This season while you’re kind of acting like a real-life Santa Claus in a way, delivering all the presents to the stores this holiday season, make some time to enjoy some festive sights scattered across the country. So in the weeks leading up to Christmas, let’s pretend our rigs are reindeer-pulled sleighs and jingle ourselves all the way to some seriously Christmassy spots!
A Christmas Story House & Museum
Everyone’s go-to seasonal flick comes to life for tourists that pass through Cleveland, OH. But, it doesn’t have to be after Black Friday to enjoy this cult-classic piece of Americana as the Christmas Story House is open year round and seven days a week. (The ironic part? It’s actually closed on Christmas Day though.) The museum, chocked full with the infamous leg lamp, Red Ryder BB Gun and that god-awful bunny costume are all there for visitors to grab a peek at.
Christmas, Florida
Just to the east of Orlando, along a strip along Highway 50 is something straight out of the North Pole. With a town name of Christmas, Florida, residents have devised several elaborate holiday-themed attractions for you to feast your eyes on. Like what, you might ask? Ribbons and pennants dangle from each telephone pole, a large and perpetually-decorated evergreen draws in crowds, their post office is jumbo-sized, a (small and apparently appointment-only) Christmas museum intrigues visitors and even a Christmas RV park seems like a suitable place to park your sleigh.
Koziar’s Christmas Village
In 1948, a man named William M. Koziar, started decorating his Bernville, Pennsylvania home to delight his wife and four children. Eventually, his elaborate yuletide decor earned his residence the nickname the “Christmas House.” And the rest is holiday history. Celebrating it’s 68th anniversary, the award-winning Christmas Village sets a rural farmland a glow with over a million lights that reflect the surrounding lake. For just a few dollars and free parking, you can explore the dazzling Koziar’s Christmas Village if you’re ever in that neck of the woods.
National Christmas Center
Just a short drive from Koziar’s Christmas Village is the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA, outside of Lancaster County. Even Travel Channel featured this festive stop on their program “Most Christmassy Places in America.” There are fifteen galleries, numerous small exhibits, Santa’s Workshop, vintage Christmas displays, and more.
Ogden’s Christmas Village
Starting right after Thanksgiving each year, this Christmas Village located in Ogden City, Utah, is sure to put some spring in your holiday season’s step. Here you can attend performances Tuesday-Friday in the evenings, catch their Electric Light Parade if you’re lucky, take a train ride or enjoy some shopping. Proceeds from memorabilia purchased on-site go to a good cause (to fund their spectacular light displays of course!)
Woodstock, VT
There’s something just magical about Vermont during the holiday season. But Woodstock definitely knows how to celebrate with more gusto than any other town! For about 30 years, the town has held Wassail Weekend, a massive Christmas festival including over 50 horses pulling sleds of riders in period garb, tours of the beautiful buildings and unsurpassed shopping all sort of wrapped up in Norse traditions.
