Night of Christmas Lights 2009: Top 5 Can't-Miss Houses...

Love, love, love the Christmas lights!!! If you can catch only a few, here are the ones not to miss. And if you have only 15 minutes and can go to only one neighborhood, head to #1 and #2. You can actually see them around the corner from each other. Trust me, no still photo could even begin to capture the experience.

5. Pat's Branch Drive in Umstead Ridge. Lights set to really cool Trans-Siberian Orchestra music. The music and dancing lights make this one a lot of fun to watch. One of my besties lives within sight of that house, and I am very, very jealous!

(No picture because the light show moves FAST! By the time we got to the end of the song when all the lights are on at once, I'd put away the camera. Plus, the lights are mainly white. White lights are tough to photograph without looking like one giant flash going off.)

4. Corner of New London and Howard Drive in Stonehenge. Inflatables. Lots and lots of inflatables. Best use of candy canes hanging in a tree award! Great to look at, but on a trafficky road, so be careful! Not everyone out there loves lights as much as we do, so if you are in front of the wrong person, it's a little skeery.

(No pictures because the guy behind us didn't feel the love we were feeling for savoring the inflatable display. I was a-skeert to stop and snap a shot.)

3. Anderson Drive... closer to Six Forks than Glenwood. If you're coming from Glenwood, it'll be on the left. If you're coming from Six Forks, it'll be on the right. Oh. My. Word. You usually have to go to a theme park to find that many giant characters with moving parts. Worth the trip towards Midtown.

(No pictures. Too much traffic. I hate that; it really is a sight to behold. Little kids will LOVE it!)

2. Sleepy Creek Drive. Stonehenge. Lights set to music. Street's not too busy, so you can stop and enjoy. Impressive light choreography, and just around the corner from the #1 house on the tour.



1. Abbey Lane. Stonehenge. Those houses on YouTube have got nothing on this one. Being the owner of an overly-lit home during the Christmas season, I can sincerely appreciate the sheer wattage that goes into this one. You know when you drive up and there's a sign that says "Light Show - 5pm -10pm" that there's something to see. Well, that and the LONG line of cars sitting in front of the house... This house is so spectacular that you do not want to go until you've seen everything else there is to see. This is HGTV-and-TLC-Christmas-Light-Special league. It too is set to music. Look for the singing Christmas tree and Santa in the front yard. Check out the whole Charlie Brown Christmas cast to the right of the driveway and the main attraction of Christmas, the Nativity on the far right of the front yard. On the house itself, a moving sleigh pulled by racing reindeer is perpetually taking off from the roof. And in the front window you'll see the Right Jolly Old Elf wandering through the room and peeking outside. I snapped a few pics, but truly nothing short of sitting there and staring at it for a good little while does it justice.