I love fall and everything there is to do here in Lake County but we are now turning the page to the most wonderful and joyous time of year…the Holiday Season! Lake County is the perfect place for festive holiday fun! Starting this weekend there will be residents and visitors at all of our great shopping locations from Gurnee Mills and Westfield Hawthorn to Long Grove, Downtown Antioch, Vernon Hills, Libertyville and Waukegan. Not to mention, this is also the kick-off weekend to many of our festive holiday events. Another great time of year to enjoy our beautiful county!

Gurnee Mills Mall and Westfield Hawthorn will both be opening early this Friday for the shopping season. Both will be open at 5am to accommodate those early shoppers, but the big box stores at each mall will open earlier so please check each store for hours of operation. Santa will be visiting each mall through December 24, so make sure your kids get there in time to tell him what they want, as he will have to rush back to the North Pole of the 24th to get all those gifts delivered. Westfield Hawthorn is also hosting a Turkey Day 5K run/walk starting at 8am. They will also be having Toys for Tots Drive on November 27 and December 3 and 10. Gurnee Mills Mall has a wide range of events planned for the holiday season and will kick things off on Black Friday where shoppers have a chance to win fabulous prizes, sample favorite holiday foods, and see a performance at 10am from Chicago’s Rock-n-Roll hit musical “Million Dollar Quartet”. My pal from 102.3 WXLC, Jimmy Novak, will be broadcasting live from 5am – 9am.

The dazzling Vernon Hills Winter Wonderland Holiday Light Show kicks-off this Friday night at 6pm and is a sight to see. It is a great tradition for many families as they take a drive through this amazing collection of animated lights and decorations on the grounds of the Cuneo Mansion & Gardens. From what I hear, when you go to this event, you will receive a raffle ticket to take to any participating Vernon Hills store for a chance to win a $50 gift card in their holiday raffle. You can check out my behind the scenes look at this great holiday event at http://www.youtube.com/visitlakecounty. The Village of Vernon Hills will hold its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Vernon Hills Golf Course on Saturday, November 27 at 4:30pm. There will be hot chocolate, cookies and cider available, plus Santa of course!

Also, starting this Friday at 10am is the Chicago Botanic Garden Wonderland Express. This 10,000 square foot exhibit of miniature trains winds over bridges, past waterfalls and through more than 80 mini-replicas of Chicago’s favorite landmarks. The Garden will also be decorated with thousands of twinkling lights. Check out our website http://www.lakecounty.org/events.cfm for all of our communities’ tree lighting ceremonies happening this weekend.

Mark your calendars to be at KeyLime Cove Waterpark Resort in Gurnee on Friday, December 10 at 6pm as the Radio Disney Road Crew will be there giving away prizes and enjoying “splash-tastic” holiday fun! Our holiday page, http://www.festivespaces.com has great holiday events listed and you could even win a shopping spree and an overnight stay by entering our contest. Lake County is definitely a great place to be all year round and I look forward to experiencing all of our festive holiday events!

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