These are the best places to celebrate the holidays in 2019

See which holiday events and attractions were voted as the best in our 2019 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

In anticipation of what Andy Williams crooned “the most wonderful time of the year,” 10Best set out to find North America’s best seasonal events – light shows, holiday parades, Christmas markets and festive hotels – and we asked our readers to help. For the past four weeks, you’ve been voting for your holiday favorites, and the results are in.

Click on each category below to see the full list of winners.

Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights: A Longwood Christmas at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

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During A Longwood Christmas, Longwood Gardens celebrates the shapes of the season. The outdoor gardens are sheer magic with more than half a million lights by way of illuminated trees to glowing orbs to dancing fountains. Outdoor fire pits and carolers add a note of holiday cheer.

Inside, the celebration continues with elegantly adorned spaces and towering trees inspired by the contours of ribbons to confectionery to snowflakes.

Full list of winners: Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights »

Best Holiday Historic Home Tour: Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee

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Graceland is one of the most-visited private homes in the nation. Every year, more than 600,000 people go to Elvis Presley’s former estate in Memphis.

The Christmas season at Graceland kicks off with a lighting ceremony mid-November, after which visitors can tour the home decorated for the season with traditional lights, a live-size nativity scene and Santa. Presley family Christmas artifacts are on display during this special time of year.

Full list of winners: Best Holiday Historic Home Tour »

Best Holiday Market: Carmel Christkindlmarkt in Carmel, Indiana

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The Carmel Christkindlmarkt brings a bit of Saxony, Germany to Indiana during this annual festive event. The market features the only Glühwein Pyramid in the U.S., standing 33 feet tall with more than 3,000 lights.

Full list of winners: Best Holiday Market »

Best Holiday Parade: America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit

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Detroit has been hosting America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Art Van since 1924. Since then, it has grown to become one of the largest and most popular parades in the country, complete with marching bands, helium balloons and colorful, larger-than-life floats making their way down historic Woodward Avenue each Thanksgiving morning.

Full list of winners: Best Holiday Parade »

Best Hotel for the Holidays: The Roosevelt New Orleans

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During the holidays, the lobby at The Roosevelt New Orleans gets adorned with 135,572 lights, 1,004 feet of garland, 698 hand-tied bows and 2,200 glass ornaments decorating 44 Christmas trees and 3,328 feet of winter white branches.

Full list of winners: Best Hotel for the Holidays »

Best Public Holiday Lights Display: Bentleyville “Tour of Lights” in Duluth, Minnesota

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Bentleyville “Tour of Lights,” America’s largest free walk-through lights display, invites visitors to walk amid more than 5 million lights spread across a 20-acre park on the shores of Lake Superior. Guests can get their photo taken with Rudolph, visit with Santa and enjoy free cocoa, cookies, roasted marshmallows and popcorn.

Full list of winners: Best Public Holiday Lights Display »

Best Theme Park Holiday Event: An Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri

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Branson’s Silver Dollar City gets decked in 6.5 million colorful, twinkling lights during its annual holiday celebration, An Old Time Christmas.

It’s bigger and brighter than ever in 2019, with festivities centered on an 8-story-tall special effects Christmas tree, with 1,000 other decorated trees around the park, two Broadway-style holiday productions and an illuminated parade featuring Rudolph and his reindeer friends.

Full list of winners: Best Theme Park Holiday Event »

Best Zoo Lights: PNC Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo

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During the annual PNC Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, some 3 million LED lights illuminate the night. Visitors can meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus, watch a lights show on Swan Lake, drool over a gingerbread village, munch on s’mores or ride the Toyland Express train.

Full list of winners: Best Zoo Lights »

Congratulations to all our holiday winners.

10Best is a part of the USA TODAY Network, providing an authentically local point of view on destinations around the world, in addition to travel and lifestyle advice.

Colts vs Saints: 3 keys for the offense in Week 15

Keys for the Colts offense in Week 15.

After a 28-point performance last Sunday vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Indianapolis Colts offense heads south to face the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.

With a team like the Saints and their high-powered offense, the Colts must be able to keep up with them on the scoreboard. New Orleans is fifth in the NFL in points per game (26.5) and with Indianapolis coming in on Monday Night Football, they will need to more than likely put up 30 or more points to win.

Let’s take a look at some keys for the offense in this week 15 primetime matchup:

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1. Stick with the running attack

Last week the Colts were not good at running the ball against a top-10 unit in the Buccaneers. Indianapolis rushed for 40 yards on 18 carries from their running backs.

With the Saints, they’re top-5 in the NFL in rush yards allowed but allow the 18th-best yards per rush at 4.3. Teams run the ball on the Saints the second-least in the NFL, at only 21 times per game, mostly due to the fact that teams fall behind so early and have to pass to catch up.

If the Colts can keep it within one possession, maybe even score first, they can try to lean on the run game a little more than teams have prior to this week.

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Report: Tarik Black enters NCAA transfer portal

One of Michigan’s star receivers is moving on from the program.

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There have been a lot of questions about which of Michigan’s star wide receiver trio will return in 2020, and now we know one won’t be back for sure.

While Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones are eyeing the NFL Draft, it looks like Tarik Black won’t be returning, but not because he’ll be making the jump to the league.

According to Detroit Free Press beat writer Ranier Sabin, Black will seek an opportunity elsewhere, as he has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. As a former early-enrollee, Black should be eligible to play immediately at his school of choice.

Black looked like a star immediately as a true freshman, but broke his foot in the third game of the year. He was set to return in 2018, but broke his other foot just before the season.

Rams’ 3 biggest causes for concern vs. Cowboys on Sunday

The Rams have to be careful not to let Amari Cooper go off.

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams enter Week 15 with a better record than the Cowboys, but Los Angeles needs a win more desperately than Dallas does. This isn’t going to be an easy victory by any means, either.

The Rams have to be careful not to overlook a talented Cowboys team that currently sits at 6-7. Here are the three biggest concerns Los Angeles faces on Sunday.

Slowing down Ezekiel Elliott

The Cowboys offense doesn’t go through Elliott as much as it did in years past, but he’s still a focal point. He can beat a defense on the ground or as a receiver, and while he’s not breaking off big runs this year, he does wear opponents down by consistently picking up chunks of yardage.

The Rams have been excellent against the run this season, except for the Ravens game, and the defense will need to be on top of its game Sunday afternoon. Missed tackles on Elliott will prove to be costly and will keep the Cowboys offense on the field longer than the Rams would like.

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Pierre Desir is Colts’ nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year award

Pierre Desir nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

The Indianapolis Colts have named cornerback Pierre Desir as the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

The Colts have had two winners of the award since its inception: quarterbacks Johnny Unitas (1970) and Peyton Manning (2005). Unitas was the first one to ever win the award.

“Pierre defines professionalism. He is a guy who is always prepared, he’s always focused, he’s a guy that young guys can easily follow – on and off the field. He’s consistent. He’s trustworthy. He’s a guy you can rely and count on all the time,” said David Thornton, Director of Player Engagement for the Colts. “The true mark of a good leader is their ability to help those around them become better. Pierre is definitely one of those individuals who makes those around him better.”

Here’s the full list of nominees for the award:

The Man of the Year Award is named after the former Chicago Bears running back and recognizes a player for outstanding community service as well as excellence on the field.

How ‘Uncut Gems’ brilliantly harnessed the drama of a real NBA playoff series

The drama is in the reality.

NEW YORK — If you’re looking for a nice, comfortable, feel-good movie to watch this holiday season, Uncut Gems is not it.

It’s the unflinching tale of Howard Ratner (played to nebbishy, weasely perfection by Adam Sandler), a New York diamond district jewelry dealer who has made a mess of his life — his marriage is about to end, his life is threatened, he’s in debt to everyone and constantly being chased and shaken down — partially due to a sports gambling habit that has him scrambling to pay back what he owes.

But there’s a lingering question that stuck with me after watching the film written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdie: why did they need to cast Kevin Garnett in the role and base the events around the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers?

It was a query I didn’t get to ask during an early December roundtable at a midtown Manhattan hotel attended by Sandler, Garnett and the Safdies. But you don’t need them to tell you why. Just watch the film.

The Safdies’ style is gritty, made to feel more like a documentary. In Uncut Gems, the camera constantly shakes. The sound is a near-constant, with characters talking over each other. Although Sandler’s Ratner is fictional, he’s meant to feel as real as possible.

“We had nights where I met a lot of guys who gambled and whose lives got ruined because of gambling and got to know their stories,” Sandler said earlier this month at the aforementioned roundtable. “We were very informed about the jewelry world and gambling world and looked at a lot of footage, documentaries on people, men who lost their families and everything and went to jail.”

That tells you a lot about the feel the Safdies were going for. Instead of casting an actor as a basketball player who comes into Ratner’s shop and discovers an uncut opal from Ethiopia that he thinks gives him strength to play well during the series, they cast Garnett to play himself. Perhaps that attempt to be as real as possible also helped his performance.

“It took me back,” Garnett said. “I felt like I was actually in the past. I felt actually able to relate to the exchange between Adam and myself, I felt like I’m here talking to Jacob (editor’s note: I assume he’s talking about Jacob “the Jeweler” Arabo here) about how he can ‘knock some of these zeroes down.'”

There are also two scenes — and I’ll try really hard not to spoil too much — surrounding two of those contests in the seven-game series in which the stress the audience feels throughout the film gets ratcheted up fifty-fold. Will the 36-year-old Garnett deliver for the Celtics and, in turn, help Ratner win some crucial bets? And will that, in turn redeem a mostly nonredeemable character who we’re rooting for?

Singer The Weeknd appears in the film too, with seemingly the same goal in mind: making a fictional story seem all too real and pushing the stakes over the top. And speaking with the Safdies, you can tell that’s what excites them.

Josh Safdie explained that they needed to find a series of games in which Garnett would succeed with the opal and struggle without it. Garnett’s 2012 semifinals was perfect — he had two games where he looked human and the rest where he was his usual self. That was thrilling to the filmmakers.

“The reality dictated the bet, and the story,” Josh Safdie said. “It was kind of incredible to fit this fictional world around that real event.”

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Report: Kirby Smart tried to get Mike Bobo

Per a report, Georgia football coach tried to hire Mike Bobo, who ended going to coach the South Carolina Gamecocks offense.

Former Georgia offensive coordinator and Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo became South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator and quarterback coach this week.

Bobo agreed to a two year contract with South Carolina on Tuesday.

Bobo, a former Georgia quarterback from 1993-97, worked for the Dawgs from 2001-2014, where he manufactured some incredible offenses and more than a few of the program’s best passers of all-time.

Given Georgia’s offensive struggles the past few seasons and the lack of certainty currently at offensive coordinator with James Coley, of course rumors spread about Bobo returning to his alma mater and coaching under his former teammate and friend Kirby Smart.

And though there were no actual reports of Smart trying to land his old teammate in Athens, there was some truth to those rumors according to to Andy Staples of the Athletic, who mentioned Smart’s efforts on Thursday.

“I think Smart will try to change the offense,” Staples wrote. “The question is how far he’ll be willing to go. (Smart) tried to hire (Bobo) … but South Carolina coach Will Muschamp won the tug-of-war between former Georgia teammates to hire their former teammate Bobo. Bobo would have opened up the offense …”

Muschamp is another Georgia guy. He, Smart and Bobo are all good friends and all overlapped during their playing careers as Bulldogs.

Bobo, 45, was fired by the Rams last Thursday after 3-9 and 4-8 seasons the previous two years. He started out with three consecutive years of 7-6 records.

South Carolina finished 4-8 overall and 3-5 in SEC play, under fourth-year head coach Will Muschamp.

Staples went on to write about coaches that he thinks would be a good fit to replace Coley, if Smart were to let him go.

You can read it all here.

Nearly 80 percent of NFL experts have Vikings beating Chargers

The Vikings have themselves an important game on Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers. 

The Vikings have themselves an important game on Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

The Vikings are 2.5-point favorites, and with that, 79 percent of NFL experts have Minnesota beating Los Angeles per NFLPickWatch.

Minnesota goes into the game with a 9-4 record. If the Vikings were to lose and the Rams were to beat the Cowboys, the Vikings would fall out of playoff positioning. So yeah, this one is important.

To round out the NFC North, 91 percent of experts have the Packers beating the Bears and 90 percent have the Lions falling to the Bucs.

4-star WR announces visit to Georgia over the weekend

Four-star wide receiver announces visit to Georgia over the weekend

After a busy week on the recruiting trail, the Georgia Bulldogs will host one last group of prospects this weekend before the early signing period starts on Wednesday.

Four-star receiver Arian Smith has announced he will be one of those players, after visiting with Coach Kirby Smart earlier in the week in Florida.

Smith is the No. 72 prospect in the Class of 2020 per 247 Sports and No. 14 at his position.

Make sure to follow along with UGA Wire this weekend as we bring you coverage of everything related to the early signing day, We’ll update you once we know more on who’s attending.

Patriots’ Kyle Van Noy named Week 14 NFLPA Community MVP

Kyle Van Noy has had an incredible impact on and off the field this season.

New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy has made an incredible impact on and off the field this season.

Van Noy was named the Week 14 NFLPA Community MVP, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He is also the Patriots’ nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

With the holidays around the corner, Van Noy held a celebration for 153 financially disadvantaged foster families at his ‘A Very Van Noy Christmas’ event.

Van Noy is in his fourth season with the Patriots and he’s at a career-high 6.5 sacks through 13 games. He’s become a leader for the defensive unit, and that leadership continues to spread around the community.

He grew up a foster child, so he and his wife, Marissa, have created the ‘Van Noy Valor Foundation’. They’ve put efforts together to help foster children and Patriots owner Robert Kraft discussed their impact.

“We are happy to nominate Kyle Van Noy for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award,” Kraft said. “We are so proud of Kyle’s accomplishments on the field as a New England Patriot, but even more so of his character and his contributions in the community. His Van Noy Valor Foundation has helped countless children and families. He and Marissa are remembering their childhoods and how foster care and adoption positively impacted their lives. Kyle’s personal connection to the reason behind their foundation is inspiring.”

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