Returning to the Magical Night of Lights

Tonight we made a spontaneous decision to head back to Lake Lanier Islands, now called Margaritaville at Lanier Islands.  There weren't many people there tonight, as it's early in the season.  The price was a little lower than what it was back in the day - by half - and that might be because there weren't as many lights here as we remember there being.  The route you drive through the park was certainly shorter.  

It wasn't bad, and I'm glad we went even so.  But I guess "underwhelming" was the feeling we kind of had - I know that the Christmas season comes a little later for some, so perhaps that was part of the reason the place was so empty.  Another thing was the lack of direction we had when going throughout the park, with signs up here and not up there, and just a general confusion about where we should go, all of which was different from what we were used to some time ago.  

The amusement park area was really empty tonight, in a sort of way you felt bad for the employees.  One reason for this may be the fact that it costs $53 per person to ride the rides there.  There were a few people doing some of the rides, and seriously maybe less than ten of them.  The rest of us - as few as there were - spent our time wandering about and looking at the different rides available, the beach, the fire pit, the souvenir store and that's about it.  We also stopped at an arcade area elsewhere, but there wasn't much to that either.  It was a pleasant walk.

Back in the day, this was the mandatory destination for many in this multi-county area.  We lined up our cars all the way back to Buford Highway, all those miles, just to get in and see the lights.  We packed marshmallows for the fire pits, got hot chocolate and went to see Santa.  There were shops, an ice skating rink, and a long path through the park that cars slowly moved through.  They were the same lights we saw every year, and the amount of us going to see got so much I guess that they started raising the price per car.  I remember it costing $60 per car at one point, which was just crazy when you consider nowadays you can go through certain neighborhoods and see nearly as many lights for absolutely free.  Back then, an equivalent destination was the Life Night of Lights down at Life Chiropractic College, just five dollars for a great light display that you could even park your car and walk around in.  Anyway, things got to be so pricy here that we were looking for other destinations for lights each year, and I think others made the same decision too.  Time went on, the park was purchased by someone else, and now here they are, attempting to resurrect the Magical Nights.  It's a work in progress, and again, I'm glad we went. We saw some of those classic light displays that we haven' seen in a while, so there was a lot of nostalgia there.  It was almost like the ride on the Pink Pig last year, where it's certainly nothing close to what it was, but at the same time you're glad you did it to revisit some classic memories.

Mom packed some delicious, delicious hot chocolate, and the weather was so warm that we could ride through with the windows down.  I remember walking along the sandy beach too, getting up close to that blue shark light display with the Santa hat on its head.  There are some fun light displays here, including a whole section dedicated to SpongeBob Squarepants.  Fun stuff!

We had our Christmas music playing as we rode through, hot chocolate in hand, and riding slowly through a winter wonderland of lights.  It was a nice night together - here are some pictures of our night at the Magical Night of Lights.  Maddie did this a long, long time ago, and again in 2013 - it was so long ago that she didn't remember it so much.  Glad we came back!

The rest of the day was quiet.  Just getting back, going to work and college - also recovering from this illness.  I'm on all kinds of medications lately.  Head pounding.  We read tonight before bed, reading from "Hogfather," and then saying our prayers.  It was a good day.