I don’t know about you, but it’s been a while since “the holidays” really felt like the holidays to me. I mean, sure life is always changing, but when it came to that wonderful season, it always started with Halloween and gluttonous amounts of candy, slid seamlessly into Thanksgiving with copious amounts of food, and finally landed on Christmas with glorious amounts of presents. And for the most part, those things have remained the same. Now I brag less about the number of peanut butter cups I can fit into my mouth, I am the one snoring on the couch while the Cowboys play, and the cost of those presents is now a part of my reality. Mostly, it’s the same.
Still though, I will acknowledge that something has seemed off for a while now. It wasn’t until this year that I could really put my finger on it. Thanksgiving was the issue. It’s not that I haven’t been thankful, it’s that there has been something I WANTED to be thankful for and couldn’t be: the annual Longhorn football game against the Aggies. It’s been missing since 2011, and the world just wasn’t right. This year, oh this year, it’s back!
The Longhorns and Aggies have met 120 times on the gridiron with 72 of those games taking place on Thanksgiving Day. This year—once again—all’s right with the world; they are playing Thanksgiving weekend. What a year for it to start back up. Now, we will be thankful for football, BEVO, and proving once again which team reigns supreme. There is nothing more Austin than that.
Once that is settled, we can get back to the things that really matter – like all the places to go and things to do during the holidays (while wearing the jersey of your beloved and victorious team).
So, what does it mean to celebrate “the Austin way”? When almost everyone is celebrating something everywhere during the holiday season, what’s so special about the celebrations in Austin? This is a very good, and important question to ask. There are some things that are truly unique to Austin, and there are some things that might be done everywhere but are just done better in Austin. This article is simply too limited in space to be truly comprehensive because everything is bigger in Texas, including lists of everything we do over the holidays.
In the spirit of the holidays and giving, allow this to serve as a good start for your planning.
With Thanksgiving coming, there are no shortages of races happening in and around Austin. Whether you want to run the Turkey Trails, get your Gobble-Wobble on, or do the Turkey Shuffle, there is a half-marathon, 10k, 5k, 1mi, Kids Dash or virtual run available for you and the family. If you want some extra Austin incentive, the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot is having its 34th anniversary event and supports the fight against homelessness in Austin. So, you can engage in fun, fitness and philanthropy before you eat your weight in turkey and gravy.
If you want to bring back the old-time spirit of Christmas, you can relive the glory days of the traditional Christmas Tree Hunt. Conveniently, the Elgin and Evergreen Tree Farms provide you the chance to cut down your own Texas-grown Christmas tree (or pick a precut tree to take home if you aren’t comfortable felling the tree yourself). Once you capture your tree, there are lots of games and rides for the children to enjoy while you brag about your tree conquest with other victorious tree hunters at the farms.
If a single tree in your home just doesn’t light up your holiday spirit quite enough, fret not, as Austin is here to help. Load up and head over to Zilker Park for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony where you will see that you did not, in fact take, home the largest Christmas tree in Austin. Sure, maybe it’s not a real tree per se, but it is 55 feet tall and has 3,309 lights on it. Since you’re there anyway, the Austin Trail of Lights is celebrating 60 years in Zilker Park this year. It’s 1.25 miles with more than 2 million lights, 90 lighted holiday trees and more than 70 other holiday displays and lighted tunnels.
Since there seems to be a theme that includes running and walking, why not plan a little holiday stroll? The Downtown Austin Alliance has its annual Holiday Sing-Along and Stroll. There’s the obvious singing and walking, but there’s also a children’s market, lots of artisans and while maybe not holiday specific, no less enjoyable food trucks.
Now, I realize that some of us may not want to do cardio over the holidays. Maybe this is where we skip leg day right? Enough with runs, trots, wobbles, and walks. For those of us who know that you don’t have to exercise to have an experience, allow me to suggest the uniquely-Austin, North Pole Flyer steam train, for two hours of time with Santa, cookies from Mrs. Claus, coloring, singing, and balloon animals.
There are more than enough events and activities to do in, and around, Austin during the holidays. If you really want to know the secret to celebrating the Austin way, it’s trying to do them all. (And it’s perfectly acceptable to wear your UT jersey to any of them – just make sure to dress it up with slacks if it’s an upscale event.)
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas, y’all!
Eric Frans is a native Texan who has traveled around the world spreading the gospel of Texas across 5 continents. Regardless of location, he watches UT football. And he personally taught a Mursi tribe in Ethiopia to “Hook’em” in photographs.
