Today Veronica and I spent a quiet enjoyable Christmas together.
Amongst other things, i gave Veronica one of those new Kindle readers that have built in Wi Fi. Based on what I have read, those Kindles seem to be a very popular gift. I also gave her a gift certificate so that she can get some books to download onto her new Kindle. I also gave her a Starbucks gift certificate.
Amongst many other things, I received 2 Blue Willis pullover sweaters from their Classic Collection. These are the best pullover sweaters that I have ever had...beautiful. I also got a Blue Willis ball cap.
The sweaters will come in handy when we go to Las Vegas in February and I know that the Kindle that Veronica received will get plenty of action throughout the course of our travels.
A couple of nights ago, Veronica took me to a house and property that was decorated to the max for the Holidays.
She told me that one family decorates this house every year and each year it gets bigger and better. From what she said, the man is known as Mr. Christmas to the locals.
Actually the family's real name is Jim and Ann Poulos.
In 2008, there was a newspaper article written in the Virginian Pilot about the Poulos house and its decorations.
According to this article, back in 2005, the Poulos residence along with its 200,000 lights and over 40 displays garnered national attention when it was spotlighted on NBC's "Today Show" in 2005, with Al Roker on site.
In 2006, this residence gained even more attention when it was on HGTV's "Over the Top Holiday" program. To read more from the Virginia Pilot article please click here...VP Article.
Additional information about Jim and Ann Poulos' decorated residence and some background history, can be found on these 2 sites.. Outer Banks Real Estate Blog and
Village Realty Outer Banks Blog
Veronica and I decided to go to this house around 6:15 or so because we knew that the later it got, the busier this place was going to get.
It really was amazing how much love and work went into putting all of the displays and lights up.
There was something to see everywhere on this property and across the street from the property. They even had the house windows and the inside of the house decorated.
They had one of those portable fire pits burning away so they could stay warm while the owners could stay warm and keep track of all of the people coming and going. They had warm drinks, a really cool sign in cart and a place for Santa to meet and greet the little ones.
There was quite the festive atmosphere to this place with holiday music playing in the background.
I took quite a number of photos and a few videos too. What I took does not really do this residence justice especially after all of the man hours, cost and love that was put into this beautiful setting, put together as Poulos gift to the Outer Banks.
This is the hut where Santa greet the small children and even some big children
The Poulos even had additional trees decorated inside of their house and they weren't just the ones in the windows either
This is the cart where visitors could sign in a book
Here is a bundled up Veronica next to an old Ford Pickup truck.
This is kind of cool. The image is sent to a movie type of screen from a projector and sounds of an actual crackling wood fire can be heard. not sure if you will be able to actually hear it or not but hopefully you can.
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