Like most children, my girls love Christmas lights. We try to find as many as we can. We’ve got a season pass to Santa’s Ranch on the southern edge of town. If you haven’t been to this drive through Christmas light set up, you’re missing out. You can find them by driving down I-35 near dusk because there will be a mile of cars on the access road trying to get in. It’s worth the wait. Our girls’ favorite part is driving through the tunnel of rainbow colored lights, but they can literally narrate the entire drive we have been so many times. The Sights and Sounds Christmas lights are all over Plaza Park, and the Square is beautiful around the historic Courthouse. In Wimberley, there is the EmilyAnn Trail of Lights, in which organizations and businesses set up more than 100 areas for Christmas displays along the trails. Santa shows up most nights and there are often Christmas performances. You can also see the new Christmas tree the city of Wimberley set up downtown this year. We also went to 37th Street in Austin, which is historic for its weird-vibe. It wasn’t as spectacular as I remember it being growing up, but the girls still had fun. And the lights at Zilker Park, even with the long wait, are absolutely amazing. Kyle has a great Christmas light display downtown off of Main Street, and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative headquarters in Johnson City is a stunning display of white lights. Send us an email if you have other local suggestions. We’d love to hear them.
Dalton Sweat Regional Editor
