SPARTA, Tenn. (WTVF) — A White County family has created a website that makes finding the best Christmas light displays easier than ever before.
Chris and Amanda McCulley built UCChristmas.com, a website that maps out holiday light displays across the Upper Cumberland area and allows families to create custom routes for their light-viewing adventures.
"We had no idea how it would work. If people would even use it," Chris McCulley said.
The website works by connecting with Google Maps on users' phones. Families can select up to 10 locations from the mapped displays and create a personalized route that provides turn-by-turn directions.
"Kind of the main point of it is you can create a route, you can add up to 10 locations, and then send it right to your phone right there for turn-by-turn," McCulley said.
The idea came from the McCulleys' own family tradition of driving around to see Christmas lights each year.
"Our daughter starts listening to Christmas music in October. So we have a Christmas season," said Amanda McCulley said.
The website eliminates the guesswork of driving around in the dark hoping to stumble upon decorated houses. Users can filter locations by specific areas within the county and add them to their custom route with the click of a button.
"I think it just gives you the opportunity to see places you wouldn't normally go to," McCulley said.
If you give it a try, make sure you have Google Maps on your phone!
"It's an easy way to see more lights and go directly to them without just wandering around. Which, wandering around is part of the fun, right? But you get to see more in a shorter timeframe than you normally would," McCulley said.
For the McCulleys, the website represents more than just efficient navigation – it's about bringing families together during the holiday season.
"I think it's about bringing families together at Christmas," McCulley said. "Spending time together as a family, in the car, driving around, it's cold outside, there's nothing else to do and it's pitch black at 4:00 p.m. So you can get in the van, go pick up donuts, and go drive around and look at Christmas lights together."
The homeowners themselves submit addresses to the site. The McCulleys hope to expand the service to other regions of Middle Tennessee in the future.
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