Ahhh, if only Petula Clark could have seen Boothbay Harbor when she sang "Downtown." And, this time of the year, the lights really are much brighter there, er, here!

Driving around to see holiday nights downtown and through our neighborhoods was always a family Christmas ritual when my daughters were young. I still go solo - hey, it only happens once a year, right?

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens takes holiday lighting to cosmic heights each year drawing thousands of visitors to our region. Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper readers no doubt saw ace photographer Steve Edward's photos of CMBG's awe-inspiring display for 2025. Many of us attended the special "residents only" night at the beginning of the season. Kind of like being in a real life version of "Fantasia," no? 

Meanwhile, heading into town, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce staff have been coloring with electric lights and the result is delightful as well as unified. There are deer in this garden scene. Who isn't used to deer in their gardens? Good thing they aren't real cos they'd be real disappointed there wasn't any hosta, roses, or yew trees to dine on, heheheh. Anyway, the Chamber is looking fabulous.

The Gimbel stores are decked out, particularly the Smiling Cow and Country Store. An old truck with a tree in the back is an iconic image, is it not? The multi-colored lights on the Gimbel's truck tree really takes one back. As a child of the mid-1950s, and throughout the 60s, really, these lights were the preferred choice. I truly cannot remember anyone who had a tree decorated with white lights back then. And the bulbs were so much larger than those used today. I can remember how gingerly the strings of lights were untangled to prevent breakage. I also remember some holiday swearing to facilitate that detangling process (insert longing sigh and smile here).

Speaking of childhood memories, the happy twirling mouse in one of A Silver Lining's windows will bring a smile to your face, and maybe, like me, it will remind you of Topo Gigio, that adorable Italian mouse that was a frequent guest on the Ed Sullivan Show! The right side window with the "Silver Lining unicorn" makes for fanciful and serotonin-boosting moments.

Red Cup Coffeehouse. What other light color comes to mind when there's one built into the name? This business has sweet large silver stars with red centers and red lights adorning its tree. Enchanting!

The crew at Boathouse Bistro were busy elves. The holiday lighting is stunning. The mix of white and multi-colored lights creates a warm, welcoming and impressive exterior entreating all who pass to come inside.

Walking from the Bistro I was headed for Footbridge Brewery when what gorgeous sight did I behold? The entire garden area in front of the brewery, on the edge of the Footbridge parking lot, is alight with color and looking quite inviting. There's even a beer barrel tree alight, cleverly suggesting that you might, in fact, be thirsty! 

But, when it comes to lights and color choices well made, Tugboat Inn cannot be denied as the most decorated, and tastefully so, biz in the downtown. Wow. On my first drive last month I literally stopped the car. Fortunately no one was behind me! Wow. The care and time it must have taken to light up for 2025 was well worth it. You may have to drive by on more than one occasion!

Janson's Clothing Store is understated, yet outstanding. What really jazzes me about these lights is this: Three windows, three completely different, but connected, scenes in each of them. Within the windows there is classic Christmas, Yule (the deer family in gorgeous attire), and the celebration of the evergreen trees, some we bring inside while the others remain outdoors. As in the days of old, evergreen trees are symbols of resilience, eternal life, and hope. 

Vertical strands of multicolored lights in the windows at Sherman's create a holiday curtain that enhances the books and toys that lay behind them. 

Tigger Leather is looking sharp and festive for the holidays and winter season. The snowflakes and lights, Christmas tree and bows, candy canes and another flash of the past in the display: an old gumball dispenser, and while I wrote it I could hear the sound of the "crank" as it released a couple brightly colored gumballs and the sound of the gum dropping. 

Coastal Maine Popcorn is framed in multi-colored lights with a sweet front window scene featuring a Christmas moose, and a very large one at that, sporting a holiday hat. Snowmen, elves and wooden soldiers/nutcrackers, among other such characters, have large, round red ornament spheres lining the edge of the window along with popcorn balls! How sweet, savory and edible decorations can be.

Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and its lawn are looking nostalgic and contemporary simultaneously. A garden of colorful electrified flowers against the background of the building, columns wrapped in greenery and lights, so traditional and classy and we all love it. This year's ginormous watering encouraging flowers to grow is so symbolic: The can is the library, the water falling from it represents the knowledge and entertainment one has access to there, while the flowers or seeds below are the minds of young and old alike, growing through learning. Speaking of, read any good books lately?

These are but a few of the businesses and locations decked out, and what about Whale Park? Sorry, the image just popped into my old mind's eye!

Take a drive, take a walk,  "where all the lights are bright ... Downtown everything's waiting for you ..."