Despite the irregularity of this holiday season thanks to COVID-19, we’re still trying to capture the Christmas magic as much as possible for Miles. Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities in Charlotte to celebrate the season while still maintaining social distant (so, in a lot of ways, it’s better than a regular holiday season).
Tonight we drove up to the north side of town to see the light display at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Our friends Mike, Carole, and Nolan met us beforehand to say hello before embarking on our small caravan.
We had heard tales of the lengthy wait to get into the speedway for the light show, and the signs going in warned of 3+ hour lines. And yeah, it took a little while to finally get in (about an hour and a half after arriving just after the 6:00 opening time), but it’s hard to deny that the wait was worth it.
The light displays, all synced up to holiday music, wound through the entire race track. In the center, visitors had the option of pulling into a parking lot and watching a drive-in movie (this weekend’s being National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation). Without stopping, the display still took close to twenty-five minutes to drive through (and that isn’t even counting the drive out, which included MORE dancing lights).
More than just igniting the spirit of the season in Miles, we all left happy and feeling festive, although Miles’s favorite part was probably the bag of Doritos I bought him on the way in.
(My favorite part? Swerving the car onto the race track’s bank a couple times, to which Jaclyn said, “Brian! Stop!” My reply, “No way! When are we going to be here again?”)
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 