If you haven’t been to Holiday Junction yet, you need to! Not only is this year’s revamped display better than ever — if you’re a Duke Energy customer, you can go for free! Simply go to this website and claim your free vouchers. The voucher is good for four free admissions* (maximum two adults) to see Holiday Junction, and is only valid before Dec. 24.
As you know, we’re already museum members — and, quite honestly, Holiday Junction is what originally hooked us in! I took Julian three years ago when he was just a little guy, and he loved it so much we returned several times. In fact, that year, Mary first “saw” the trains as a week-old newborn. Now, the trains are something Julian talks about year-round; it’s a quintessential part of Christmas for our family!
What I’m saying, is that we’ve gone to this display many times in the past few years — and there are certain trains, trucks and scenes that Julian looks forward to seeing. There’s an area with a bunch of Duke Energy utility trucks fixing broken telephone lines, which is one of J’s favorites. This year, Duke went “green” by adding some solar panels to the mix.
J’s very favorite thing is a scene with a digger and other construction trucks — and he eagerly blazed through the display to find it!
Julian pointing to the digger in 2013 and 2015.
We went with my brother and 9-month-old nephew; and my brother and I both marveled at the all-new Lego display in the center of the room. In a nod to The Art of the Brick, this year’s Holiday Junction features a gigantic Lego train display, with lots of fun references to pop culture (and the 80s from which my brother and I hail). There was a Delorean from Back to the Future, the decked-out station wagon from Ghostbusters — and lots of Star Wars Lego characters staged around the display. I honestly want to go back just to see it again!
In addition to the display, there are also lots of activities for kids. There’s a kid-sized train (which Mary had a blast riding), train tables, a puppet (or reindeer?) show and Santa. But given Harvey’s response to Santa from our ill-fated mall visit — we skipped a visit with Mr. C.
