As Christmas nears, and the much anticipated Christmas break is right around the corner, you may be on the hunt for Christmas lights to look at. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is piling in the car and driving around to all of the local communities who offer Christmas light displays.

Let’s start in Palestine. In my opinion, Palestine has one of the best Christmas light displays I have seen. They have added new things each year and the displays keep growing and growing. Now let’s hit Robinson. SENCO Construction started their Christmas light display last year and it is AMAZING. You park your car in the parking lot across from the office building, then set your radios to 88.5 and watch as the lights dance across the building and the giant Christmas trees out front. They change the songs often so you could see a different display every week. No matter what time of evening, you are sure to see a full house of cars watching this spectacular show.

After you leave Robinson, be sure to head to Oblong Park to check out their lights around the park. Again, the community has really stepped up in Oblong and sponsor more and more displays each year. If it is warm out, you can even get out if your car and walk the path around the lake to get the real “Christmas Experience.” On the weekends you will also find volunteers donating their time for monetary donations to help the lighting committee out.

Once you have stopped in Oblong, make your way south to Olney Illinois. Olney has one of the oldest light displays in their park in the area. On top of the lighted displays, you will also find character displays with all of your favorites. From Spider-Man to Cinderella, all of your favorite childhood characters are there. On Friday and Saturday nights, you might be lucky enough to see the jolly old man we call Santa Claus hanging out at the park for pictures!

There are more displays you can drive to, like Effingham, Marshall, Terre Haute, or Vincennes. But if you like to stay local like me, the lights in Crawford County, and Olney are the best around, and some you won’t want to miss! Happy Holidays!