Come and behold them

Naperville neighborhoods aglow with holiday displays; here's your guide to the brightest and best

In the age of MP3 players, The Sun's annual Naperville Christmas lights tour doesn't seem complete without a custom-made playlist.

As before, we divided the city into north and south routes. But this year, we devised lists of music to accompany your light-seeing trip.

While you're at it, why not satisfy all of your senses? Stop into an area coffeehouse first to fortify yourselves with mint hot chocolate, skinny eggnog lattes, gingerbread milkshakes or some other suitable yule fuel.

Now you're ready to hit the twinkling trail.

1) Start at Brookdale Road and Route 59, where almost every tree in the Brookdale neighborhood is decked in green and white lights. Head east on Brookdale Road; continue on this street as it changes to River Road. At Jefferson Avenue, turn left.

2) Downtown, the Victorian home at 306 W. Jefferson Ave. (at Jefferson Avenue and Eagle Street) is brightly illuminated from its front porch to the sidewalk. Enjoy the drive down Jefferson Avenue to Washington Street, where all the trees in the business district are wrapped in white. At Washington, turn left. At Ogden Avenue, turn left again and make a quick right at Webster Street.

3) The neighbors at 1326 and 1332 N. Webster St. have a joint display of handmade wooden singing mice, a Santa train and a Nativity scene. At Bauer Road, turn right.

4) A few blocks east of Washington Street, 753 E. Bauer Road is a beacon of white lights. At Vest Avenue, turn right. At Case Street, turn right again. At Columbia Street, turn left. At Monticello Drive, turn left.

5) The white reindeer pulling a sleigh at 760 Monticello Drive signal you've reached the Columbia Estates neighborhood , where several houses take Christmas lights seriously. Turn right at Fairwinds Court, and you can't miss Santa's workshop and reindeer stable at 823 Fairwinds. Take a spin around the cul-de-sac, and at Monticello turn right.

At Morven Court, turn right and look for the red arches over the sidewalk at 827 Morven Court - they belong to a house so bright that it was nationally televised on HGTV's "What's With That Christmas House?" Around the court, the neighbors follow up with Santa in an upstairs window and a sleigh with a simple message: "Believe."

Back on Monticello, turn right. At Plank Road, turn left. At Milton Drive, turn right.

6) The residents of 538 Milton Drive (at Milton Drive and Wakefield Court ) estimate they used 39,000 light bulbs in their display. Turn left at Wakefield Court and give the cross-street neighbors at 585 Wakefield Court credit for competing - just look for the inflatable candy-cane archway.

Back at Milton Drive, turn left. At Springhill Circle, turn left. At Plank Road, turn left. At Columbia Street, turn left. At Highland Avenue, turn right. At Sleight Street, turn left.

7) At 328 S. Sleight St. , there's a moving Santa on the front porch and different scenes in each of the front windows - and those are only the highlights. By contrast, at 336 S. Sleight St. , the lawn bears a single decoration: arrows pointing to the next-door neighbors.

At Prairie Avenue, turn left. At Charles Street, turn right. At Gartner Road, turn left. At Olesen Drive, turn right and make a quick left at Huntleigh Drive.

8) Check out the spinning peppermints at the first of three houses on the right - 801, 805 and 809 Huntleigh Drive . Turn around in the next cul-de-sac and head back to Olesen Drive. At Olesen, turn right. At Gartner, turn right. Near Naper Boulevard, look left:

9) 1405 Gartner Road decks out the house and the trees. At Naper Boulevard, turn right. At Rockbridge Road, turn left. Follow this around to Sun Valley Road and turn right. At Breckenridge Road, turn left.

10) Flying reindeer and shooting stars at 6764 Breckenridge Road , Lisle, light up the school playground. At Aspen Road, turn right. At Sun Valley Road, turn left. At College Road, turn right. At Culpepper Drive, turn right and follow it back to Naper Boulevard. Turn left on Naper Boulevard. Two blocks down, at Overton Court, turn left.

11) Forty feet in the air, a star shines over the Nativity at 1137 Overton Court . Swing around the court and at Naper Boulevard, turn left. At Hobson Road, turn right. At Washington Street, turn right. At Gartner Road, turn left. At Catalpa Lane, turn right.

12) The front lawn of 1008 Catalpa Lane features angels, Dalmatians, gingerbread and one giant Christmas tree. Turn around the cul-de-sac and at Gartner Road, turn right. At 75th Street, turn right. At Rickert Drive, turn right. At River Road, turn right. At Raintree Drive, turn left.

13) About 30 homes on the 800 block of Raintree Drive decorated their parkway trees in green and white. At Sequoia Road, turn left. At Rickert Drive, turn right. At Ogden Avenue, turn right. At Feldott Lane, turn left and wrap up your tour with a final neighborhood collaboration:

14) Wildflower subdivision decorated the trees along its main street, Feldott Lane, in red and white. Wind through the neighborhood's other circles and lanes for more color-coordinated Christmas lights.

1) "Christmas Is All Around" by Billy Mack

2) "Sleigh Ride" by Ella Fitzgerald

3) "The Christmas Song" by Nat "King" Cole

4) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee

5) "Run Rudolph Run" by Chuck Berry

6) "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/ We Three Kings" by the Barenaked Ladies with Sarah McLachlan

7) "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by the St. Olaf Choir

8) "Away in a Manger" by the Canadian Brass

9) "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon

10) "Christmastime Is Here" (instrumental version) by Vince Guaraldi Trio

1) 2924 Portsmith Court. Take 95th Street west of Route 59 and turn right (north) onto Deering Bay Drive. Take a quick left onto Rosecroft Lane and follow it almost all the way to the end; turn right. Out the passenger-side windows you'll see toy soldiers standing guard as smiling polar bears in Santa hats make nice for those who pass by. There's no outlet, so make a U-turn and head back out to Route 59, where you'll turn right. Take a left at 111th Street.

2) The Harmony Grove subdivision. The development has a brilliantly illuminated grove of trees flanking its entrance and is aptly decked with long stretches of parkway trees swathed in white lights below and green ones up top. Freeland Circle, Chokeberry Trail and Hoddam Road particularly deserve a drive-by. Once you've finished the subdivision circuit, go back out on 111th and continue east to Book Road. Head north about 1 1/2 miles, past Ashbury Park. Take a right at the stoplight.

3) Conan Doyle Road . Numerous impressive displays line this thoroughfare, but be sure to have a good look at the 1100 block. When you come to Plainfield-Naperville Road, turn left and go to 95th Street, turn left again and take 95th past Book Road to Nicole Drive. Turn right and then right again on Beth.

4) Sibling Court. This is your first left. Look right to see the enormous inflated snowman, smiling and bobbing gently in the breeze. Then look left and check out the small herd of illuminated reindeer, their heads also gently bobbing, with a little glowing gingerbread house in their midst. Go back to Beth Lane and go left, then turn right on Sisters Avenue, right on Joyce Lane, left on Book Road and right on Leverenz Road (check out the place on this street where every last window and doorway is outlined in colored lights). Turn left onto Flambeau Drive, right on Galena Court and then right on Meadow Lane. It will bend left and change names.

5) 28W165 Lakeview Drive . You're looking for the sweet little gingerbread village, rendered in wooden cutouts and paint. Continue on Lakeview and go left at Park Lane and right at Countryview Drive. Just before you come to Plainfield-Naperville Road, you'll run across a yard party to which it appears only inflated characters have been invited. Turn left on Plainfield-Naperville and go north to 87th Street; turn right. Go all the way to Modaff Road and turn left and then take the first left, onto Travelaire Avenue. Turn right on Navarone Drive and take the next left.

6) 2113 Dorval Drive. You'll already have spotted the cadre of Christmas critters - even a gigantic and pretty friendly-looking Yeti, who's waving at you from the rear of the merry menagerie - in this yard, a Sun light-seeing favorite. Stay on Dorval and turn left when it rejoins Navarone. Go back out onto Modaff, turning left. Then go right on 81st Street, which is but a stub, and turn left onto Quail Drive. Follow it all the way to the T-intersection and go right.

7) 1504 Terrance Drive. The front yard you're looking for is lit up like a you-know-what, with every tree and shrub fully aglow. The jolly snowman posted near the front door appears especially pleased. Continue on Terrance back to Prairie Knoll and turn left. Follow it around the curve and go right on Redstart. Go to Washington and turn right. At the T-intersection, go right onto Weber Road and then left on Royce. Take the second left, onto Apple River Drive, and then take the first right.

8) 316 Royce Woods Court . Just past the curve you'll see the sign from the Krug family, who convey their warmest holiday wishes using a passage from Dr. Suess' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Turn around and go back out to Apple River and go right, then right on River Woods Drive and right again, on Alexandria Drive. After several curves you'll go left on Remington Drive.

9) 2320 Remington Drive . At this house you'll find snowflake outlines twinkling in every window while Santa's likeness, smiling from the center of the outside wall, reminds passersby that it's perfectly OK to stare. Keep going north on Remington and take a right onto 87th Street. At Keim Road you'll see a red, green and white scene that puts on the Christmas pageant with help from inflated actors. Keep going, to University Drive, and turn left.

10) 2035 University Drive . The gang's all here: snowmen, reindeer, a toy train, Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy - even a squishy cloth Santa, who's dangling from the eaves at one corner of the upper floor. Stay on University to Lisson Road and go left. When it ends at Wehrli Road go left again. Take the first right.

11) 1800 Auburn Avenue . Pause the playlist and open the windows, just for a minute. This homeowner has put up an impressive computerized display incorporating red, blue and green lights that pulsate in synchronized fashion with a holiday soundtrack. Several other residents opn the 1800 block have also done dazzling decorating deeds; check those out, too, and then turn onto Greene Ridge Drive and head north. The street bends to the right. You're looking for the fourth left after the bend.

12) 8S770 Singletree Lane . You can't miss it. Every structure - fence, tree, archway, birdhouse tower, house eaves, garden shed - is draped with lumen power. A towering evergreen on each edge of the yard wears a swirl of old-fashioned colored bulbs that blink an unmistakable message: Happy holidays to you and yours.

1) "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by the Pointer Sisters

2) "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by the Beach Boys

3) "Faith Noel" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

4) "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" by Billie Holiday

5) "Winter Wonderland" by the Eurythmics

6) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Mel Torme

7) "The Bells of St. Mary" by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans

8) "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Elvis Presley

9) "Christmas Is" by Lou Rawls

10) "Santa Baby" by Madonna

11) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Mannheim Steamroller

12) "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi Trio