Lighthouse on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spend in and around the St Augustine lighthouse which held special appeal to husband and son because it is haunted.

Supposedly two little girls/ghosts live there and often tease visitors by pulling their hair. One of the ladies who worked in the lighthouse told us she has seen shadows moving around the lighthouse that didn't belong to people. But even though husband really searched for any suspicious activities he (thankfully) couldn't find any.

After we had attended mass in the oldest church in town we went back to "our" beach cottage and took a long walk on the beach.

And just when it was getting dark outside we celebrated Christmas, the German way, on Christmas Eve.

Pirate Museum - St Augustine

"Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain

If ever in St. Augustine you must must must visit the Pirate Museum! It is rather small and the entrance fee is pretty high but the amazing things one can see/touch/hear in there!

There are only two original Jolly Rogers in existance and this is one of them:

They also have a 400 year old treasure chest with little hidden compartments and fake locks and real keys, cannons going off and flags that can be hissed.

St. Augustine, Florida

During all the snow chaos in Europe, there were a few days, just before Christmas, when air traffic was able to resume as scheduled. Lucky for us, we managed to hop on a plane and fly to St. Augustine, the oldest town in America, just as we had planned and escape all the snow and freezing cold.

In St. Augustine we stayed at a cottage on the beach. It belongs to the St. Francis Inn, an old, charming bed & breakfast where Gary, a real southern cook, made breakfast for us every morning.

I would love to go back there just for his parmesan eggs, homemade "1791 cereal", the muffins, baked french toast with pecans or fresh vegetable frittata.

Besides the southern hospitality of the innkeepers we loved walking around St. Augustine, looking at the beautifully decorated homes and palm trees in the sun!

Snow

I don't remember it snowing that much in December, ever. We are drowning in snow here and I am just glad I don't have to work this month. There are no more regular flights in Europe to speak of and my collegues are stuck in London and Berlin and who knows where else.

But we are trying to get in the Christmas mood by walking in the snow instead of taking the car...

visiting the beautiful Christmas markets...

having long breakfasts on the weekends...

and looking for Christmas gifts at "holyshitshopping"

where you can buy products made by young and mostly unknown artists (not for much longer). They offer their designs in German cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart, in unique locations and just for two days. It is a great opportunity to get new ideas and buy gifts that are not mass produced!

Award

The other day husband was presented with an award by a 4 Star General because, well, because he is great. He asked if we wanted to come to the presentation and we did, not realizing that this was kind of a big deal and there were flags everywhere and official speeches and a lot of hand shaking.

My hand got shaken, too, because I am the wife of a great guy. This was pointed out several times but I already knew that!

December

As much as I dislike winter, I love Christmas! And this year I started early with the preparations.

It is unbelievable how early daughter can get up when there is an advent calendar involved. She is in the best of moods as early as 5am!