Winterfest Festivities: Delights of Christmas at Carowinds

On a fall flight, Kim (K) flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, in the early morning.  Upon landing, she admired the lights glowing at Carowinds Amusement Park below, thankful that they had left the pretty lights on.  A little website wandering later, and she realizes Carowinds is hosting a holiday celebration called Winterfest, debuting in 2017.  Our family typically travels to Williamsburg, Virginia, for part of Christmas, taking in Christmas Town at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  Christmas Town, however, has become exceptionally crowded, including during the "off days" of the week between Christmas and New Years.  Looking for something that was a little less overrun, we were very pleased to find Winterfest.  It was simply magical.

The park was bedecked in lights and had several festive zones, including a Dickens Christmas Carol display and a Peanuts land J found especially delightful.  Visiting was a lot about admiring the lights and enjoying experiences like strolling carolers, photo ops, and a nativity petting zoo.  We took in a fun Charlie Brown show and especially appreciated the references to the nature of the season, including a gorgeous display of Holy Family figures and a lighted Hanukkiah.  Rides were understandably limited by the season, but we immensely enjoyed ourselves on J's new favorite ride, Snoopy's Pirate Ship, and others.  This was our first visit to Carowinds, and we were extremely impressed with the friendliness of the staff, their engagement with visitors, and the fun they were sincerely having.  We hope to return--E was especially intrigued by the roller coasters (mainly closed for the season) and the planned expansion of Camp Snoopy looks like a ton of fun.

If you go, arrive at opening and plan to stay til closing.  The parking process is easy, but you want as much time as possible in the park. Look into preschool passes for anyone qualified in your party in advance, and enjoy the relatively flat landscape of the Carolinas, another difference from Williamsburg.  While in town, we also visited the awesome holiday display at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, IKEA, Charlotte Premium Outlets, and SouthPark's American Girl and Lego stores.  Hotels catering to business travelers were well-priced for the season.  We'll always recommend to you that you "holiday" during Christmastide, so see what you can do between December 25 and early January.  Virginians, get ready:  Cedar Fair Parks Kings Dominion is also hosting Winterfest in 2018!

If you are looking for really detailed pictures and videos of 2017 Winterfest, try the Coaster101 blog.

Simple and Delightful: Holiday Lights at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

If you follow this blog, you know Kim and E, age 8, traveled south in the early fall to see the Great American Eclipse.  On our way, we saw signs for the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.  Kim checked them out online and decided having a membership would inspire a few trips to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area over the course of the year.  The rest is history.

This winter, we took a trip to Holidays at the Garden, an enchanting Christmas light display with fun features like model trains.  Lights can be enjoyed by walking about as well as by taking a short tram ride for a different view.  Kids can move station-to-station enjoying simple activities that further engage them--at one stop, we played color bells; at another, we learned about the seasons of the year, for instance.  The orchid building at the holidays is a little oasis complete with an imaginative fairy village also featuring model trains.  Don't miss the gloaming--arrive early and enjoy watching the lights come alive.  You'll get improved parking this way, too.  We've enjoyed similar enchantment at these gardens at their Chinese lantern display earlier in the fall.

If you go, consider getting tickets for the week between Christmas and New Years. Everyone is still in a festive mood, and crowds aren't too large.  Dress in layers for the weather and bring your camera--there will be outstanding photo ops, even for unskilled photographers like me.  Food and drink is available for purchase, although our traveling family also found nearby fast food and a relatively close supermarket for snacks.  It's a perfectly "sized" adventure for an evening out with the family in the Charlotte area, and for us, it paired very well for a trip to Winterfest at Carowinds.  And by the way, we are pretty pleased with Kim's membership--member guests receive discounts, so even given that visitors pay for some special events like the Holidays, the value is solid when you consider reciprocity to other gardens including the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia--it's on the to-visit list.

Based on recommendations from a colleague, we drove about 20 minutes to McAdenville (say Mc-Add-enville) after our visit to enjoy this town's delightful light displays.  Almost every home and business is decorated with particularly beautiful lights in trees and festive set ups of carolers, nativities, and the like at homes and churches.  We visited on a cold night, so we drove instead of parking and walking, but walking the town is an option and will afford you some nifty photo ops.  There's no charge and the atmosphere is very community and family oriented (picture kids riding hayride style, passengers making videos from their sunroofs, etc.).  We had a relatively long wait in our car, so have a full tank of gas for your own peace of mind. By 9ish, crowds were dying down, so perhaps time your visit for later as well. Check the dates and times at the website--we caught the lights on December 26, which may have been the last "official" night!  How fortunate.

Chinese Lanterns are Tremendous: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

Having seen a Chinese Lantern botanical garden installation at Norfolk Botanical Garden a few years ago, Kim became quite excited passing a billboard for a similar installation at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden while on a road trip to see the Great American Eclipse.  K, G, and Nana Lana were inspired to make the trip to see the lantern display in October, enjoying delightful weather for roaming outside in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area evenings.

The Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden's installation featured a ton of animal displays and some pieces that were animated, delighting G.  This garden has several fountains, which made for gorgeous reflections. This type of exhibit encourages you to walk, talk, and stare, being equal parts art, culture, and simple delight.  The lanterns are illuminated as the name implies, of course; what is less obvious is how sculptural the displays actually are.  K adored the construction of the immense, tall jellyfish; G was unusually fascinated by the dinosaurs; and Nana liked the birds placed on the fountain ponds. This garden also highlighted Chinese culture, putting on shadow plays and hosting a more elaborate marketplace than we'd seen at similar events.  G was so enchanted by the shadow plays we even bought a handmade duck puppet.

If you go, know that the gardens are still beautiful but the installation at this location has moved on.  However, you might check out LanternAsia, a similar temporary display in spring 2018 at Norfolk Botanical Garden.  Expect crowds--these exhibits are amazing!  Go early, including early in the "life" of the exhibit and early in the evening to catch the twilight if you can.  Buy tickets in advance--try not to take the risk on a sellout.  You'll need a camera that takes good pictures at night, like the one on your phone, and take your time--plan to stay for most of the duration of the evening.  These exhibits are high interest and certainly help new audiences connect to art and botanical gardens, and you could even get a membership for a discount and return for next year's Garden of Lights at a discount as well. Check out our prior visit to LanternAsia for inspiration!