All across America, towns and attractions with special Christmas celebrations invite families to hit the road
What better way to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year than taking a road trip with loved ones. Gather the clan, hitch up the sleigh and ride over the river and through the woods to one of America’s great Christmas destinations.
Decked out in yuletide trappings, ablaze with dazzling lights and offering an ambitious roster of events, certain places make the season extra magical with celebrations that bring out the child in everyone and fill the family stocking with memories to last a lifetime. It’s not too early to plan a holiday getaway for this November or December.
In the Ozarks of southwest Missouri, the family-friendly town of Branson pulls out all the stops for Christmas, one of its busiest times. Branson’s famous music theaters present seasonal shows, with fare ranging from country to Broadway-style, while Sight & Sound Theatre’s “Miracle of Christmas” captures the true spirit of the season with a biblical account of Jesus’ birth. Silver Dollar City theme park transforms into a Christmas wonderland with jillions of lights and a nightly parade during its annual two-month-long festival, An Old Time Christmas. For more holiday cheer, ride Branson Scenic Railway’s Polar Express or experience drive-through light displays like the one with animated figures set to music at Shepherd of the Hills Homestead.
A merry olde English Christmas enchants families strolling the main street in historic downtown Cambridge, Ohio, when Dickens Victorian Village takes over Wheeling Avenue. From November 1 to January 1, scores of Victorian-era scenes and figures—from groups of carolers to Bob Crachit carrying Tiny Tim—will feature nearly 200 lifelike mannequins wearing real vintage clothing. For a keepsake photo, dress your own family in period garb at the Dickens Welcome Center and even pose with Charles Dickens. Or have tea with Queen Victoria at the Cambridge Country Club. And don’t miss the nightly Guernsey County Courthouse Light Show, synchronized to holiday music.
Grapevine, the official “Christmas Capital of Texas,” offers 1,400 Christmas events in 40 days. The Gaylord Texan Resort’s LoneStar Christmas celebration sparkles with two million twinkling lights, enormous decorations, a life-size house made of real gingerbread and ICE!, an elaborate display of Charlie Brown ice sculptures that invites visitors to go snow tubing down icy slides. Grapevine’s Main Street, bustling with shoppers, is home to the Historic Palace Theater, which presents holiday concerts and movies. Everyone is encouraged to wear pajamas on Grapevine Vintage Railroad’s North Pole Express.
Ice sculptures of Peanuts cartoon characters will enchant Christmastime visitors to the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine. Photo courtesy of Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau
Gaylord Opryland Resort, a focal point of holiday excitement in Nashville, Tennessee, always hits it out of the park. This year’s month-long A Country Christmas will be highlighted by a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer musical and an ICE! exhibit with scenes from the movie A Christmas Story, not to mention acres of over-the-top decorations (including 3 million lights, 15,000 poinsettias and 15 miles of green garland). In eastern Tennessee, the place to be at Christmastime is Pigeon Forge, where Dollywood theme park puts on one of the best Christmas extravaganzas in the nation. The stages at Country Tonite and Smoky Mountain Opry give way to heartwarming Christmas shows.
The glittering parade is a highlight of Christmas festivities at Dollywood theme park in the Tennessee Smokies. Photo courtesy of Dollywood
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has claimed the title of “Christmas City USA” since 1937. On weekends during the holiday season, wooden huts on and around Main Street invite shoppers to peruse handmade gifts at the German-inspired Christmas City Village. Christkindlmarkt, an even bigger artisan market, is held at Bethlehem’s SteelStacks arts and cultural campus.
A touch of Germany also flavors Frankenmuth, a town known as Michigan’s Little Bavaria. The big attraction here is Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, the world’s largest Christmas store.
While November and December may not be traditional vacation months, these and other cheery destinations around the U.S.A. show that off-peak travel can make the season merry and bright for family groups—like yours!
Randy Mink
Randy Mink, senior editor of Premier Travel Media, has written travel articles for newspapers, magazines and websites for 49 years. He is a longtime member of the Society of American Travel Writers and Midwest Travel Journalists Association. Randy also has been a tour director for senior and student groups.
