Holiday Lights to Brighten Winter Nights
Christmas may be our most well-lit holiday, and rightly so. Our ancestors celebrated light and fires this time of year as the days grew shorter and darker.
Lights on the Bay
Instead of settling down for a long winter’s nap, Sandy Point State Park ramps up the Bay’s nightlife with two miles of lights on more than 70 elaborate animated displays.
Anne Arundel Medical Center’s major fundraiser, Lights on the Bay celebrates its 22nd year of transforming the park into a winter wonderland. Each year the displays are rearranged and some new additions join the lineup. This year’s special guests are aliens celebrating an out-of-this-world holiday on their landing ship.
“Lights on the Bay has truly become a holiday tradition for families in our region,” says coordinator Kathie Shingles. “Generations of families keep coming back. We have teens who come, families who come, empty nesters with their pets instead of the kids and, of course, seniors.”
Many of the displays are unique to Chesapeake Country. Only here will you see an animated Midshipman tossing his cap, Chessie lounging on the shoreline, the historic colonial village or the Capitol Building. Perhaps one of the most treasured displays is the giant 16-foot teddy bear, whose assembly requires eight contractors. Shingle’s favorite is driving through the lighted tunnel.
As to just how many light bulbs are in the show, it’s hard to determine. A Naval Academy engineering student asked to estimate concluded, “A lot.”
All of those bulbs glowing five hours a night for over six weeks make for a costly electric bill. So Anne Arundel Medical Center is in the process of converting to LED bulbs, which glow cooler and use less energy.
“We are only in the second year of a three-year phase-out,” says Shingles. “But you may notice some of the lights are different this year. We hope to save money and energy by using a more sustainable source of light that won’t need replacing so often.”
It takes nearly 30 days to put the show together, with the help of contractors and volunteers. On November 19, a lucky staffer threw all 10 switches to light up the Bay. By January 1, when the lights go out, some 17,000 cars will have made the bright loop.
That 20-minute drive can be life-changing.
“We are a popular hotspot for marriage proposals,” says Shingles. “We’ve had probably 100 proposals here.”
Open nightly through Jan. 1, 5-10pm, Sandy Point State Park, $15/car, $30/van or mini-bus, $50/bus: www.lightsonthebay.org.
Illuminated London Town
A garden in December can be a magical place. Especially when lights mark your path, bonfires ward off the chill and carolers sing the season.
“People really love gardens and lights and the holidays. So we decided to give them all of those things,” says Rod Cofield, executive director of Historic London Town in Edgewater of the two-year-old festivity.
For Illuminated London Town, garden paths are strung with lights, the William Brown House is festooned with lights and uplights create a whimsical atmosphere in the Sound and Sensory garden.
Lights and music aren’t the only things you will find in the gardens. Mugs of hot cider are served and S’mores roasted over the fire. Or watch a fire dancer perform. Winter-blooming plants, including camellias, defy the cold.
Dec. 2, 9, 16: F 6-9pm, Historic London Town, Edgewater, $17 w/discounts: 410-222-1919.