Carriage rides in downtown Lincoln add to the holiday season experience

[December 03, 2022]    After its season debut on Friday evening at the Winter Wonderland Tree lighting ceremony, the horse drawn carriage returned to the heart of Lincoln on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., offering free rides to downtown visitors.

This year, there is a slight change in how the rides are being handled. Instead of waiting in line, each rider or family of riders offer their name to an attendance and reserve a time slot for their carriage ride.

On Saturday afternoon, the wait time for a carriage ride was about 40 minutes, which was perfect for those who were still visiting local shops. For example, one family reserved their spots and then went shopping at Mary Todd Hallmark for the next 35 minutes. When it was close to time for their ride, they made their way back to Pulaski Street in front of the Arcade building and got their free ride without standing too long out in the cold.



On Friday night, the horse pulling the carriage was a dark colored beauty. On Saturday it was a white horse with two metallic blue hooves and two silver hooves. The horse sported blue and white bows that matched the blue, silver, and white metallic decorations on the white carriage.




The carriage rides four comfortable and was a perfect opportunity for families to do something special and memorable together.

Riding around the Logan County Square in a carriage also permitted a new perspective on the Winter Wonderland tree displays on the courthouse lawn.



The Saturday evening passengers said they enjoyed the ride which for most of them was a first time ever experience.

Carriage rides are free and will continue in Lincoln on the following dates:

Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
December 2nd
December 9th
December 16th

Saturday afternoon from noon to 3 p.m.
December 3rd
December 10th
December 17th

The free rides are provided by the participating Christmas Express businesses and sponsors.

[Nila Smith]