In my younger years, there was something magical about the city on the other side of the Ohio River that captivated me. I would always beg my parents to go the mall that was quite smaller than the Huntington Mall (it's actually the biggest in the state) and became almost as excited for their annual Christmas lights display as I did on Christmas Eve. I took dates here constantly even though almost everything in the city existed in a bigger and better form in Huntington. After years of trying to figure it out, Jessica explained it perfectly within 3 minutes of meeting her, "It's much more of a pedestrian town. It has a lot of old world charm to it.."
Suddenly the one main street with its tall looming buildings and classic architecture in places lined up perfectly with why I drove the 35 minutes there nearly once a week. It was like a step back in time, only with all the conveniences of modernity.
Jessica's family all live in the city, as do most of her friends and the friends we've made as a couple, so it just makes sense to be there now. Her dad being a gourd artist with a studio in the Pendleton Art Gallery gives us a glorious reason to travel up the first Friday of every month and bump elbows with the artistic elite of the city. This past Friday, December 3rd, happened to also be the date of their Christmas On Main Street event.
Winchester Avenue was shut down for several blocks for the festivities. There was a car show and parked directly in the middle of the street was the prized antique fire truck that the fire department shows off at every opportunity. There were children dressed in nativity outfits wishing merriment to those passing. Christmas lights adorned every street light and blended with the traffic lights for a hazy tapestry of holiday cheer (not to mention a nightmare to figure out where the red lights happened to be at). A giant inflatable television was showing It's a Wonderful Life on one corner, complete with outdoor heaters covering the space.
Jessica and I were dressed for a Christmas sweater party that was happening after we got back into Huntington, making us look all the more festive. In addition to the cardigans and scarves, at Jessica's request, we both wore a hippopotamus head that we found at Goodwill a long while ago. She wore her's for the warmth of it and I wore mine because she asked me to. We spent the majority of the evening in a get up such as...
The look in my eye here make my feeling about this headpiece known without saying a word, so it shall be left at that.
We walked towards the Pendleton and walked past It's a Wonderful Life just as the time to hear the line "Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?" which makes for my favorite line in the film. Continuing, we ran into a 7 year old shepherd boy who seemed quite terrified of our headwear, especially mine. He muttered a quick 'merry christmas' and quickly ran along as if afraid of the massive plush jaws and badly positioned teeth that surrounded my face.
Inside the art gallery, there was all sorts of bustling about and a bell choir was setting up for a performance. We made our rounds with Jessica's father to say hi to everyone and then walked across the street to the Camayo Arcade to watch the holiday dog show. There were all sorts of dogs, all wearing outfits they didn't want to be in, while occassionally barking strangely in-tune with the carolers that were positioned near by.
While walking back through the arcade we were stopped by a group of older citizens, ones who seemed far too interested in Jessica's red and black stiletto-heels. A man of massive stature with the hair of Kevin Smith took a picture of them. Jessica was handed a box of chocolates and a plush reindeer and was then told she was being awarded BEST CHRISTMAS BOOTS by the Ashland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. I was especially proud of her due to the fact none of us had any idea any such contest was going on; she just has fashion that is that snazzy.
Following this, Jessica and I had dinner with our friends Dan and Bryanna and then attended the sweater party with them as well. The party was a bummer, mainly due to the host not liking anything about Christmas despite the fact of throwing a Christmas party. Dan told me a great story about a friend of his bringing him back a bottle of snake wine (please refer to this glorious article to realize why this story is so great) from Asia, a bottle which, according to him, "tasted like highly alcoholic dirt." The bottle still sets in his freezer, so I'm told, which means I am going to be checking this thing out first chance I get.
We came home that night and put on some Christmas music to make up for the lack of it at the Christmas party. It's nights as such that undoubtedly make it the most wonderful time of the year.
