Gettin’ the Itch

Well, here it is November. It’s hard to believe we have been here in Dillard a little over 4 months. Of course, I feel like I lost about half of that time being grounded with my back issue. But now with my physical therapy ongoing, although cut back to twice a week now, we are trying to tie up some loose ends because we are getting the itch to get on the move. We are kicking around the idea of leaving here and going to the Pine Mountain, GA area to check out “Fantasy in Lights” at Callaway Gardens. “Fantasy in Lights” runs from November 19 thru December 30, 2010. Nestled amidst the wooded landscape of Callaway Gardens, Fantasy In Lights is the Southeast's most spectacular holiday light and sound show with more than eight million twinkling lights celebrating the holiday season.  This spectacular show has attracted almost two million visitors since it opened in 1992.  Now in its 19th year, Fantasy In Lights has become an essential holiday tradition for many families, as much as a part of the season as caroling or attending "The Nutcracker."

Now in its 19th year, Fantasy In Lights continues to be the most incredible holiday light show in the South they claim. Larger-than-life lighted scenes, music, a 22,000-square-foot Christmas Village, holiday decor and more make this one of those special experiences you'll always treasure.

1. Fantasy In Lights opened in 1992 with five scenes. Since then, it has grown to include more than a dozen lighted scenes with music and many with animation.
2. The total show includes 8,000,000 lights. This is equivalent to the number of lights on 26,666 standard 6-foot tall Christmas Trees.
3. To make music an integral part of each scene, speakers are used.
4. It takes a lot of electricity to keep the lights burning. To deliver that electricity they use 3,500 extension cords!
5. To provide sound and power to all the scenes, they use more than 32 miles of cable.
6. 12 million cable ties hold all the cables in place.
7. Three of the scenes are controlled with digital show controls, just like those used in Broadway productions.
8. If you connected all of the light strings used in Fantasy In Lights, they would stretch 731 miles! That means you could outline the state of South Carolina with them or stretch them from Callaway to Baltimore, Maryland!
9. It takes 3,900 man-hours to install Fantasy In Lights, 1,780 man-hours to maintain it during the duration the show is open, and 1,020 man-hours to disassemble it.
10. It takes six weeks to install the entire show. Each scene takes three to four days to install.
11. The newest scene, Enchanted Rainbow Forest, has 410 controlled images. This has almost three times the number of images used in The Twelve Days of Christmas.
12. 99% of the frames used in Fantasy In Lights are custom designed and built just for Callaway.
13. To turn on the show, more than 1,000 switches have to be flipped every night. It takes two workers at least 45 minutes to turn on all of them. Then, it takes another 45 minutes to turn all 1,000 switches off at the end of the night.
14. Each scene receives a major overhaul every three to four years. This process includes rewiring and restringing with new lights.
15. In January, Fantasy In Lights is stored in a 6,500-square-foot warehouse where it remains until the elves visit them again in the Fall to begin another year of the show!

You see why we want to hit this event? If you want more info click here "Fantasy in Lights"

Saturday we went to Waynesville, NC with the purpose of going to a Best Buy store to purchase a new 32” Sony Bravia LCD TV for the motorhome. We’ve been kicking around the idea for awhile now so we decided to get it while on sale. We already had the lumber cut to build a stand to fit over our steering wheel area and Barbie had already stained it. We just needed to assemble it. Well, wouldn’t you know the Best Buy  had no more but “the truck” was to arrive Thursday with 6 more. Of course that was of no use to us so Barbie suggested going next door and check out the WalMart. Wouldn’t you know they had the same tv for the same sale price as Best Buy. We bought it, assembled the stand Monday and were watching “Dancing With the Stars” on the new tv last evening. It is sweet for sure!

Finally, Jamie Avila and his paint crew were finally able to start re-staining our deck, shed and landscape timbers yesterday. He was to have started last week but the rain prevented them from starting. These fellas are efficient. They pressure washed everything first. Then they are sanding everything before applying the first coat. They will add a second coat as well. It looks great now and they haven’t put the second coat on yet. This crew has painted most of the cabins in Falls View and they do a great job. When they finish I’ll post photos.

‘Til next time…………………..