Every year, St. Augustine, Florida is decorated extensively with beautiful Christmas lights in a celebration called Nights of Lights. There is a special ceremony at the start of Nights of Lights in which the lights are first turned on and lots of people flock to see it. I was fortunate to see it firsthand yesterday. Here are the highlights from the experience.
The main event was in the Plaza de la Constitución Gazebo. They had a band playing Christmas music and counting down to the big moment when time drew near. There was additional entertainment earlier on but I arrived after it had already ended. A lot of lights were already glowing as I made my way to the gazebo, so I was confused and wondering if I had missed it. However, once I got to the right place, I saw that there were still many lights that had yet to be lit up. After the countdown, the switch was thrown and everyone cheered and applauded as they admired the lights. I spent a long time walking around the gazebo and taking pictures of anything cool that I saw.
When I was through exploring the gazebo, I wandered down several other streets and admired their lights and decorations. I rarely take more than a pictures when I go somewhere and I often end up taking none at all. It’s usually not something I think much about and I have several friends that take good pictures when we go out together. When it comes to Christmas lights and decorations, however, I always enjoy photographing them. I made sure to capture a lot of things I wanted to remember later on, my favorite of which I included in this post. Once I had done all I wanted to do, I went back to my car and headed home.
I had been hoping to see some friends and do a bit of swing dancing that night, but things took a different turn (literally, as you’ll see in the next few sentences). Because they had closed off several streets, it took me much longer to find a parking spot than it normally does down there. Eventually, I got a place to park with the help of a friend who messaged me and made my way over to the festivities. I was either too late or in the wrong place to meet up with my friends who were down there, so I didn’t end up dancing that night. Despite this, I still greatly enjoyed seeing all the lights, listening to the music, taking pictures, and walking around the city. It was a nice night and I’m glad I was there to enjoy what it had to offer.