Main Street Merry: The Nashua Holiday Stroll

November 28, 2015 — I haven’t been out oddity hunting at all since returning from Salem, Massachusetts, nor have I posted any original content on OTIS. The Salem book is just taking over all my free time…or at least all that’s left after my TV binges. I’m in that panicked stage of my book writing process where I’m worried that I’m not going to make the deadline or that it’s not going to come together the way I want to. But, in between sleeping fetally on the floor of my study and getting too sloshed to find my entire keyboard, much less the home keys, I am taking breaks for Christmas. I want to stay on Santa’s nice list.

So tonight we went to the Nashua Holiday Stroll. Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the town where I’ve lived for the past seven years shuts down Main Street—which is like four lanes wide plus street parking for some reason, you could herd elephants on this street—and throws a party. Santa comes, lights the tree, bands play, carnival food venders scent the air, the restaurants and shops spill out onto the streets, people with chainsaws make ice sculptures, and every average Joe within a fifty-mile radius sporting a white beard and a belly walks around with candy canes in their pockets and a “This is my time,” gleam in their eyes. I’m going to be that guy one day.

Anyway, to show you guys that I’ve only died in spirit, I’m posting a few photos of the Holiday Stroll. This is what I did tonight. Sorry about the blur.

Turns out, my town can throw a party when it wants to.

Wait. You guys don't know about the Christmas Dragon?

What about the Giant Severed Head of Christmas?

How about...right, I don't even know what this is.

Of course, Star Wars was the ice sculpture theme.

These guys are fantastic. Robot animals you can ride.
They say these beasts can hold up to 600 pounds.