Our whole family loves staying at Pheasant Run every May for Combo Breaker, so when the resort offered to host us for two nights so we could experience Christmas at Pheasant Run, we were ecstatic. We made the drive up to St. Charles, IL, on Friday, and made the most of our Christmas getaway!

The first thing we noticed that there are beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere, inside…

…and out:

There is a light show on Bourbon Street every evening starting at 4:00 p.m. and running on the half hour until 9:30. We saw it several times, because it was so much fun! There was music playing, and people were dancing in the “street” and having a great time!

There are also fun activities for kids on Bourbon Street, including gingerbread house making, ornament creating, and cookie decorating. We weren’t available to take part in these activities, but they looked like a lot of fun!

The highlight of the weekend was the Santa breakfast in the New Orleans ballroom and on Bourbon Street on Sunday morning. We arrived a little early to enjoy the decorations (again).

Even before we were seated, the children were offered a sugar cookie to decorate. There were little cups of sprinkles and various colors of frosting to choose from…this was a great way to start our experience, and would come in really handy for keeping little hands busy before they get their food!

Bourbon Street had tables for smaller groups set up:

And the ballroom had large tables. For once, we were rewarded for having a large group, because we were close to both the food, and the hosts of the event (Santa and Mrs. Claus)!

Our table was festively decorated:

We were offered drinks by our server, a very attentive and kind woman named Lisa, right after we were seated. There were plenty of options, including coffee and tea, and several kinds of juice. The buffet lines opened up almost immediately, and the food choices were beyond amazing! There was an omelet station (almost all of us had one…mine included salmon, spinach, and mushrooms), a carving station with amazing ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, cornflake crusted French toast that Ryan said was amazing, red velvet waffles with all kinds of toppings, fresh fruit, and desserts that included cream puffs, eclairs, brownies, muffins, and chocolate-covered strawberries. It was an incredible (and very delicious!) meal!!!

People were free to see Santa and Mrs. Claus whenever they wished, so the line never got long, which was fantastic. As you would expect, they were very kind, and did a great job of talking to each of our children in turn:

This weekend was a dream experience for our family. We enjoyed great food (Pheasant Run also provided us with a delicious breakfast on Saturday, which we had at their Jambalaya restaurant). We reveled in the Christmas spirit that was everywhere at the resort. We had a wonderful time making memories together, and we were treated exceptionally well by all of the Pheasant Run staff. It was an unforgettable Christmas getaway!