Travel Calendar

Sip some cider at a lighthouse

The Sandpoint Lighthouse in Escanaba, Mich., will be open Dec. 26 and 27 for a Holiday Open House. The restored 1867 structure on Michigan's Upper Peninsula welcomes holiday visitors with carols, cookies and decorations. Music will be furnished by local musicians, the tree will be decorated and hot cider will be served in the lighthouse kitchen next to the cast iron cookstove. (303 miles from O'Hare, (906) 789-6790, www.deltami.org/events/event.asp?uid=6)

Festivities mark Hmong New Year

The Hmong people of Wausau, Wis., have set aside Dec. 22 and 23 for the Hmong New Year Celebration. Festivities include folk music, cultural presentations, talent shows, traditional and modern dance and ethnic foods. Farmers in the mountains of Southeast Asia, Hmong immigrants fled to the U.S. after the Vietnam War. (264 miles from O'Hare, (715) 842-8390, (888) 948-4748, www.visitwausau.com/index.cfm?ID=151)

Shrine stages ˆ½annual light show

The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Ill., holds its annual Way of Lights holiday light display. The lights will be on through Jan. 6. Events scheduled periodically through the end of the illumination period include choir performances, a petting zoo, trolley and carriage rides, an interactive children's village and puppet show, laser light show, wreath and Christmas tree display and camel rides. (302 miles from O'Hare, (800) 682-2879, www.snows.org/Events.aspx?path=root/english/Events/WayofLights1)

Lake Geneva resort lights up holidays

The Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis., presents its 12th annual Christmas in the Country celebration through Dec. 30. Visitors will see more than half a million lights forming dramatic displays across the resort's 1,300 rolling acres, hear live music and enjoy a holiday tea, gingerbread house display, holiday song fest and a "Snap, Jingle, Pop" musical show in the lobby. Performances of the musical/theatrical extravaganza "Hooray for Holidays!" also will be held, and brunch with Santa will be available on Sundays through Dec. 23. (61 miles from O'Hare, (800) 558-3417, www.grandgeneva.com/dining/entertainment_christmas.asp)

Far

Boston knows how ˆ½to party on Dec. 31

First Night Boston is the country's oldest and largest New Year's arts celebration. On Dec. 31, First Night presents a day-long festival of art, music, dance, ice sculpture, fireworks and more in an alcohol-free atmosphere that welcomes children, families and revelers of all ages. It will feature more than 1,000 artists in 200 exhibitions and performances in more than 40 locations in downtown Boston, Mass. The MCCA Family Festival at the Hynes Convention Center features face painting, crafts workshops, puppet shows, music, comedians, jugglers and stunts. Don't miss ImprovBoston Kids Comedy, geared toward kids ages 8-12. New Year's Swingin Eve Dance Party with Marie Lawlor teaches revelers the right moves to dance their way into the new year. Film at First Night will include the New England Anime Society, Roxbury Film Festival, sneak previews of Hollywood feature films and a lineup of concert films with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. First Night will also feature five ice sculptures, the Metro Boston First Night Grand Procession and fireworks over Boston Harbor. Founded in 1976, the celebration has grown from a small arts event centered on the Boston Common to an arts organization that showcases work by Boston's cultural and artistic community. First Night has gone from attracting about 25,000 people to drawing crowds of more than 1 million. ((617) 542-1399, www.firstnight.org)

Pack your plaids and join the walk

The Olde Towne Scottish Walk on Dec. 31 in Portsmouth, Va., is modeled after Scotland's Hogmanay Festival, a day to offer blessings for prosperity in the coming year. The procession is led by pipe-and-drum bands and includes caroling and mini concerts at Olde Towne restaurants and pubs. Visitors are encouraged to wear their warmest woolens and plaids and join in the fun. ((757) 650-3052, www.portsmouthva.gov/calendar/default.asp#)

Wish Quebec City ˆ½a happy birthday

Quebec City, Quebec, the first permanent French settlement in North America, celebrates its 400th birthday in 2008. Quebec City 400th Anniversary kicks off on Dec. 31 at Place d'Youville with fireworks and visual effects lighting the sky at the stroke of midnight. The city's history will be retold through music, acrobatics and large-scale video projections in an outdoor show. On Jan. 5 and 6, the 400-Year-Journey Interactive Tour will be presented in Old Quebec. Participants will walk through 13 different stations where dozens of actors, comedians and athletes will tell the story of people in Quebec history. ((418) 648-2008, www.myquebec2008.com)

Bring 2007 to a close in North Carolina

North Carolina communities wrap up the year with both traditional and wacky celebrations.

In Manteo, N.C., you can keep the Christmas spirit alive on Dec. 29 by celebrating the sixth day of Christmas during an Elizabethan Christmas at Roanoke Island Festival Park. Visitors get a taste of 16th-century holiday traditions as they make decorations, learn dances, sing songs, discover food and drink of the season and indulge in merriment with members of the Guild of St. Andrew.

Folks celebrate Dec. 31 in some unusual ways in this state. During rhe Oriental Dragon Run in Oriental, N.C., they line the street with noisemakers and gather luck by touching the dragon. In Brasstown, N.C., the New Year's Eve Possum Drop includes a Miss Possum Contest, bluegrass music, Little Brasstown Church Choir, the blessing, cider and old-fashioned fun. In Mount Olive, N.C., the end-of-the-year party is the New Year's Eve Pickle Drop organized by the Mt. Olive Pickle Company. A lighted, 3-foot pickle drops into a perfectly preserved redwood pickle tank at the stroke of 7 o'clock, which is midnight in Greenwich, England, where the world's time is kept. Live music, door prizes and free refreshments are offered.

((800) 847-4862, www.visitnc.com)

• Event details are subject to change; contact organizers for updated information.