Taking the kids: Lighting up your holidays, safely, 12 new drive-thru displays around the country and more!

In Annapolis, Maryland, drive through lightsonthebay. org, Lights on the Bay, at Sandy Point State Park with more than 60 stationary and animated displays, including a glowing lighthouse and blue crab on Chesapeake Bay. Don’t forget to buy the 3-D glasses so the displays really pop!

In Austin, Texas, the annual Trail of Lights at Zilker Park, voted a USA Today “Top 10 Holiday Celebration,” is now a drive-thru event, featuring more than 2 million lights, 90 lighted trees and more than 70 other holiday displays and lighted tunnels. Tune in your radio for holiday music and history.

In Branson, Missouri, Ozark Mountain Christmas includes a 2½-mile long Trail of Lights at The Shepherd of the Hills and Lights of Joy Christmas Light Drive Thru is a little over a mile long, lined on both sides with hundreds of displays—even a drive-thru tunnel.

In Branson, Missouri, Ozark Mountain Christmas includes a 2½-mile long North Pole Adventure at The Shepherd of the Hills.

In Charleston, S.C., the annual Holiday Festival of Lights, considered one of the top 20 holiday lights events in the Southeast, features millions of lights arranged in over 700 displays along a three-mile route at James Island County Park. Purchase treats right from your car.

In Cleveland, Ohio, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has an all-new drive-through Wild Winter Lights display with more than a million lights and holiday displays, including the Enchanted Forest and Conservation Trail.

In Galveston, Texas, the 3-mile-long Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens is the largest holiday destination in the Southwest, boasting dozens of animated light displays.

In Hershey, Pennsylvania, Hershey Sweet Lights, offers a drive-thru experience with more than 600 massive illuminated, animated displays glowing along two miles of forested trails.

In New Orleans, Celebration in the Oaks is an annual tradition with more than 25 acres of the park’s famous moss-covered oaks blanketed in more than a million twinkling lights and light displays over 2.25 miles.

In San Francisco, light art will brighten block after block of the city from Thanksgiving Day to New Year's Day for the Illuminate SF Festival of Light with more than 40 installations in 17 neighborhoods created by more than 30 artists.

In Syracuse, N.Y., Lights on the Lake is celebrating 31 years with a two-mile-long, drive-through show featuring spectacular holiday displays, a larger-than-life Land of Oz, twinkling Fantasy Forest, colorful section arches, and a fairytale magic grand finale.

In Virginia Beach, Virginia, Lights at the Beach allows you to drive on the boardwalk through nautical, holiday and adventure lands as a soundtrack plays on your car radio. See festive fish, musical crab, and a 40-foot tall Christmas tree on the beach.

Have a candy cane for me!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)