Erlene makes a scene.

Just about every year, we take a trip to visit our favorite holiday village. This is a charming place that the whole family just loves. The Mayor of Erlene's Village, (which would, of course, be Erlene), works hard to keep her town all decked out for the Christmas season. She meticulously handpaints every home just to make sure it stays looking beautiful and festive for the holidays. Santa's Elves are particularly busy in this town, because Santa starts his yearly ride a little early here. When we stopped by to say hello, they were very busy getting the last letters to Santa taken care of.

The Post office stays open late so it can assist in the delivery of all of those precious letters.

There is always something going on in this town. Plenty of holiday music, dancing, and shows to see.

There is always something fun for the kids to do. Plenty of activities like puppet shows, sledding and ice skating, and lots of parks to play in. There are roller coasters and lots and lots of sledding hills, and always plenty of fresh powdery snow for making snow angels, and a few snowballs, too.

Let's not forget all the men. There is plenty of ice fishing, hunting and camping, snow shoeing and skiing, (I haven't seen anyone in town snowboarding yet, they are a bit behind the times.) You can buy a new boat or have your old one repaired, and some years you can even fish for lobster. Feel free to bring your art supplies. Many artists come to paint the beautiful scenery of this quaint village. Hmmm, maybe Grant should get started on a new painting of the village.....

For the women, there is plenty of shopping for the freshest of fish, eggs, and veggies, and wonderful boutiques that have been know to have sidewalk sales this time of year. Hey, little people have to make a buck, too.

Don't forget to stop by the 24 hour live nativity. There are a couple in town, but this one is the easiest to find. It is in front of the town church.

Mayor Erlene makes sure the firemen are very skilled in their job. They have a practice fire drill every day. I feel very safe here.

The garbage collection has been a bit behind from all of the snow lately, but they will soon be on top of it.

If you love the town enough to stay, there are plenty of houses for sale. If you would rather just visit, take the train home. The tracks used to be closer to the depot, but it seems they have moved. I'm sure you would be able catch a quick shuttle to the train these days. (If they can find it...)

If you are interested in Celebrity homes, Ralphie lives in the next town over. He recently got his secret decoder ring in the mail, and is anxious to decode with it, so please don't disturb him.

If you are having trouble finding Erlene's Village on google maps, this is an overview shot of it at night. Quite a beautiful place to visit. Better get there quickly, because in a few weeks, it will disappear and be impossible to find until next year. You see, it is a magic village. It's different every time I visit, and I take pictures of it nearly every year, because I am never sure if it will come back the next year or not. I just love to visit when it shows up at Christmas time. If you want to go with me sometime, drop me a line, and we'll schedule a trip.