Places to Go, Things to Do

Many holiday light displays start this month

If it's November, there will be all sorts of holiday lighting displays starting in the St. Louis metro area. The lighting events provide lots of family fun on both sides of the Mississippi River.

The displays include ones at Tilles Park in St. Louis, Yogi Bear Jellystone Park in Eureka, Our Lady of the Snows in Illinois and at the St. Louis Zoo and Missouri Botanical Garden.

Anheuser-Busch also will have its Christmas lighting at the main brewery.

But, there are also some smaller events during November that also have interest for kids and their families.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com looks for activities and events in the coming month that metro St. Louis kids and their families might like to attend. The emphasis is on interesting events which either are free or have low admission prices.)

Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park

The Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park in St. Louis is a holiday standard. Not only can your family drive your car through the unique light displays, there's a chance to take that drive in a horse-drawn carriage.

The exhibit opens on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and will run through Jan. 3, 2010.

Saturdays are set aside for the carriage rides. You'll have to make your reservations early for those.

For information, call (314) 615-7275 or visit www.stlouisco.com/parks.

Santa's Magical Kingdom at Eureka

Santa's Magical Kingdom at the Jellystone Park in Eureka gets one of the earliest start on the holiday lighting season. This year, the two-million-light display opens on Friday, Nov. 13, and runs through Jan. 4, 2010.

For information and directions, call (636) 938-5925 or visit www.eurekachamber.us.

Lights at Our Lady of Snows

Our Lady of the Snows' Way of Lights will open on Friday, Nov. 20, and will run through Jan. 3, 2010. The shrine is located near Belleville, IL.

For information about the 800,000-light display call (618) 397-6700. Or you can visit the website at www.snows.org

Holiday Festival of Lights

Macy's Holiday Festival of Lights will begin also on Friday, Nov. 20, with simultaneous lightings in both downtown St. Louis and Clayton.

For information, call (314) 436-6500 or visit www.christmasinstlouis.org.

St. Louis Zoo's Wild Lights

The St. Louis Zoo's annual Wild Lights display will begin on Friday, Nov. 27, and run through Dec. 13.

You can learn more about this event by going to www.stlzoo.org.

Anheuser-Busch's Christmas Lights

Anheuser-Busch's Christmas Lights display will be from Friday, Nov. 20, and run through Jan. 2, 2010.

For information, you can call (314) 577-2000.

Missouri Botanical Garden's Wreaths

The Missouri Botanical Garden's annual holiday wreaths display will start on Saturday, Nov. 21, and run through Jan. 3, 2010.

For detailed information, visit www.mobot.org.

Candle Makings at Columbia Bottom CA

If you'd like to make some holiday designs rather than just look at them, there's a special candle-making class for kids 10 and up at the Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area.

The candle-making class is Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to noon.

A special feature will be information about honeybees in Missouri. The connection is that the kids will be making their candles from beeswax. They also will be making dipped candles for the holidays.

For information, call (314) 877-6014 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/bottom.

Junior Duck Stamp Exhibit

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is one of the premier competitions for young artists, from kindergarten through high school.

The "best of show" pieces are going to be exhibited at the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center during the month of November.

Included in the display will be the 2009 Missouri Best of Show winner, a painting of two ducks by Rebekah Nastav. It is titled "Serenity."

For information, call (314) 301-1500 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/cnc/powder.

An Oddball event: The Mystery of Scat

If you're looking for an off-the-wall event to attend during November, you might like to trip the class entitled "Peek-a-Poo: Uncover the Mystery of Scat.

If you're not up on the term "scat," it's what animals leave in the outdoors when going to the bathroom.

Actually, the collecting of scat is an important scientific exercise to help researchers find out what animals eat, whether they are sick and other important clues to the health of our state's wildlife.

A special class for kids 7 to 12 will be held Monday, Nov. 23, at the Powder Valley CNC.

For information, call (314) 301-1500 or visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/cnc/powder.