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Maybe this year you are spending Thanksgiving away from home? Maybe you are hosting guests who haven't visited before? There's no better reason than to get out of the house and create a new tradition, whether at a theme park, museum or nearby city or neighborhood. You don't necessarily have to head to a big city either.

You will find many to choose from on our Taking the Kids Holiday Lights section. Here are six you may want to consider:

In Berkeley, California, Fourth Street, a neighborhood of 65 shops and restaurants, shows off its holiday spirit with what some consider the best holiday light show in the Bay Area.

In Virginia, Beach, Va., check out the three-mile spectacle of nautically-themed holiday lights with the accompaniment of a selection of holiday music on the oceanfront boardwalk.

In Skaneateles, N.Y., Dickens Christmas in Skaneateles is a street-theater production with a cast of 70, which opens on Nov 25 and runs every weekend until Christmas. The production draws more than 20,000 visitors annually.

In Portland, Ore, check out the sweater bombed public art throughout downtown. The sweaters are hand knit by local fiber artists and created for each statue.

In Sacramento, California, the free Theatre of Lights in the Old Sacramento Historic District brings Clement Clarke Moore's classic Christmas poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to life on the balconies and facades of the historic buildings.

In Philadelphia, sparked by Ben Franklin's genius, the Franklin Square Electrical Spectacle is a free light show with more than 50,000 lights.

Now, ready to go have some holiday fun?

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

(c) 2016 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.