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By Amy Nance
When you winter in St. Augustine, history meets holiday, sparking a season of magic and merrymaking for old and young alike.
Festive horse-drawn carriages wind through the streets. A grand Christmas tree unfurled in the plaza, trimmed with red ribbons and cheered by thousands of carolers. Bridges, trees and bed-and-breakfasts ablaze with white lights. Usher in the holiday season alongside ghosts of Christmas past and present. When you winter in St. Augustine, history meets holiday, sparking a season of magic and merrymaking for old and young alike. From jubilant parades to jolly good wines, grand illuminations to glorious tours, the Ancient City sparkles in its best Colonial finery.
"Inn" Holiday Style
Put on your nightcaps and gather round the hearth. St. Augustine's inns and B&Bs deck their historic halls in wreaths, garlands and poinsettias for their Annual Holiday Tour, opening their charming lodgings to the public. Join thousands of spirited visitors to the historic inns in this jaunt through centuries past, now in its 12th year. Climb aboard the red St. Augustine Sightseeing Train as it takes you from one ornamented inn to the next. Inside you'll find displays of cherished heirlooms on fireplace mantels and delicate, vintage ornaments decorating Christmas trees. Explore parlors, porches and gardens dressed in red ribbons and bows as the innkeepers, some in full Colonial regalia, welcome you with holiday greetings. Each inn and B&B on the tour has its own unique decorating style, from Victorian to Gothic, Americana to Modern. Local singers, musicians and storytellers collect in the gardens and streets, lending a jovial chord to the atmosphere. Twenty-four of the city's best restaurants partner with each participating inn to bring you samples of their festive holiday dishes. Banquet tables piled high with food and spirits await your hearty holiday appetite.
The inns and B&Bs are in full swing during the tour period, and invite you to immerse yourself in the holiday spirit as a guest in their gracious rooms. Hide your presents under the bed at the St. Francis Inn, where special amenities abound like unexpected gifts. From fresh flowers to decanted sherry in every room, pastries and tea in the common areas to an evening social hour, St. Francis' treats are generously given. For high-holiday style, check in to the Casa Monica Hotel. This luxury affair is lavishly decorated in rich jewel-tones, with an authentically Moorish feel. From swooping chandeliers to gorgeous tapestries, this rambling hotel is a full-service castle of sorts. Only steps away from the famed Plaza, you'll be near all of the holiday festivities.
Holiday Happenings
Join the candle-bearing masses in the Grande Illumination Ceremony torchlight parade. This event marks a military salute to the season, following the customs of the 18th century British, who occupied St. Augustine for a time. Hear the governor's proclamation and the resounding musket fire. For dinner, try the Raintree Restaurant. Housed in a Victorian home, the Raintree's style is warm and intimate, and the dessert bar is loaded with delectable goodies. The Columbia Restaurant is open 365 days a year, serving Spanish and Cuban food with old-world charm. Throughout fall and even into winter, both establishments offer dining under the stars.
St. Augustine's bustling streets and shops are bursting with seasonal offerings from great food and fine wine to arts and crafts and clothing. Uncork your favorite red at the San Sebastian Winery during its Annual Holiday Open House in November.
Light up the Nights
The season of lights takes on a whole new dimension when St. Augustine weaves and strings its parks, arches and arbors with two million white bulbs during its ten-week Nights of Lights celebration. No structure is left unheralded as even the medians and commercial buildings light up in unison. Launched in the Plaza de la Constitucion amid a bevy of carolers, the city flips a switch and the turrets, fountains and shingled roofs flare up in wintry hues. Join locals and visitors alike in the Plaza in song as the city Christmas tree is presented. Then, walk the downtown streets and view the incandescent Bridge of Lions, the collective glow from thousands of lights reflecting on the water.
You'll have a chance to thank Santa at the St. Augustine Christmas Parade, when bands, floats, horses and the jolly man himself appear to ring in the season. It's magic in the Ancient City. Just follow the lights.
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