From the Inside Out

As a child, one of the things I loved about the Christmas season was hopping in the car with my parents and touring through the local neighborhoods to look at the Christmas decorations. My father never decorated our house (he always gave us some excuse about the lights using too much electricity), but he did take us to look at the lights put on display by others. We’d roam around for a few hours listening to Christmas carols and appreciating the creativity (and sometimes poor taste) of those who adorned their houses with lights and other seasonal items. I didn’t realize it at the time, but we were creating memories and a tradition that would follow me into adulthood.

I still enjoy Christmas Light displays, even the tacky ones. Most of all, I like the new displays that are completely choreographed to music. There’s one in Plano not far from our house, and it’s hilarious. Gary and I go there at least once during the holiday season, turn off the car, crank the radio to the proper channel, and watch the wild light show. Hey, don’t judge — it’s festive, free and fun!

We’ll be touring through Deerfield to look at the lights this weekend with a small group from our church. Deerfield offers offer a neat horse-drawn carriage ride that’s even better when you mix it with friends and kids. If you haven’t done it yet, I highly recommend it. Bring a few blankets if it’s cold.

If you’re wondering where to go to view some good holiday light displays in the Dallas area, check out these recommendations from Guidelive.com:

• CHRISTMAS IN THE SQUARE. An elaborate nightly light display featuring reindeer, stars and more brightens the area around Frisco’s City Hall Plaza. It blinks along to holiday music that you can tune in to on your car radio. There’ll also be family-friendly activities Dec. 12-13 and Dec. 19- 20, including carriage rides, a trackless train ride, photos with Santa and a train display. The light display continues nightly from 5:30 to 10 through Jan. 1.
• DEERFIELD. This is traditionally one of Collin County’s biggest neighborhood displays. Expect to see Santas and sleighs, cheerful snowmen, Nativity scenes and just about every other type of holiday decoration you could imagine brightening yards throughout. The Plano neighborhood covers a large area north of Legacy Drive between Preston and Coit roads.
• HIGHLAND PARK. Homes are decked out with bright lights and festive lawn displays. Drive through or book a horse-drawn carriage tour departing from Highland Park Village or the Shops of Highland Park. Neighborhood displays are in the area south of Preston and Mockingbird.
• INTERLOCHEN. This Arlington neighborhood features winding streets with fountains and ponds – and tons of lights. The display runs Dec. 13 through 25, nightly from dusk to 11:30 p.m. The Arlington neighborhood is between Interstate 30 and West Division Street, off West Randol Mill Road. Motorists should enter the neighborhood from Randol Mill at Westwood Drive.
• PRAIRIE LIGHTS. Grand Prairie’s annual drive-through light display features more than 3 million twinkling lights in scenic displays, which are set along a 2-mile winding road. Also, check out activities such as carousel rides, a gift shop, food vendors and photos with Santa at the Holiday Village area. Hours are Fridays, Saturdays, Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31 from 6 to 10 p.m.; Sundays through Thursdays 6 to 9 p.m. Lynn Creek Park on Joe Pool Lake, 5700 Lake Ridge Parkway, Grand Prairie.
• TOUR OF LIGHTS. Follow the candy cane signs through a display featuring more than 300,000 lights in Farmers Branch. Tour of Lights: Continues nightly through Dec. 31 and starts at Interstate 35 East and Valley View.

During the month of October we meet up with our friends and begin an annual pilgrimage to the local haunted houses. We kicked-off the fun this year with a visit to the haunts of Ft. Worth. These are without a doubt the best — and most consistently scary — haunted houses that we’ve found in the DFW area.

Hangman’s House of Horrors

Celebrating its 20th year, Hangman’s is the top charity-benefiting haunted house in the nation. To date, the house has entertained 484,000 victims and donated over $1.5 million to local charities. It’s a little pricey, but well worth the cost of admission. The main house takes about 30-45 minutes to traverse. It offers a variety of rooms, scares, twists, turns, and complicated mazes. There are three other attractions at Hangman’s — The Beast, Hillbilly Cafe, and 3-D funhouse. None of the attractions are worth the individual ticket prices, but if you get the combo ticket for $20, it’s a good deal.

One of the cool things they are doing this year is “flashlight night”. On Saturday, Nov. 1, you can travel through Hangman’s in complete darkness, armed with only one small flashlight per group. Yeah, really creeepy — and fun!

Hangman’s sets the right mood outside its haunted houses. There are live bands, karaoke, midway rides, concessions and more. If you want to visit a scary house with a fun environment, then this is the place for you.

Rating: A

Cutting Edge

The Cutting Edge was voted one of “America’s Best Haunted Attractions” and ranks #5 in the nation of “The 13 Best Haunts for Halloween.” The awards are well-deserved. It is THE BEST haunted house I’ve ever visited — and trust me, I’ve been through lots of them. Visit their website, and read the reviews. They are all true. The attention to detail, high quality special effects and scare factor are beyond compare.

Cutting Edge claims to be the world’s largest haunted house. It is located in a 235,000 square foot warehouse built in 1908. It was formerly a meat packing plant, and they make good use of the facility. From the minute you walk into the haunted house, all your senses are accosted. The hallways are dark, the noises (and cutting edge music) are extremely loud, and you never know when someone is going to jump out at you. Like Hangman’s, this haunted house offers a variety of well crafted rooms that are complete with twists, turns and mazes. They also offer a Cutting Edge version of the Blue Man group that plays extremely loud, but cool, percussion instruments. In the middle of the house is an attraction called “the pit”. It’s an extremely complex maze that’s pitch dark and impossible to escape. You are given a small glow stick before you enter and are instructed to find a door called “I want to live” before time runs out. I don’t think anyone ever finds it, but it’s fun anyway.

The only part of the haunted house that I don’t enjoy is the last room. It’s filled from top to bottom with bubbles (or soap suds). You can’t see anything except a huge wall of suds. You get completely wet, it’s unnerving, it’s claustrophobic, and you inhale the bubbles as you try to create a path through them. I did it once and will NEVER do it again. That’s not the kind of scare I’m looking for. Fortunately, they now give you an escape option before you get to the room.

Cutting Edge is expensive. Tickets are 26.50 (plus tax) per person, but you do get your money’s worth with this attraction. It takes more than an hour to tour the house, and you will get scared.

Another thing that’s scary is the line. This is a very popular haunted house, so it draws big crowds. We opted for the “speed pass” ticket. It’s $10 more than the standard ticket, but it allows you to go to the front of the line — no waiting!

If you can only visit one haunted house this year, this should be it.

Rating: A+

Foreclosures hit another record high in August. According to CNN Money, 304,000 homes were in default and 91,000 families lost their houses. More than 770,000 homes have been repossessed by lenders since August 2007, when the credit crunch took hold. The numbers are staggering. While the worst hit area has been California, no state is immune to the crisis.

If you’ve ever wondered how widespread the problem is in North Texas, the Dallas Morning News recently launched an interactive foreclosures map. It lets you view the foreclosures that have occurred this year in your neighborhood. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/graphics/0908/foreclosures/.

On a brighter note, here’s a different map that provides hours and hours of fun. It tests how well you know your geography, so not only is it fun, it’s educational. The Traveler IQ Challenge lists certain locations across the world, and you have to find that location on a map. The faster the better because part of your score is based on how quickly you can pinpoint the location.

Check it out, but I warn you, it’s addictive: http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

The City of Dallas is participating in this year’s Free Night of Theater program which campaigns to attract new audiences to live theatrical performances — absolutely free of charge.

Dallas is one of 120 communities across the country participating in this event from Thursday, October 16 through November 10, 2008. More than 3,000 free tickets to more than 26 Dallas-area theaters will be up for grabs starting at noon on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. Mark your calendar now because tickets will be passed out on a first, come first serve basis.

Tickets can only be reserved online. Each participating theater will set a reservation ticket limit for their productions. Once tickets have been reserved through the website, patrons will be able to pick up their tickets at the will-call window of the individual theater’s box office on the night of the show.

Participating Theaters in the Dallas Area are:

• African American Repertory Theater
• The MET Theatre
• Charles W. Eisemann Center
• One Thirty Productions
• The Company of Rowlett Performers
• Pocket Sandwich Theatre
• Contemporary Theatre of Dallas
• Repertory Company Theatre
• Dallas Children’s Theater
• Shakespeare Dallas
• Dallas Hub Theater
• Teatro Dallas
• Dallas Theater Center
• TeCo Theatrical Productions
• Echo Theatre
• The Black Academy of Arts and Letters
• Garland Civic Theatre
• Theatre Britain
• ICT MainStage
• Theatre Three
• Jubilee Theatre
• Uptown Players
• Lyric Stage
• WaterTower Theatre
• MBS Productions
• WingSpan Theatre Company

If you love the theater, this is your chance to check out a new show at no cost. In fact, the organizers encourage participants to go to a theater they’ve never visited before.

If you aren’t a patron of the arts, then this is a good time for you to give it a shot. At this price, there’s nothing to lose and you just might find a theater you like.

For those “foodies” out there, it’s time to rejoice because this week is Restaurant Week in Dallas. What’s Restaurant Week? It’s a week when over 100 restaurants will offer three-course meals for the fixed price of $35. The meal includes an appetizer, entree and dessert. Since many of the participating restaurants are four- and five-star rated, this is a steal. Don’t feel bad for taking advantage of these fine restaurants, though, because it’s all to raise funds for local charities. A portion of the price will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home.

Restaurant Week begins on August 11 and runs through August 17, but some restaurants are extending the offer through August 31. Reservations and required, and availability is limited. When calling, you need to request a Restaurant Week reservation.

For more information and to view a list of participating restaurants, click here.