Skip to main content

Tuesday Travels: Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point

Photo: Trees covered in white lights line the wide paved path leading to the entrance building to Luminaria

As the #LightTheWorld initiative begins on December 1st, I thought it appropriate to review a Christmas lights display for today's Tuesday Travels post.

Lights and Christmas go hand-in-hand. Every year when the kids were young, we would pile them in the car and drive to see the lights. It must have made an impression on them, because last year, our youngest son recommended we visit Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah: "You'll really enjoy it, Mom." 

Not only did I enjoy it; I knew I would return this year early in the season, so I could share the experience with you. If you find yourself in Utah at Christmastime, put Luminaria on your must-see list!

Luminaria is not a drive-through event; you will park your car, walk through the ticketing building (I recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time online), then stroll along a mile of trails through Ashton Gardens. Remember, you will be walking outside at night in Utah, so dress warmly.

Photo: This particular part of the trail is lighted by tiny, projected lights

The path takes you to various themed areas, each with different background music (and even scent!) From Candy Cane Lane to the Light of the World garden and beyond,  you will be awed at the attention to detail. 

Photo: A sign reads "Glowtanical Garden" amid a bed a lighted shrubs

Photo: A statue of a girl getting ready to dip her foot into a stream. The stream is lighted up with tiny blue lights. Behind the girl, many lighted Christmas trees stand.
Photo: A life-size Nativity scene
Throughout the walk, you will find the occasional refreshment stand, and fire pits. Additionally, two of Santa's famous reindeer, Prancer and Dancer, were in attendance last night. 

Luminaria is truly a delight for all ages, and visiting it has become (in our second year of attendance) a family tradition for John and me. 


I'm thankful for Christmas lights, and for Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. 

 Do you like to see Christmas light displays? What are your favorites?

Comments

  1. Tired TeacherNovember 28, 2018 at 8:37 AM

    Beautiful displays! I've gone to the Denver Zoo on two occasions for their light displays - one night it was bitter cold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiNovember 29, 2018 at 2:04 PM

      When we went to Luminaria last year, the wind was blowing and we weren't prepared for just how cold it was. Fortunately, this year was much more comfortable.

      Delete
  2. MarissaNovember 28, 2018 at 10:21 AM

    Amazing!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...
4 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...
5 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...
3 comments
Read more