On a recent wintery day, Tom and I took my parents to see Holiday Lights and Delights at the Ashland County Fairgrounds.  This was the first year for the display.  We are always looking for drive-through light displays to enjoy together.  Ashland isn’t very far away, so we thought we would try it.

We started our evening of Holiday Lights and Delights by eating at Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Ashland.  The restaurant wasn’t busy so we got good service and our food was fresh and hot.  We all ordered breakfast foods – omelets, pancakes, and Dad got a skillet.  The food was so filling that we had to get dessert (French silk pie) to go.

Then we drove through Ashland to get to the fairgrounds.  The lights in the city of Ashland were beautiful.  Gorgeous white garlands draped downtown and all the shopkeepers had their windows decorated.  There were very nice displays at every end of the city.  The square had an enchanting Santaland.  Really nice.

When we arrived at the Fairgrounds, it was easy to see where we entered.  We followed the arrows and paid our $10 to several members of the Future Farmers of America.   The Holiday Lights and Delights had community displays, with 78 businesses, charitable organizations, and families putting up displays.

The displays were fun and the sponsors of the displays were well-marked.  In fact, sometimes the names of the sponsors was the only part of the display we could see.  A lot of the lights were out.  Many of the displays used inflatables which had deflated with the snow and wind during the day.  The displays were packed tightly together and we would have preferred for them to be a little more spread out.  But this was their first year, so hopefully they will improve on it next year.

We were able to vote for our favorite display.  Tom did the voting for our group and he picked the quirkiest displays.  There was a reindeer skeleton and inflatable deer hung on a rope for a venison processing company.  A heating and cooling company had robot snowman which I thought were a little creepy.  It was fun to see the humor and whimsy of the community.

Holiday Lights and Delights is Thursday through Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. through December.  Cost is $10 per car.  Proceeds benefit the Fair Board as well as the volunteer groups that man the gates each night.

After we finished at Holiday Lights and Delights, we headed back toward Mansfield, but checked out some additional lights on the way.  The Square in Mansfield has some gorgeous lights and downtown Lexington is nicely decorated.  We saw a bunch of houses that had some great light displays.  Some people are so creative and take the time to really decorate at Christmas.

Last year we stopped by the Franzen Family Christmas display and I have been following them all year on Facebook.  Each year their display is a little different and so we drove to the house and looked at the lights for a long time.  Mr. Franzen collects vintage Christmas blow mold figures and these are what he puts out.  There were lots of Santas, a choir singing, and Rudolph with his red nose on top of the house.  The lighted blow molds make a better display than inflatables.  The Franzen Family lights are at 40 Holiday Hill in Lexington, Ohio.

It was a joy to see Christmas lights with my parents.  We always have such a good time when we are together, especially when we get to do something adventurous.