12/20/2011 Hidalgo Lights

This evening we went to the little city of Hidalgo to take in their three million plus Christmas lights.

Hidalgo is a town that has been known by numerous names through the years. Modern day Hidalgo was first settled by Spanish colonists led by José de Escandón in about 1749. The colony was known by multiple names: La Habitación, Rancho San Luís, and San Luisito. In 1852, John Young settled in the area and renamed the town Edinburgh after his place of birth, Edinburgh, Scotland. The town was incorporated in 1876, and its name was changed to Hidalgo in 1885. Enough history!

This is a trip that was supposed to be taken by us and Don & LaVon in a horse drawn carriage after we enjoyed dinner in one of their favorite restaurants. LaVon is now in Georgia with her mother who isn’t feeling up to par.

I threw this idea out to Toni & Eddie and Chip & Bunky and we decided to go. Are we ever glad we did.

On the way be felt like we were in the movie “The Birds”.

We arrived in Hidalgo at six and went straight to the ticket booth to purchase our trolley tickets. Horse drawn carriages only sat four so that wouldn’t work for us. There was also a horse drawn trolley but we didn’t see that when we got there so it could have already been out on the road.

So here is what we saw. These pictures were taken on the grounds in front of the town hall, the town square if you will.

The 21st celebration of the “Festival of Lights”

The school’s teams and mascot are the Killer Bees.

Standing in line waiting for the trolley we were entertained by Willie’s Washboard Jamboree.

The pictures from here on out may be a tiny bit blurry because the trolley was moving.

I was very happy to see one of their sponsors in lights!

The trolley ride was almost four miles long through the town.

These following displays are done in rope lights.

This is one of my favorites.

The trolley ride came to end and we walked through the town square to see what we missed earlier.

We found someone to take a picture of this group that have become good friends!

After we had seen all the sights and lights we decided it was time to get some dessert. We ended up at Mimi’s and we ate too much too late at night. That was a lesson learned.

An enjoyable evening to be sure!