New additions this week to Kim's New England Deal Sheet:

• Say "Ciao!" to '10 at a Tuscan Feast in Maine with a two-night Kennebunkport New Year's Eve escape priced from $337.10 per couple;
• Enjoy a wild ride in Vermont with the Rabbit Hill Inn's Truck Safari package this winter; and
• Receive a free $100 dining gift card when you purchase $500 in Newport Restaurant Group gift cards by December 31.

_{Photo of dinner at the Newport Restaurant Group's Castle Hill Inn & Resort © 2003 Kim Knox Beckius.}

The Yankee Candle flagship store in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, is the Disney World of candles and one of New England's most popular shopping destinations as the holidays approach. In addition to finding the largest imaginable selection of Yankee candles in an endless array of fragrances and colors, you'll find kitchen and home accessories, New England crafts, collectibles, a toy shop, gifts galore, a restaurant and even the Black Forest room where it snows year round!

More of New England's Top Shopping Destinations

• L.L. Bean Flagship Store in Freeport, Maine
• Simon Pearce in Quechee, Vermont
• Antiquing in Essex, Massachusetts
• Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, Vermont

_{Yankee Candle flagship store photo © 1999 Kim Knox Beckius.}

Carl Bozenski's Christmas Village in Torrington, Connecticut, has been a holiday tradition since 1947. This free holiday attraction, which is open daily now through Christmas Eve, enchants visitors young and old. Enjoy these pictures and tips for planning your own visit.

Are you dreaming of... sleigh rides, deer tracks in the snow, ice skating on a frozen pond, cuddling in front of a crackling fire with someone you love and all of the magical merriment of old-fashioned seasonal celebrations? There's no place quite like New England for the holidays. Here is your one-stop holiday guide to events, recipes, festivities and more.

_{Christmas Village photo © 2006 Kim Knox Beckius.}

I'm no Scrooge, but I wasn't in the holiday spirit until this past Sunday evening, when I spent time with ghosts from Christmas past in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Actually, they weren't ghosts. They were very knowledgeable and personable interpreters, who bring holiday traditions from the 1790s through the 1950s to life at Portsmouth, New Hampshire's Strawbery Banke: a living history museum on the site of the Seacoast region's oldest neighborhood. I'll take you to Strawbery Banke for the 30th annual Candlelight Stroll in this video and tell you how you can enjoy your own step back in time this holiday season.

More Old-Fashioned Holiday Fun!

• Christmas Nostalgia on Cape Cod
• Add a Victorian Touch to Your Holiday Decorating
• Christmas at Old Sturbridge Village