St. Augustine, FL The Castello De San Marcos is the oldest and one of the strongest fortifications ever built in what is now the United States. It may also be the most embattled fortress in the United States not directly tied to the American Revolution or American Civil War. Historically it is the pride and joy of both St. Augustine, America’s oldest city, and the State of … [Read more...]
AMERICAN COASTAL FORTS (MCHENRY, PULASKI, SUMTER)
Baltimore, MD; Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC The United States of America came into existence just in time for the last few decades of fixed stone fortifications. With the advent of more powerful cannons, walled forts and castles were already largely an outdated luxury. Nevertheless America did erect a few major fortresses in the early years of the 19th century, primarily to … [Read more...]
CLAXTON BAKERY
Claxton, Georgia There are many sweet treats that have become closely associated with the holiday season. But few specialties have such an undeservedly bad reputation as the often maligned fruitcake. Despite this, huge numbers of fruit cakes are produced, and consumed, by officianados around the world every year. For those people who indulge in the odd treat in North … [Read more...]
NATIONAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION
Asheville, North Carolina Gingerbread is not only the most traditional of Christmas cookies; it is also widely held to be the world’s most structurally sound edible substance. Whether or not this is a good thing is debatable. However, what is a fact is that the construction of gingerbread houses has become a wildly popular holiday tradition, and one that has been raised to … [Read more...]
CHRISTMAS LIGHT DRIVE-THRUS
Wheeling, WV; Charleston, SC; Lake Lanier, GA & Pine Mountain, GA Christmas Light drive-thrus are a relatively young phenomenon, but one which is growing annually in terms of both numbers and popularity of displays. The concept takes the old neighborhood drive-by Christmas light viewing concept to an entirely new level. Most of the best-known displays can be found in … [Read more...]
OSBORNE FAMILY SPECTACLE OF LIGHTS
Orlando, Florida The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights is arguably the world’s greatest, most concentrated and most extravagant Christmas light display. Created by Jennings Osborne in Little Rock, Arkansas, the famous neighborhood show has since relocated to the tourism-saturated city of Orlando in Florida, where it is now seen annually by millions of visitors to the … [Read more...]
WILLIAM PORTER SITES
New York City, NY & Asheville, NC New York City seems to have been a popular home of authors famous for Christmas literature at the turn of the century. In addition to Clement Clarke Moore and Francis Church, the Big Apple was the stomping ground of O. Henry, better known as William Sydney Porter. Porter, a southerner famous for his short stories, was residing in New … [Read more...]
JAMES PIERPONT SITES
Medford, Massachusetts & Savannah, Georgia Prior to the mid-19th century, holiday music was almost exclusively of a sacred nature, with perhaps a handful of festive English carols thrown in. But in the 1850s, pop Christmas music was born when James Lord Pierpont, a prominent American songwriter, published One Horse Open Sleigh. Later known as Jingle Bells, this simple, … [Read more...]
THE INCREDIBLE CHRISTMAS PLACE
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee The Incredible Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge is the largest permanent Christmas retailer in the American south, and one of the largest in the United States after Bronners. It is the most popular store in the Pigeon Forge-Gaitlinburg area, which is a major tourist feeder area for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Thanks to its proximity to the … [Read more...]
NATCHITOCHES CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
Natchitoches, Louisiana The Natchitoches Christmas Festival is one of the oldest and largest traditional Christmas celebrations in the American south. Founded by French traders in the early 18th century, the town of Natchitoches is one of the oldest permanent settlements in the Louisiana Territory. It was also likely the first place Christmas was ever celebrated west of … [Read more...]
