Check out these decked-out displays of holiday cheer

Dec. 12—Going all out with holiday lights and decorations for your home is never easy.

First, you search forever in dark and dingy corners of the basement to find the stuff, then spend hours trying to untangle strings of lights and replace the one tiny bulb — out of hundreds — that's keeping all of them from illuminating. Then you risk your neck climbing on chairs or ladders to hang everything. Finally, you brace yourself for the electric bill that will likely require you to take out a home equity loan.

So why not let somebody else do it?

Luckily, there are plenty of public spaces all over Maine getting decked out in a big way for the holidays this year. They include historic homes, museums, stores, bars, restaurants and gardens, as well as whole swaths of local downtowns. So if you'd rather just put up a modest holiday display at your own house and go out to enjoy somebody else's over-the-top decorating, you have plenty of choices. Here are a few.

LIKE IN OLDEN DAYS

Victoria Mansion in Portland gets really decked out during the holiday season. The stately historic mansion on Danforth Street, built between 1858 and 1860, is decorated in Victorian style by local florists, designers, artists and other nonprofit organizations. The elegant and fashionable rooms of the mansion are always fun to look at, but during the holidays they are filled with trees, wreaths, ornaments, presents and stockings hung over the fireplace. The house will be open for holiday viewing through Jan. 8. Tickets are $16 for adults, $5 for students ages 6-17 and free for children 5 and under. There's also a family rate of $35 for two adults and up to five children in the same household. Masks are required, and buying tickets in advance is recommended. For more information go, to victoriamansion.org.

The Wadsworth-Longfellow House on Congress Street — built around 1785 and boyhood home of famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — will be decorated for holiday tours on Saturday. The theme is "Comfort and Joy: Christmas in Olde New England," and rooms will be decorated as the family would have done in the mid-1800s, with holly, ivy and other festive trimmings. People on the tour will hear about the evolution of Christmas traditions in New England and about the family's own holiday preparations. Admission to the house is $15, $5 for children 6-17 and free for those 5 and younger. For more information, go to mainehistory.org.

THE MAGIC OF TREES

The 18th annual Festival of Trees is happening now through Dec. 29 at the Dyer Library and Saco Museum, located next to each other on Main Street in Saco. People can walk among 38 decorated trees inside the museum, each one with a distinct theme. The Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball tree is decorated with multicolored balls, gold beads and peacock feathers, while one called "An Old Fashioned Baking Holiday" has cookie cutters, gingerbread men and recipe cards on it. "Cowie Christmas" has a dairy cow theme, featuring wooden ornaments with Holstein cows and black-and-white printed ribbon. There's also a vintage 1950s aluminum tree that rotates, complete with color wheel. Thanks to sponsors, the event is free to the public. For more information, go to sacomuseum.org and click "programs & activities."

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay used some 750,000 LED lights to illuminate outdoor trees for its annual Gardens Aglow event. During the pandemic, the event was a drive-thru affair, but people are back to walking this year. There's about a mile of lighted pathways leading people through the gardens. Trees, bridges, sculptures and the gardens' famed giant wooden trolls are all part of the event. Timed tickets are $18 for adults, $10 for children ages 3-17 and free for children under 3. There's a family rate of $45 for two adults and two children. The event runs through Dec. 31 but is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For tickets and more information, go to mainegardens.org.

A CUP OF GOOD CHEER

The Burleigh restaurant at the Kennebunkport Inn has turned its bar into an over-the-top Christmas cocktail destination — The Tinsel Bar. The place is covered with ornaments, twinkle lights and ribbon. There are 200 feet of lights and seven trees. The bar features live music and holiday-themed cocktails like the Christmas Donkey, Jingle Juice and Grinch's Margarita. For more information, go to kennebunkportinn.com/dining.

Batson River Brewing and Distilling is bringing back its Holiday Camp event for a second year and now at its four locations — in Portland, Biddeford, Wells and Kennebunk. Each venue is dressed up with lights and decorations, plus there are signature holiday cocktails like the Charlie Brown, the Yule Tai and a Pecan Old Fashioned. There will also be reindeer games (but for humans) as well as holiday movie nights at some locations. For more information about what's happening at each location and when, go to batsonriver.com.

SHOP AND STROLL

L.L. Bean in Freeport decks out its whole retail campus this time of year, creating a free outdoor attraction as part of its Northern Lights holiday celebration. There's a skating rink with rentals in Discovery Park, a walk-in snow globe for holiday photo ops, a trail through sparkling trees, heated benches and the Twinkle Light Tunnel. The latter is an enclosed curving tunnel with some 8,000-plus lights, which leads from Main Street up to the main retail store. Inside the store, in the camping department, there is L.L. Bean's famous model train village on display, decked out for the holidays. For more information and a schedule of free events (hot cocoa, meeting Santa's reindeer), go to llbean.com and search "Northern Lights."

The city of Westbrook has really upped its decorating game in the last few years, becoming a destination for folks who want to take a drive or stroll to see the lights. More than 175,000 lights were used by the city this year, and they stretch along Main Street from Riverbank Park through Westbrook Commons and across the pedestrian bridge along Vallee Square. The lights illuminate an area of downtown near the Presumpscot River that has many shops and restaurants. For more information about the lights and downtown Westbrook, go to downtownwestbrook.com/light-up-westbrook.

Portland always has impressive and creative light displays all over downtown and the Old Port, thanks to artist Pandora LaCasse. The light displays — including spheres or balls and other inventive shapes — are up again this year. Some of the places to see them include Longfellow Square, Tommy's Park, Boothby Square, Lincoln Park, Pleasant Street Park and Congress Square Park. To get a printable map detailing the light displays and their locations, go to portlandmaine.com/winter-lights.