Christmas in the City

By Chanize Thorpe | November 1, 2011

Each year our select list of cities cranks the holiday spirit to supernova with eye-popping displays of lights, sounds of the season and a population that’s committed to making merry. This winter, do yourself a favor and soak in the festivities at one of our picks. They’re sure to warm your heart.

NEW YORK CITY

Steeped in tradition, New York’s holiday season starts with the beautifully crafted floats and giant balloons of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, continues with the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall and then the lighting of the giant spruce tree at Rockefeller Center. The grand department stores: Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor among them, try to outdo each other with their museum-quality window displays. A fresh coat of snow on the city is icing on the cake.

STAY + EAT: Go to bed with the scent of gingerbread spice in your head thanks to the sweet-smelling air at Le Parker Meridien. The hotel lobby hosts an annual Gingerbread Extravaganza competition that features intricate and grand creations from local pastry chefs (119 W 56th St, 212-245-5000).

Celsius, the two-story, glass-enclosed restaurant overlooking Bryant Park’s seasonal ice rink, offers winter-themed cocktails and comfort food like the polar bear mojito and bison and three-bean chili (6th Ave & 42nd St, 212-661-6640).

NEW ORLEANS

NOLA’s already delightfully warm temperatures become blazing hot on Christmas Eve, when the residents light bonfires on the levee to guide the way for Papa Noël. During December’s month-long Christmas New Orleans Style celebration, take in the free jazz and gospel concerts in the ornate, 291-year old St. Louis Cathedral, candlelight caroling in Jackson Square and walk under the gleam of the fairy-light draped century-old oak trees in City Park.

STAY + EAT: The Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter is a 19th-century hotel known for both its history and its famed Carousel Bar, which is shaped and decorated like an antique carousel. The annual Children’s Holiday Tea hosted by the hotel’s mascot, Monte the Lion, is a local favorite (214 Royal St, 504-523-3341).

Following the Creole custom of Réveillon, the “awakening” meal after Christmas Eve, the New Orleans Marriott’s 5 Fifty 5 restaurant serves an elaborate five-course dinner starting with a five-onion French soup and ending with a sumptuous cream cheese Yule log (555 Canal St, 504-553-5638).

SAN DIEGO

Winters here bring warm, sunny days so it’s no surprise Santa arrives at Seaport Village sporting board shorts, flip flops, and a 6-foot surfboard for photo ops with the kids. That breezy spirit carries on with the yearly Parade of Lights when over 100 private boats, all decked out in lighted glory, cruise an 8-mile route along San Diego Bay. Another highlight is the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl Parade, a giant balloon-filled tradition since 1978.

STAY + EAT: Each winter the Hotel Del Coronado transforms itself into a giant gingerbread-like house with more than 100,000 twinkling lights lining and illuminating its turrets. The hotel’s Windsor Lawn becomes a whimsical outdoor ice-skating rink overlooking the Pacific Ocean, an event they call Skating by the Sea (1500 Orange Ave, 619-435-6611).

Diners at Addison can enjoy a four- or seven-course tasting menu highlighted by baby sea scallops and smoked lamb in a room dominated by intricate iron and glass doorways trimmed with gold that match the Christmas lights and fragrant garland draping the 13-foot-tall limestone fireplace (5200 Grand Del Mar Wy, 858-314-1900).

WASHINGTON, DC

The capital’s patriotic showcase begins with the White House lawn’s glittery Christmas tree that’s surrounded by miniature decorated trees, each symbolizing a U.S. state and territory. Be sure to pick up an official White House Christmas ornament engraved with the year. Twirling around on the ice rink inside the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden is a magical moment, and the Washington Ballet puts their whimsical DC spin on The Nutcracker where the Nutcracker Prince is George Washington and the Sugar Plum Fairy becomes the Cherry Blossom Fairy. Plus, the National Zoo’s LEED-certified lights show begins at dusk, a festive finish to each December day.

STAY + EAT: The historic Willard Intercontinental, the self-proclaimed “residence of Presidents,” lavishly decorates its spaces with big red bows, fir trees and hosts charming Christmas teas. December brings “Holiday Lobbying” where a different local choir sings every evening in the candlelit lobby (1401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, 202-628-9100).

Georgetown’s venerable 1789 Restaurant turns its six dining rooms into cozy, Federal townhouse parlors filled with antique toys and mood-mellowing candles. Carolers perform while diners tuck into a three-course Thanksgiving meal or a traditional braised prime rib and Yorkshire pudding served near Christmastime (1226 36th St, NW, 202-965-1789).

KANSAS CITY

The Country Club Plaza, Kansas City’s upscale shopping and entertainment district, gussies itself up with more than 80 miles of holiday lights using 280,000 multi-colored bulbs that outline and illuminate every building. The Downtown Marriott hotel puts on a nightly show of computer-generated images projected across its 22-story façade choreographed to music heard outside in Barney Allis Plaza. Visitors and locals alike gather around Crown Center to gawk at the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, which stands 100 feet tall and is one of the biggest tree displays in the country.

STAY + EAT: The Raphael Hotel transports guests to 1920s Europe with its chic, Italian Revival-style décor that exudes a glamorous glow. The free hot apple cider and cupcakes are a cozy amenity, but the best reason to stay is for the hotel’s front and center location next to The Country Club Plaza’s enchanting holiday scene (325 Ward Pkwy, 816-756-3800).

KC has an affinity for beef and one of the best spots to chow down is at Pierpont’s Steakhouse, inside the historic Union Station, the country’s second-largest operational train station. Excitement surrounds the arrival of the KCS Holiday Express, a full-size decorated train complete with Santa onboard (30 W Pershing Rd, 816-221-5111).

Season’s Wonders

Stop by these cities’ unique odes to the holidays for a memorable experience

BRANSON

The first week in November kicks off the town’s over-the-top Christmas entertainment fest. It even stretches to Silver Dollar City theme park’s five-story Special Effects Christmas Tree, where 1 million Technicolor lights twinkle in unison to holiday tunes (399 Silver Dollar City Pkwy, 800-475-9370).

PHOENIX

Each December, the Desert Botanical Garden puts on 22 nights of musical entertainment during Las Noches de las Luminarias, which, as its name suggests, includes the soft light of more than 8,000 hand-lit luminarias (paper lanterns) placed around the grounds (1201 N Galvin Pkwy, 480-941-1225).

VERNON HILLS

About an hour northwest of Chicago, travelers can roll through the Winter Wonderland Festival of Lights, the country’s largest drive-thru holiday lights extravaganza with more than 275 displays set up on the grounds of the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens (1350 N Milwaukee Ave, 847-362-3042).

LOUISVILLE

The KaLightoscope Christmas is a walk-through Christmas attraction of glowing handcrafted, larger-than-life lighted holiday sculptures, some reaching 24 feet tall, hosted by the Galt House Hotel (501 E Main St, 800-775-7777).

The Magazine: Features

Christmas in the City

NEW YORK CITY

NEW ORLEANS

SAN DIEGO

WASHINGTON, DC

KANSAS CITY