A MAGICAL NIGHT AT THE CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL

My mom, brother, and I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival that was held in Cary, N.C. this year. The holiday season has been busy with work stuff and preparing for Christmas. By the time I was down my Blogmas list, I noticed I didn't take some time to highlight my experience at the festival. 

As soon as we walked down a path lit by lanterns, we were greeted by a giant animatronic peacock that fluffed out his feathers. It was so pretty, and it really drew the crowd, so it was tough to get a good picture.

We ended up circling back at the end of the night to get a photo of my mom with it. At that point, most of the crowd had moved on to other things in the Booth Amphitheater, where the event was being held. 

We were already seeing a ton of traditional Chinese imagery, including dragons, cherry blossoms, and more. At this point, I had realized it was much colder than I anticipated. Luckily, they had a concession stand selling various snacks, some Chinese-inspired, as well as hot drinks.

We all grabbed a hot chocolate and sat to watch some of the entertainment happening on the main stage. They had a quick change artist performing.

I think my favorite light display were these two swan lovebirds. I wished that Jonathan was able to make it, because it would have made such a cute picture, but I made it work with my little heart arms.

This was a popular stop for couples, for sure. But it was far from the grandest piece they had on display. After walking around a bit, we viewed several light installations that represented the Chinese birth year animals. I am a rooster, my brother is a sheep, and my mom is a dog. I remember seeing these birth years listed on a placemat at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. Weird, I know. But I only really like Panda Express, and that's the extent of Chinese food I like.

After viewing the birth year displays, we came upon a giant dragon resting on the water. It was really long, so the picture doesn't do it very much justice. It also spat water, which was so cool. 

At the end of it all, we snapped this family picture before heading home. It was a bit of a drive from Mooresville, N.C., but it was well worth it to see some unique, new lights. We tend to go to Tanglewood a lot, but after a while, you are used to seeing the same things. This was such a fun way to spend the evening, and I'd recommend it to anyone for a fun evening trip in North Carolina.  We really enjoyed it, and it was a great way to get out of the house and spend some time together to get us in the Christmas spirit. 

Just a few important notes: there is a bag policy. It has to be clear or the size of your hand. You also can purchase tickets online. If you're a parent and want to go ahead and make it an early night, you can do their Twilight experience, which starts just as the sun starts to go down.

For tickets and more information, you can visit the website here: ​https://www.boothamphitheatre.com/events-tickets/events/chinese-lantern-festivalwww.boothamphitheatre.com/events-tickets/events/chinese-lantern-festival