1940's Radio Christmas Carol

Maddie got another gift from Santa Buc-ee this morning, and when she dug into that wrapping paper, she discovered gold!

You've probably seen these bags before, the ones with little yellow nuggets of gum inside.  This one has a Buc-ee's logo on it, and Mom predicted it might be empty by the end of the day.  I'll have to check, but that might have been a safe assumption.  Maddie has been laboring on it since!

The reason Santa Buc-ee got that for Maddie might have had to do with our destination tonight:  Dahlonega.  We picked up Nate and went to Dahlonega for a show together.  Knowing how much they decorate the town, we got there early enough to walk around, see the lights, and even do some shopping!

We walked into one little place not far from the Hollly Theater and it was a cluttered sort of place, but they had hot apple cider with spices in it, and I was all on board for that.  We were amazed at the interior collection.  Nate bought a comic book, and can you believe that Mom actually picked up another nutcracker for our collection?

You can just make out that nutcracker at the bottom.  As for the hot cider, it was splendid.  It was really good, the perfect thing for a chilly night.  We left there and just walked around the square for a bit, as we had plenty of time before the show.

Ah, you might not recognize where this tree is, so I'll tell you it's inside the Crown and Bear, an English import shop on an upper floor.  We go there to pick up some treats for Mom, specifically Crunchie bars.  But we also got some Christmas pudding for Christmas Day, and it actually has sixpence inside it!  So yes, instant rebate!  Seriously, this is a tradition from across the pond - I believe whenever the portions are given out, whoever gets the sixpence receives a portion of good luck for the new year.  That sounds like fun!

We made our way around the shop, looking around for a few things here or there, but of course the sweets were what it's all about.  I got Mom some Crunchie Bars and a chocolate orange as well!  

Ah, here's a place we always go to as well, the Dahlonega General Store.  This place is pretty fun, but on this night, I'm not entirely sure you could fit that many other people into this one small area.  It was absolutely packed.  One fun moment was listening to that self-playing piano do "All I Want for Christmas is You."

Our last stop after all that was over at the Fudge Factory, where there was yet another huge line.  Busy Saturday night, the last one before Christmas!  We got ourselves all kinds of fudge for Christmas Day for when the family comes over.  We got all kinds of good stuff to make the day nice and sweet!  

After that, it was time for our appointment at the Holly Theater.  Here's the view of the alleyway we always take from our parking spot behind the theater, this amazing little path upwards to the main road and the entrance to the theater.  

We were here to see an "radio drama" of "A Christmas Carol," performed as it was back in 1943, one hundred years after the release of the famous novel.  The performance itself of course was more than just the audio version of the story - there were behind-the-scenes jokes and storylines going on, and a hilarious bit at the end where the sudden disappearance of an actor leads everyone to do a whole lot of crazy improvisation.

And we had front row seats for this too!  The theater would be packed tonight, every seat filled, and here we are early on in the very front row, dead center.  Pretty amazing seats - we got these over a month ago, and thought it would be a fun idea.

It was a great performance, lots of fun!  We all enjoyed it, but it was a late Saturday night, and we had to get going because church comes early in the morning.  We did one last drive-through around the square, and then went home after that, dropping Nate off and then getting ready for bed.  It was a fun night!