As you know, part of enjoying life is discovering new places for yourself and this trip was new to us.
It took about an hour and a half traveling west on a few countryside two-lane highways to get to our destination. The kind of highways you worry about deer surprising you after dark.
This picture is downtown Chickasha, Oklahoma. The Choctaw word for Chickasaw. An article I read said the word Chickasha meant “Rebel”. I think there’s a story of long ago when two native Indian brothers split up and became two tribes, one became Choctaw, the other Chickasaw. You can straighten me out on this bit of information if you know the real story.
Chickasha provides a Christmas Festival of Lights each year for free (for those readers that aren’t from Oklahoma and aren’t familiar with it). No charge to get in and no one standing around hoping to get donations. They do things more creatively.
As the evening turned dark, we left our little Chickasha eatery to head to the Festival of Lights when we noticed this fun, giant blow-up within walking distance from where we ate. It’s very recognizable to those who enjoyed watching A Christmas Story. It’s from where Ralphie’s dad won a lamp. To be honest, I still haven’t sat down long enough to watch the full movie (though John has) but I did see this part in the movie. This shows someone has a sense of humor.
Oh, Christmas Tree! I wonder where the city stores this mountain? If you’re guessing we haven’t seen a New York City Christmas, you’d be right. I’m sure giantness is pretty normal there. Someday, though. Someday.
As we parked and made our way toward the lights, I spotted the Ferris wheel. This was one of the reasons I decided the trip would be worth it. The weather was cool, but not too cool, and no wind, either. Perfect, really. The air smelled sweet. Later we found out it was the smell of funnel cakes, fried mini doughnuts, and caramel corn that drifted throughout the park.
In order to get to the Ferris wheel, we crossed the bridge that went over the pond. Walking around the park was an option, too, because the festival lights were pretty compact.
The lights on the bridge were tightly woven and took up every inch of space, which was a beautiful sight and a place where the folks took photos of each other.
As we crossed over the bridge we also had to cross the street that weaved throughout the park. It was packed with cars and a couple of horse-drawn carts full of people, making their way through the lights. A crossing guard monitored it at the crossing point.
Side view of the bridge.
As we rounded up the night (which didn’t take too long), we checked out the food trucks. They were lined up like a resting wagon train. Not that I’ve ever seen a resting wagon train in person, just in the movies, but they were in a U-shape with picnic tables in the center. I took a couple of pictures of these cute little food trucks. This one was making mini doughnuts. I will say they need to take a few lessons from Crested Butte, Colorado’s mini doughnut shop. Now, that place has it going. This little food truck’s depiction of a mini doughnut was not so great, but I still think they have a great idea-just needs some tweaking.
Coffee being one of my delights, I thought this truck was so cool although I didn’t try any. Love their name and now, as I look at the picture, I’m wondering why I didn’t try it. I think for the same reason I don’t like most coffee sellers. I like a Colombian coffee with a medium roast, and every place I’ve been that sells coffee sells a deep-roasted Arabica bean, tasting like Starbucks. Skunky and burnt. Maybe, someone out there can do it differently just for people like me.
Last, a video of the Ferris wheel. I removed the sound because of how stupid John and I sounded. I wished there was a way to mute us instead of the laughter of the children in the background. That’s fun to listen to. Oh, well. Next time I’ll cue John I’m recording and I’ll remember to be quiet.
Thanks for reading. I do send blessings to you all for the New Year. May 2022 be a year of accomplished goals, fun surprises, an overload of love, joy, and peace.
Love,
Sharon
AND I’m glad you bought some mini doughnuts…