You know how almost every town has that one house that really goes all out with Christmas decorations?  Like neighborhood attraction, picture-in-the-paper all out?  Well, the one on the Outer Banks is like that times a thousand.  Everyone calls it the Christmas House, and apparently it made big-time news a while ago and Al Roker came down and everything!

Penny’s been telling me about it for weeks, so last night, she and Nicole and I finally went!  And lemme tell ya – it was like a festive explosion.

Not only is the entire house adorned with lights and decorations, but the yard, driveway, and even the little beach house are all lit up, too.

And yes, that’s a glowing menorah and the word “SHALOM” in Christmas lights above.  The Christmas House was very politically correct.

The Christmas House family was super sweet – they invite anyone to come walk around their yard and see all the decorations and take as many pictures as they like – they even stood right at the entrance handing out candy canes and offering to take photos!

Penny’s definitely vibing Oprah in this picture.  So regal.

One of the nicest things about the Christmas House was that even though it was obviously over the top in terms of normal holiday decorations, it really wasn’t tacky.  It was fun and festive, and some of the decorations were silly (like the Mickey and Minnie nativity scene), but everything was spread out and well-organized – it wasn’t like a bunch of random Christmas stuff just slapped up wherever.

Despite all the tasteful light displays and fun characters, one of my favorite decorations was this big ol’ bunch of tangled lights next to the entrance:

I think they just took all of their leftover light strands and threw them in an old hardware bucket, but it looked so glowy and cool!

There was even a screen and projector playing the Yule Log video on the way out – they really thought of everything.  Visiting the Christmas House was a huge dose of holiday spirit!  I can’t believe there are only nine days left until Christmas… and with that, I’d better get wrapping!