Six Quick Holiday Trips

Seasoned Wichitans are well aware of the city’s holiday happenings, but there’s loads going on a few hours away. Of course, there’s Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, but have you ever seen 300 nativities in one place? From light festivals to quaint country gatherings, the region has much to offer for seasonal getaways.

Branson, MO
($49 adults, $39 kids 4-11 years old. Nov. 1–Dec. 30, Silver Dollar City, 399 Indian Point Rd., silverdollarcity.com)
Branson’s Silver Dollar City features a five-story musical Christmas tree, a living nativity scene and a light parade that runs twice nightly. Fourteen actors, accompanied by a live band, perform an original musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and St. Nicholas pays a surprise visit to the kids.

Lawrence
(Donations accepted. Dec. 6-7, 13-14, 20-21. Centenary United Methodist Church, 245 N. 4th St., 785-843-1756)
Even if you don’t rock chalk, Lawrence’s little known Festival of Nativities is worth the drive. This annual celebration features more than 300 unique nativity scenes from around the world, as well as related art.

Oklahoma City, OK
(Nov. 28–Jan. 1. downtownindecember.com.)
Oklahoma City might be the closest thing in the Midwest to a winter wonderland. During the day, snow tube the country’s largest manmade slope or take a water taxi ride across the Bricktown Canal. At night, the Myriad Botanical Gardens lights up with thousands of twinkle lights strewn about the garden’s gorgeous plants.

Oxford
(Free. Nov. 23. 1-877-435-3535)
Less than an hour south of Wichita, the town of Oxford opens its doors for tours of festive historical homes, taffy pulling and surrey rides at Oxford’s “Christmas in the Country” celebration. And don’t miss the community Christmas tree, in Cave Park, on the banks of the Arkansas River.

Kansas City
(Free. Nov. 27–Jan. 13. Country Club Plaza, countryclubplaza.com)
More than 80 miles of lights line Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza every winter. On Thanksgiving night, more than 100,000 folks gather to watch the streets blaze into brightness. There’s no better season to take a carriage ride through the shopping district—the shops stay open later during the holidays, and the Plaza’s parking garages are free to the public.

Great Bend
($1. Nov. 19–Dec. 30, Santa World, 24th St. & Main, 620-792-2750)
Artist Loretta Miller displays 20 life-sized, handcrafted international Kris Kringles at Great Bend’s Santa World. See Russia’s Grandfather Frost, Ireland’s St. Stephen and Scotland’s Abbot of Unreason. On Main Street, downtown, there’s an iceless skating rink and a luminous Trail of Lights.