Austin alit

As a continuation of last week's holiday celebrations, last night Sam and I went to check out Austin's "Trail of Lights." This is basically a large display of Christmas lights set up in Zilker Park along Town Lake. You can see them from across the river driving through downtown, so we were intrigued. There was a shuttle stop for the event near our apartment and the event itself is free, so it seemed worth checking it out.

Trail of Lights somewhat reminded me of walking down 5th Ave or visiting the tree at Rockefeller Center. You're surrounded by holiday cheer, but also walking in a slow moving crowd elbowing for space. The only real difference is that Austin's crowd has a great deal more strollers than New York's, which makes for somewhat more difficult crowd maneuvering. For those not in the Austin area, I'm including some photos so that you too can experience the Trail of Lights, right from the comfort of your own home.

From inside the giant Christmas tree

A Trail of Lights panorama 

The entrance. This one was partially included because it showcases the crowds. This tunnel of lights extended for about 100 feet, and took several minutes to walk through due to bottle necking. 

Most of the Trail of Lights is full of different displays and often movie or book characters. My favorite was this one from Where the Wild Things Are. 

This was my favorite of the actual lighting displays. The lighting would flash and then was followed by rain and after the rain stopped, a Sun would come out followed by a giant light up rainbow. 

This terrible picture of Sam (I swear he's in there; albeit shrouded by darkness) was mostly to photograph him and "Elf Pacino" one of many punny elfs present at Trail of Lights. Given Sam's Pacino fandom, it seemed appropriate. 

I guess that's about all there is to say about Trail of Lights. As displays of Christmas lights go, it was definitely something to see, although I can't promise I'll go back every year. If I do return though, I will make sure to bring cash to partake in all the fried food. It's a shame more places don't offer funnel cake in winter. Who's to say it can't be a Christmas food?