While many associate California vacations with glitzy Hollywood, glamorous San Francisco high rise cocktail lounges and the famed Southern California beaches that beckon, there’s another side of California every bit as charming–California’s countryside and its farm life. During the holidays the city of Calistoga in Napa Wine Country showcases what makes visits to this destination so special–with its annual Calistoga Lighted Tractor Parade.

If you think tractors are boring, think twice. Adorned with lights and topped with lavish displays created by the wine country’s best “imaginers”, this event makes for a delightful way to reconnect with things that city dwellers have become so removed from–like their food sources and the farmers who bring us our daily bread. It is one of several tractor parades in California but is one of the best vacations for gift buying as you work your way through the fabulous restaurants and wineries, sampling a variety of locally crafted wines to buy and give as presents.