Enjoy Small Towns at Christmastime

With a recent breakthrough on my PhD dissertation, I found myself with a desire to write again in my blog. After a stress-filled hiatus from writing here, I thought what topic do I write on? The topic came from a weekend getaway my wife and I did last week. We traveled for an overnight stay in Georgetown, Texas for their Christmas Stroll event. I have noticed here in Texas, many small towns have what they call the Christmas stroll where the downtown is decorated for Christmas and the townsfolk come out and enjoy the decorations and shop at the stores.

We arrived in Georgetown early on the Friday of the stroll and received a guided tour of the town library. The lady who gave us the tour, Teresa, is the person a month prior on another visit told us we had to come see the Georgetown square and the Christmas stroll was a must do experience. She is a volunteer at the Georgetown library and told us all about the National Medal for Museum and Library Service award the library won in 2018. She is probably their biggest cheerleader. Teresa exuded with passion for the library and for the city of Georgetown. The city has a beautiful library and I was glad to see all they are doing to promote reading to children and teens. The picture above this paragraph is a statue that someone had donated to the library.

Later that evening we enjoyed the Christmas stroll. The lights around the square were breathtaking. There was a festival atmosphere with a variety of booths with art and knick-knacks for sale. Of course there was a variety of foods available as well. A local church sponsored a Bethlehem section with displays set up and a live nativity scene that was captivating. A church member said they had done the Bethlehem scene at the Christmas stroll for about 13 years. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening with just the right amount of chill in the air for a Texas Hill Country Wintry evening.

During the time on the town square we bumped into Teresa again so we strolled around together and she gave us insights into the history of the city. I later reflected to myself that if we had not met Teresa a month prior my wife and I would not be enjoying their beautiful town square event. I took this as a Godwink.

We stayed at the Olive Tree Inn there in Georgetown right across from Southwestern Texas University. It is a Bed & Breakfast of a rehabbed house that was built in the early 1900’s. The ladies that are the hostesses, Sandra and Eleanor, are so friendly and provide a gourmet home-style breakfast in the morning.

Sometimes with the stress of work and life you just need to get-away for even an overnight stay. I learned that during the holidays it adds joy to life to visit and experience small town America and join in with their holiday traditions.

Reflection: Is there a small town near you that you would enjoy to visit? Don’t put it off. Make time to go on a short enjoyable get-away.