For the past couple of years, our family, my parents, and my sister’s families have gone to the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum’s Vintage Village of Lights.
This post is a recap from the very first time we went. We love going and already plan another trip!
________________________
We weren’t sure what to expect, and while I knew I wanted to go (especially given the fun writing I’ve been doing with the city’s Museum programs) it was nice that some of my other family members wanted to join us.
Cumberland is only a few short minutes East of Orleans and the evening we decided to go was possibly the best weather we could have hoped for. It was mild with fresh snow on the ground.
Here’s the short version: We all loved it. Every family member had such a good time and we all agreed it’s easy to make this a yearly event.
Here’s the details:
The event runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning in November and ends December 21 this year (so you have this weekend to get there!).
There are many different areas around the village that are set up for the kids – different stations if you will, such as:
cookie decorating
Visiting Santa
Craft time in Santa’s workshop
Mini hockey/broomball area
Snow globe making
Horse-drawn carriage ride
That’s not even everything! That’s mostly what we ended up doing. There was also a bonfire with marshmallow roasting. All of this was included in our ticket admission (which, for a family of 4, is $18!)
In addition, for $1.50 more each, we bought a hot chocolate to warm our bellies, although watching the kids and our laughter was already warming our hearts.
We laughed on the guided horse-drawn carriage ride at the punny jokes the host was telling (and that my son very much appreciated), and we giggled while trying to play broom ball against each other. We wondered the grounds, in awe of the lights and realized how lucky we are to be together. It was a good, old-fashioned time.
A few notes to consider:
Admission for 4 is $18, but a year-long membership is $35. We only have to return once to make it worth while (and that’s easy!) so we bought the membership.
Parking can be an issue. We went on a Friday just after 5:30 and beat the rush, so we have easy parking. On a busier night, it sounded like it was harder to get parking, or it was street parking which can be dark. It sounds like the Museum is aware of this concern, but just keep it in mind if you have little ones.
Bring a couple dollars for the hot chocolate. They have ice cubes to cool it down for the little ones and cute straws for the kids to use!
When you buy your tickets at the entrance, there is a map that explains where everything is located. You want the map.
Visit the website for details on this year’s event.
Have fun!
