was going to see the Christmas lights at parks in Connecticut. My dad would organize the whole family to drive across the state to various light shows. We’d go from Hartford to New Haven sometimes covering three different shows in one night. At the end of the night, we’d stop at Friendly’s for an ice cream sundae. It was a perfectly delicious ending to a night filled with Christmas spirit and family fun.
This year seemed like the perfect time to start up the tradition with my own family. Our son loves Christmas lights. We’ll walk down the street around dusk to look at the homes all decked out in lights and he’ll shout at every house, “Ooo pretty Christmas lights!”
I saw there was a show close by at the Jones Beach Theater. So I bought the early bird tickets (and a pack of lightbulb necklaces!) and we planned to go some time in December.
The month was crazier than we thought as we closed down our work before vacation. We planned to go the week of Christmas to reenergize our Christmas spirit. Instead of Friendly’s (RIP), I planned for an ice cream bar in the comfort of our home.
Magic of Lights was a hot mess
This event had poor signage leading the way to the entrance and it was filled with angry long islanders. At one point, Fatima popped her head out the window to yell at a car trying to run us off the road and purposely pushing their car into ours. Luckily we were just grazed and the damage wasn’t worse. It was awful. Tensions were high and road rage was everywhere. I blame the pandemic and Christmas a few days away. I heard this chaos was the same at other events similar to this in other states. Once we finally got the light show, it was…just…alright. Our son loved seeing the lights, but he loved his Christmas lightbulb necklace more. Needless to say, we will not be going to this event in the future.
But the ice cream was waiting for us in the comfort of our own home. Fatima and I share a love of cookies and cream ice cream. While I prefer cookie dough, cookies and cream is a close second favorite. Fatima loves a warm cookie and fudge, while I love all the toppings. I used to get some Reese’s peanut butter sundae at Friendly’s, so I tried to recreate that tonight. Our son loves some plain ol’ ice cream and he got a hearty scoop right before bed.
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