Most people have their own vision of a perfect winter wonderland. Mine, as a child of the subtropical South, was a snowy night in a tiny New England village as pictured on my grandmother’s glitter-sprinkled Christmas cards: cozy-lighted homes with frost on the windows and lighthouses twinkling with holiday lights. I saw this magical scene in person in my early twenties along the southern coast of Maine, and the cards did not lie. Two decades later, I found myself smack in the center of a different snowy landscape; this one fringed by ancient spruce, birch, and pine trees. As night fell, the greatest lightshow on Earth began, filling the vast sky with the swirling greens and purple lights of the aurora borealis. The place was Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, which now shares space with Maine in my winter wonderland dreams.
Where Santa really lives
Rovaniemi isn’t the scientific North Pole, but as true elves know, it’s the hometown of joulupukki (Santa Claus) 1,650 miles to the south in the center of the Arctic Circle. When he’s not sleighing around the globe in search of cookies and milk, the twinkly eyed old elf with the seriously long curly beard is a common sight there, trekking in the forest, zooming across the tundra on a bright red snowmobile, tending his reindeer at Santa’s Village, or reading his mail in his office in town. Among the coolest (literally) family activities are husky and reindeer safaris by sleigh and dogsled—with or without Santa, kid-friendly ice fishing tours, reindeer farm visits, and overnights in actual ice hotels and glass igloos. The spectacular light shows of the aurora borealis occur about 200 days a year, November to May. visitrovaniemi.fi
Florida’s very own Arctic
If a 5,000-mile flight to the North Pole isn’t yet in the cards, no worries. It’s just a three-hour drive to the 11th annual ICE! Experience at Florida’s very own Arctic, the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. It’s a freeeezing 9 degrees up there, so warm winter parkas are provided, but you’ll want to bring your own hat and gloves for the thrilling ice slides and tunnels. This year’s theme is the movie Elf, with up to 30-foot-high scenes carved from two million pounds of ice, depicting Buddy’s epic journey from the North Pole to New York City. Guests can sit beside Buddy in the Elf School classroom, see the Spirit of Christmas Cirque show with high-flying stunts and acrobats, decorate gingerbread cookies, sneak into Santa’s office to get your name off the naughty list in the Naughty and Nice Escape Room, lob snowballs from your own bucket of snow, and enjoy other experiences. christmasatgaylordpalms.marriott.com
Top of the Rock
For those lucky enough to be spending the holidays in New York City, the ice rink beneath the world-famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a must-do, whether on skates or spectating. This year’s tree is 74 feet tall and wider than the length of a school bus. The 70th floor observation deck at the Top of the Rock offers spectacular views of Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and more. The brand new Skylift rises like an elevator three stories above that, for a skin-tingling 360-degree revolving glass platform ride that takes only 14 people at a time. Lighted in gold most of the year, it’s a holiday spectacle of changing colors. rockefellercenter.com
Lobster trap trees and Northern Lights
As if Hallmark card perfection weren’t compelling enough, many clear, cold nights along Maine’s southern coast make ideal conditions for the aurora borealis. This lobster-rich coastline also has a time-honored tradition of lobster trap Christmas trees decorated with tinsel and colorful buoys. The world’s largest one (Guinness-certified) on Beals Island stands 60 feet tall and consists of 1,365 lobster traps plucked from the sea. The ones on Cape Porpoise (Kennebunkport) and Rockland are topped with giant red lobsters. The Rockland lobster clutches a star in its claw. In Maine they come down the first week in January, but in quirky Provincetown, Massachusetts, its lobster trap tree, topped with a sparkling star made of buoys, hangs around until the first week in February.
Photo: hersheypark.com
Hersheypark: The Sweetest Place on Earth
To many kids, the greatest winter wonderland happens when Pennsylvania’s largest amusement park lights up like a Christmas tree. Actually, a whole psychedelic forest of them. It’s currently up to five million lights, illuminating its nine roller coasters, Ferris wheel, and the 50-foot KISSmas Tree. An ooh-and ahh-worthy two-mile driving trail showcases 600 lighted, animated displays. Real live Hershey Kiss, Reese’s, Jolly Rancher and other candy characters stroll around decked out in their holiday best, and the whole park smells like cinnamon and chocolate. hersheypark.com