Welcome to the fourth day of the Virtual Advent Tour!

Every year my best friend, Karen, and I get together the weekend after Thanksgiving to catch up and do a little Christmas shopping in Putnam, Connecticut, which is roughly halfway between her house and my parents’.

For the past three years, the town has gone all in on being a destination for holiday merriment, adding many events to promote their Main Street businesses. One of which is their Gingerbread Trail, where businesses vie to create the most impressive gingerbread structure.

These range from traditional North Pole villages to Victorian mansions.

Some make good use of confections, such as this house’s marshmallow snow:

While others depict whimsical scenes, such as Santa and Mrs. Claus relaxing in their hot tub:

Then there are the more eclectic entries:

And those that skirt the traditional definition of gingerbread house by using a more mixed-media, but visually arresting, approach:

There can be casualties:

But in the end, with a lot of elbow grease — and even more sugar — beautiful things can be made.

Putnam always puts on a good show, and Karen and I enjoyed wandering the Gingerbread Trail once again this year.

Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Would you like to share some of your holiday festivities as part of the Virtual Advent Tour? Drop me a note in the comments, and I’ll get you signed up.