What: The Bronx Zoo’s Holiday Lights
Why: This is a New York holiday favorite. The park’s winding pathways will be glowing with more than half a million twinkling lights and larger-than-life lighted animal and holiday displays. Discover what fun and romance have to do with the Bronx Zoo. B.Y.O.M. (Bring your own mistletoe.)
Where: The Bronx Zoo, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY
When: 5:00-9:00pm, Friday-Sunday, November 16-December 16, and January 4-6; Nightly, beginning December 17-January 1, 2008; (Closed December 24, and December 25)
Cost: Adults $14, Children (3-12) $10, under 3, Free, Seniors (65+) $12
How to get there: By subway; take the #2 or #5 train to East Tremont Ave/West Farms Square. At street level, walk straight ahead (follow train uptown) on Boston Road 2½ blocks to the Zoo’s Asia gate entrance (Gate A).*Note: During Holiday Lights, the Asia gate will be CLOSED. Instead, take the #2 train to Pelham Parkway. At street level, follow White Plains Road south to Lydig Ave (walking away from Pelham Pkwy). Make a right on Lydig Ave. At the intersection of Lydig and Bronx Park East, make another right, then a quick left on Boston Road at the stoplight. The Zoo’s Bronx River entrance (Gate B) is located directly ahead after the underpass. Bronx Zoo animal signs will guide you along the way!
By bus; the BxM11 express bus makes stops along Madison Avenue, between 26th and 99th Streets, then travels directly to the Zoo’s Bronx River entrance (Gate B). For your return trip, pick up the bus just outside the same gate at the MTA BxM11 sign (just before the underpass).
By train; take Metro North’s Harlem line to Fordham, then take the Bx9 bus eastward to 183rd Street and Southern Blvd.
(The Bronx Zoo, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 718-367-1010, http://bronxzoo.com)
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
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Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram