It's funny the things you remember. I have that nearly exact memory from the Dec. 2009 storm. My GF (wife now) and I went downtown to Main St. in Front Royal that Saturday evening - just as the sun was setting and the storm was about to taper off - and walked around, admiring the Christmas decorations in a blanket of sparkling white. Very few people out, and almost all were pedestrians. It was so quiet and peaceful, with - as you said - only the sound of the snow hitting my jacket and hood. It's one of the most vivid memories I have. We got to the gazeebo area and there was Christmas music playing. We were the only people there. We ran, played, and wrestled like children in undisturbed knee-deep snow. It was the storm I had waited my entire life to see, a true Christmas storm. The only way that storm could ever be topped is had it happened 5 days later; aside from my kids and Super Bowl XXVII, it was as close to perfect as anything I have ever known.
Here is a view of Main St. that night:
Warren County Courthouse. I've watched that same manger display on the front lawn every year for at least 30 years; it never looked so good as it did that night.
Here is the gazeebo. I still remember looking at this and the only sounds were the snow falling on my jacket and the Christmas music in the background.
It was like I stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting. With the complete absence of car traffic and the typical hustle and bustle of everyday life, it was like I stepped out of a time machine. It felt like I was 12 years old again. I've walked that street a million times in my life, seen it nearly everyday of my life; I've never seen it more beautiful than that night. For me, it was truly magical. That storm will always be very dear to me.