Polar Express in French Lick

My cousin in St. Louis made the excellent suggestion that our families should get together in southern Indiana this year, in a lovely town called French Lick, to experience the Polar Express train ride. We arranged to go in early November, which ended up being quite the feat for Marty and Katie because they literally closed on a new home the weekend before our minibreak with our families!

The Browns have two little boys--Connor (age 3) and Hunter (age 1). As you might imagine, Moira and Hannah were thrilled with the idea of spending the weekend with cousins. They also love road trips, so from the moment the adventure began, they were curious and excited about all that they would experience.

We went on the 5:30pm train ride on a Saturday evening in our best PJs, and the experience started with a few pics outside of the train station. We had to wait in line for a little while to board, so we also managed to get a family picture in front of the historic train.






Once we were on the train, the helpful elves started to make friends with all of the children. The kids all had so much fun watching everyone board the train, the conductor validate the tickets, and talking to each other over seats. It was also quite an exciting moment when the historic steam-powered train lurched off to a start for the trip to the North Pole.






As the train started to wind its way through the hills of southern Indiana, the conductor began to read the story of the Polar Express. It was at this point that we all realized this train ride was going to be a very interactive experience for the kids. A highlight for Moira was certainly the moment where they played the hot chocolate song and dancers sailed down the aisle to deliver hot chocolate and cookies to everyone on the train.  



There was a lot of dancing happening on this train. Dancing to lots of different Christmas carols. Moira had fun dancing with the elves on the train while we made our way to the North Pole. Hannah got in on the action too. 



Before we knew it, we had arrived at the North Pole, and we all waved to Santa Claus as the train slowed to a stop. The kids were so excited to meet Santa. He came onto the train and gave every child a bell that said "Believe" (just as in the story). It's the only time during the entire Christmas season that Hannah happily hugged Santa. 





On our return trip to the train station, lots more merriment ensued. Marty was asked to come up to the front of the train to become a Christmas tree, and all of the kids danced some more to different Christmas carols. As we neared the station, we took some photos with our favorite elves before having the magical evening come to a close. It was a memorable night for everyone!





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