A short hike through the woods leads to wooden stepping stones and a homemade bridge at Julius J. Knobeloch Woods Nature Preserve. Overview This 0.7-mile hike is found just off Illinois 158 between Mascoutah and Belleville. This area features upland woods of white oak and hickories alongside a wet floodplain. The water from this ravine flows into Hazel Creek. At the Trailhead We parked near…
O’Day Park in O’Fallon, Missouri, features a unique adventure playground with a web-like ropes course, a climbing wall, and paved trails. Playground Fun at O’Day Park After parking, my son and I headed to the artificial turf play area, which includes a roller slide, hammock, and a rope climbing area anchored by poles. Located nearby are baby and toddler swings. A splash pad features flowing…
Santa, Rudolph, and lake-themed Christmas lights can be seen at numerous light displays during Christmas time at the Lake of the Ozarks. We checked out two drive-through Christmas lights while we were staying the night in the area in December. Along with the lights, hiking to springs, a castle, and through the woods along the lake can also be enjoyed. Enchanted Village of Lights In…
A Star Wars firefight and skiers jumping over your car are just some of the amazing light displays at the East Peoria Festival of Lights. The Festival of Lights electric park is made up of floats that begin in the Parade of Lights prior to Thanksgiving each year. Being floats allows them to be huge displays that you drive by. East Peoria Festival of Lights…
Listen to Christmas music, as you check out the North Pole and drive under jumping deer at the Winter Wonderland in Tilles Park in Ladue. This St. Louis area holiday tradition began in 1987. Glimmering lights are fashioned into over 100 displays of festive characters and winter scenes in seventy-five acres of parkland. At the Entrance You can only enter the Christmas drive-through display from…
During the holiday season, the St. Louis Hills neighborhood along the 6500 block of Murdoch Avenue lights up with hundreds of strands of Christmas lights to become Candy Cane Lane. This is a neighborhood Christmas display, so it is a lot more personable than a high-dollar drive-through one at a theme park. However, they do take donations for charities. Families come together to make this…
As a child, what I looked forward to the most at Christmas time was the magic of the Plaza Lights in Kansas City. It is an over-90-year-old tradition that spans a 15-block area with Christmas lights over the entire Country Club Plaza. The lights come on in a special ceremony at each year’s Thanksgiving. You can walk or drive through the Plaza area since the lighting is…
Whimsical Christmas lights reflecting off a lake are found at Lebanon’s Winter Wonderland drive-thru light display at Horner Park. Thousands of lights can be seen here with many scenes of the holiday season. We entered through a maze of lights of different colors. Then came across a hand-carved gingerbread village with gingerbread frolicking all around. Passed by a train with a teddy bear, candy cane,…
Discover a historic stone arch bridge, cascading waterfalls, and scenic views at Fall Creek Scenic Overlook Park. It is located south of Quincy, Illinois, near the intersection of Illinois Highway 57 and Interstate 174. Overview The hike is 1.8 miles long with a 190-foot elevation gain. I found the trail difficult due to significant elevation changes, and it is poorly marked and overgrown in some…
Keokuk, Iowa’s “City of Christmas” lights display made the list of the Top 50 Christmas Light Displays in America. It contains over one million lights. Over 20,000 vehicles make it through the lights each year. We did find ourselves in a small backup, but it was well-regulated and we didn’t have to wait long to enter the lights. I was impressed with the variety of lights along with…
