Wrapping up socially distant 2020 with drive-through Trail of Lights
What is Austin’s 56th annual Trail of Lights without the people? Without the experience of walking among brilliantly illuminated trees with throngs of other Austinites, some boosting little kids up on their shoulders, some wearing Santa hats, some stopping to take selfies, all chattering and laughing?
Let’s just say that a covid-safe, drive-through Trail of Lights is better than no Trail of Lights, but still, it’s a solitary, disconnected experience compared to years past.
I bought tickets a couple weeks before Christmas, and by then nearly all the time slots were sold out. So I signed us up for New Year’s Eve at 9:45 pm, and last night we zipped downtown on a nearly empty MoPac, arriving 20 minutes early. No other cars were queued up, and we were directed straight into the park.
Tuning our radio to the Trail of Lights station, we hummed along with Christmas tunes and listened to elves talking about something or other as we crawled along at a walking pace.
The pecan trees were beautifully lit, each branch picked out with thousands of glowing white or colored lights.
Beneath the trees, sponsor displays alternated with weird and beloved Austin decorations, like this jacklope ridden by a cowboy Santa.
A rendering of Austin’s Pennybacker Bridge
This is one of my favorite trees in Austin, all the more beautiful lit up in raspberry lights.
Ooh, this blue-purple one is good too.
Honestly, the trees are the best feature of the Trail of Lights every year.
But in the tradition of Keeping Austin Weird, check out these surreal Greek god and rearing horse sculptures, because…Christmas?
And what’s Austin without bats?
A traditional manger scene keeps all the bases covered.
A rainbow arches between two “raining” clouds, with flashing lights standing in for flowing water.
Another magenta tree. I LOVE it.
Trees with leafy canopies were lit with wrap-around lights.
Ah, the dinosaur tree — perhaps my favorite of all in its striped white and green, with hanging balls of lights and a reclining brontosaurus.
Driving out through the glowing arch, we agreed that it was fun. But festive? A lot less so without the people.
Even the Zilker Tree was just a distant vision along the road, inaccessible this year for would-be spinners. I miss you, Austin. I miss you, World. I hope we can be together again soon in this new year.
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Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!
All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
You are right the trees are the best part. How beautiful they are with their silhouettes drawn in lights.
Hopefully the vaccines will bring back Austin, and everywhere else, very soon. Happy 2021, Pam.
Happy New Year to you too, HB!
Some of the combinations are weird but I like the tree lights. I passed on my local botanic garden’s light exhibit because my husband and I were uncomfortable walking through it at night with lots of strangers. Your drive-though would have been a more appealing alternative.
Best wishes for the new year, Pam!
Yep, drive-through is safe and easy. I look forward, though, to mingling with other people again next time. Surely we’ll all be vaccinated by then…right?
It is a beautiful sight. Hopefully next year will be a more normal.
I sure hope so, Lisa. Happy New Year!
Sooo beautiful! It reminds me of what we saw last year at a regional GardenComm meeting at Newfields in Indianapolis. Those trees!! I can’t imagine the effort and hours that took!
Right? And then they must take it all down.
Thank you, thank you so much for these pictures. Some years ago we were stationed there. I loved Austin so much we made it home for as long as we could. I remember walking through it was wonderful. Twirling under the tree was such fun. Austin is so unique. Bats made of lights “flying” around. This was truly a Christmas present. Love everything you do.
Daisy, thank you for sharing your memories of Austin, and for your very kind comment. Happy New Year to you!
What happened to the man from the Pacific Northwest who had such an interesting blog for so many years? He went to your annual bloggers’ fling. I think he was a teacher and to his posts he added extras, like songs. I think he was the ‘outlaw gardener’ or something similar. I miss his blogs, especially his winter holiday ones.
You’re talking about Peter of The Outlaw Gardener. He still has his blog, but it hasn’t been updated in a while. In his most recent post (http://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2019/04/what-next.html), he mentioned that he was dealing with a serious health issue, but recovering well. I miss his posts too.
Thank you for the update. What a surprise! My email box just had something from him about the new Fearless gardening book. Looking forward to more posts from him – and from you too! Thank you for being out and about in the world.
Terrific! And I’m happy to share the little bit of out-and-abouting I’m able to do currently. 😉