There is good reason that McAdenville, NC is known as Christmastown, USA. McAdenville is a tiny mill town in Gaston County celebrated for its annual display of Christmas lights. On a recent trip there, my daughter Rebecca and I found that the best part of a visit to McAdenville is not the display of colorful lights (even though they’re plenty impressive) but of Christmas spirit! We joined the line of cars winding through the town, past houses decked out for the holidays as homeowners waved from their front porches and played carols. Church bells rang and kids in passing cars shouted “Merry Christmas!” as we drove by, adding to the general feeling of good will.

From McAdenville, Rebecca and I headed to the small college town of Davidson in Mecklenburg County for supper. Davidson’s main street looked like a Hallmark picture of a small town at Christmastime. To perfectly top off the Norman Rockwell ambiance of our day, we looked up from a delicious dinner at Toast to see the town fire truck coming down Main Street with Santa aboard waving to one and all, leaving us to conclude that this slice of the piedmont knows how to do Christmas up right!

Notice that I came prepared for all this Christmas festivity, wearing flashing Christmas tree light earrings for our journey to Christmastown.

December 18, 2014, Counties #22 and 23 – Gaston and Mecklenburg