Episode 42 - Christmastime at Lighthouses

0:00 Hi everyone, I'm Emily. And I'm Vince. And this is the Lighthouse Lowdown. Christmas Day Edition. Christmas Day, how about that new logo? Yeah, happy holidays everybody. We do have a new logo. Most of you can't see it because we're a podcast. But it's pretty cool. So instead of a history buoy, just going to say happy holidays. Hope everyone has a good Christmas Day and anything else you're celebrating this time of year. And we're going to announce the winner of our giveaway.

0:40 And instead of shouting it out here to the whole world on our podcast, the winner will get an email. And if they're comfortable, they can let us know if they're all right with us sharing, or if they have a picture of the Tumblr or... Oh yeah. If not, that's totally cool. But check your e-ball. Just announcing that the giveaway is over and we have selected a winner. So check your inbox and make sure you check your spam folder as well. Because when I signed up for our own emails, it went to my spam folder. So just keep that in mind. It may be there. Yeah. Apparently that's where our emails like to nestle. We do have a new logo though. I gotta shout it out.

1:21 Emily made it herself. Pretty neat. Drew it in Procreate. Shout out to Procreate. Yeah, we have a new logo. You can head to our Instagram or our YouTube to take a look at it. I think it's pretty cool. It's on our very first piece of swag. I chose blue because one, I like it. And two, you're unlikely to see a lighthouse in that color. And so we can't possibly be copying any sort of lighthouse. Nice. It's our own lighthouse lowdown lighthouse. Very good. So our episode today is going to be super jolly, hopefully super short, but just a little pick me up, something fun. And if anyone lives near the lighthouses I talked about today, you can look forward to these things around the Christmas season because we're doing Christmas time at lighthouses.

2:08 Thank you. Thank you. I actually chose lighthouses that we have already covered this year. So if there's any particular lighthouse you liked throughout this year, I may be covering it Christmas time. Christmas edition. So we're just doing a survey of lighthouses that we've talked about. So how it's happening. I'm doing Christmas time at lighthouses that we've covered this year. Okay, cool. The first one that I'm going to cover is Nosset Lighthouse. They have a little tradition that they do every year and it's less of a public event. It's like volunteer run and by the Nosset Light Preservation Society, but spectators are allowed and you can come and watch this whole spectacle unfold.

2:50 So it's the annual hanging of the Christmas wreath. Pull up a picture of Nosset Light there with the Christmas wreath that it has every year. We know Nosset Light. Yeah. Losset Night. This coffee is delicious. This is our friend Captain Cecil, right? Yes, Captain Cecil's Coffee is based here in Eastham, I think. And, or is it East Ham? I'm going to say Eastham. Now I can't remember. I'm pretty sure I remember saying that normally you would say Eastham and now it's actually Eastham. Well. Whatever. So this wreath is now called the David M. Gray Christmas Wreath.

3:33 It's in honor of the president of the Nosset Light Preservation Society who has now passed. So now it's like a memorial kind of thing. And they started calling it that in 2017. He was president until 2013 and then retired. And to honor how much he did for the light, the board of directors of NLPS voted unanimously to name the wreath after him. So they have had this tradition for around 20 years. So only recently did they start naming it after somebody. That's nice. Yeah, they do. They do an event. So this year it was 10 a.m. of December 2nd. They had to postpone it, I think, just a little bit for inclement weather.

4:13 It looked pretty foggy there. They hoisted it from the gallery. So they have I think it was three tethers that they pull up from the gallery and then secure the wreath from the top and the bottom of the lighthouse. So it kind of wraps around. It looks like a table going on. Yeah, I think they're ropes. Pretty extreme. They only last, I think, two months. So they don't worry too much about the integrity of the tethers. Cool. Looks nice. It's funny because in pictures you look at it and it looks like not a very big wreath. You know, it's just kind of it's not very big compared to the height of the lighthouse. It's got a good scale to the lighthouse size. So this wreath is actually six feet tall. Oh, my God. I put up a little picture of them working on lifting it up onto the side of the lighthouse.

5:00 This was on December 2nd. So this was this year. Had a lot of they said they had a good turnout for volunteers. I talked to Susan Abbott, who is the vice president of the Nosset Light Preservation Society. And so she told me a lot about this wreath. She said it's real. So they make it every year and normally they have to get a new bow. Hang on one second. I like that bow. It's a big old bow. Yeah, she said they feel this year that they found a terrific bow supplier from Christmas Designers.com. And it's the biggest bow they could find at 36 inches. Shout out. Yeah. So she's hoping that they'll be able to reuse this year's bow depending on how it holds up, because this is not like a tender area for weather.

5:44 This bow is going to go through some. Yeah, some lighthouse stuff. Yeah. So they're hoping they can reuse it, but we'll see. That's cool. I don't even know how a real wreath is made. I think so. She said it's made with heavy wire or heavy wire frame. And then the natural wreath part comes from a local farm that sells trees and wreaths in the wintertime. OK, so they make it. Yeah, so I bet it's just kind of like woven through this wire frame and fluffed up and whatnot. Some evergreen material. Yeah. That's cool. Six feet tall. Six feet tall. Three foot bow. Yeah. Impressive. She doesn't know the exact weight of it, but. Heavy. Yeah.

6:26 That's really cool. I'm glad they do that. And it's a big ceremony, it sounds like. Yeah, it's like, yeah, you can come and watch. And there's a lot of volunteers that participate. Captain Cecil's Coffee. He participated in. The captain himself. Yeah. Very nice. Cappy. So, yeah, that's Nosset Lighthouse at Christmas time. The next one we're going to talk about is Montauk Point Lighthouse. They have a fantastic Christmas time. So usually it's the first Saturday after Thanksgiving at 4 p.m. They post about it on their Instagram. Montauk Point has a very active Instagram. So if you're into lighthouses and you should be because you're listening to us, then you should go follow them on Instagram.

7:10 But the first Saturday they have free hot chocolate courtesy of Hampton's Coffee. Damn, we missed it. I know. We don't live there. They do a sing along holiday music by Sarah Conway and the Playful Souls Band, I would presume. I was going to look up some of their songs, but you know, time just keeps on ticking. Each year they also name an honoree for the event. And this year was Admiral in quotes, Ed Mitchell's, I think his name is. Maybe it's M-I-C-H-E-L-S. Sounds like Mitchell's. Mitchell's? There's no T in there, huh? No, and no A, so it can't be Michael's. But he was he was listed as a Montauk Harbor legend.

7:54 So I looked a little bit more into him. He served at the Montauk Coast Guard Station and worked as Master Chief Petty Officer from 1973. This was according to his LinkedIn. So he is on LinkedIn. Let's go. He was hired as a harbor master in 1993 and promoted to the Chief of the Army. And since then, he has been working hard to make CPR and AED training certification and equipment available to all in the community. And I'm sure he did a bunch of other stuff, but it was hard to find. That's a nice caption. Yeah, but apparently he's very well loved in the community and this honor was well deserved. That's cool. So he's on LinkedIn.

8:35 Yeah. I wonder if he's a follower of the Lighthouse Lowdown on LinkedIn. I don't know. I don't know. I wonder if he's a follower of the Lighthouse Lowdown on LinkedIn. It's unlikely. We'll have to connect with him. Yeah, I think we should, especially since we're shouting him out on the pod. After dark at this event, the lighthouse is lit. And I think it's at like 6 p.m. But all edges of the lighthouse and Keepers Cottage are lined in lights. Oh, that's really cool. And that includes the lantern room and the red brown band that Montauk Point has. Red brown? It's like a brownish red. Reddish brown.

9:16 Nice. It looks cool. Yeah, all the windows. They surround all the windows. They have a big lit up Christmas wreath. So yeah, even the path to the lighthouse is lit up with lights. It's nice. It's crazy. They go all out. I feel like I've seen this one before. Yeah. We talked about this maybe last year. We talked about this. We did talk about this on our Montauk Point episode. Or at the end, I shouted out, I put up a picture of Montauk Point in the Christmas time because it was very exciting. I'm pretty sure it was like not even close to Christmas time. But yeah, that's Montauk Point. The event is free, but you can donate. Donations are encouraged whenever you go and visit. And the Sunday after that Saturday at 2 p.m., you can bring your kids to meet Santa and enjoy more hot chocolate.

10:02 Nice. Yeah. That's awesome. I like free lighthouse events. Yeah. If you have time for time for one more. I think so. More coverage. The screen is a lot brighter on our logo than that nice sunset image. Next one I'm going to cover is St. Augustine Lighthouse. So this is the one that you did. Let's go. Pretty recently, actually. St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the United States. They go all out for Christmas time. It's not just the lighthouse. This is like the lighthouse is part of an event for the city that goes on. Really? Yeah, it's wild. I'll talk about it. But very little decorating happens on the tower itself.

10:44 They have like some garland and lights going on around the gallery. But the grounds are just like totally transformed in their event tides, tidings and trees. Wait, was this one that I covered? Yeah, you mentioned this one. I forgot her name. The contact that I made. She was super nice. So this event goes on from November 22 to January 21. So you have a lot of time to check out this event. It's part of the Knights of Lights, which is a St. Augustine tradition. I don't know how long it's been going on, but it's very exciting. A little picture. That is cool. It's a really nice photo of the lighthouse during Christmas time. But the lighthouse itself, I think this year it's called Lighthouse Illuminations or something.

11:28 Maybe it's the company that does it. But they have 20 different Christmas trees spread out over the ground. So it's like a Christmas tree hunt that you can go do and each has its own theme. And I can list them all if you want to. No way. I was just at Disney in Orlando and they do a similar thing. Oh, really? They give you a little map so you can hand out and go find the trees. I won't say where each of these trees is because I feel like if you're going to go do this, you don't want to really want to know where each one is. So there is a welcome tree. So this one's decorated black, white and red to match the tower's stripes. They have shells from the sea, which is beach themed local shells and seaside treasures.

12:11 Nice. Keepsake ornaments. So that's exactly what it sounds like. Shadows in the light. They don't describe this one except for that it alludes to its spooky nature. An all black tree. Yeah, maybe. That'd be cool. But you're ghoulish. Goth tree. Like a Halloween tree. It's not a phase tree. They also have an old Florida tree evokes nostalgia of Florida's past. Cool. Let's see about that. Lighthouses of America. This would be my kind of tree. The next tree I would say is the most spectacular. Oh my gosh. And I'll have I have a picture of it next. Let's go. But this one is inside the tower of the lighthouse.

12:52 And so you have the like spiral staircase all around it. But yeah, it's just like a super Christmasy holiday tree. Yeah. Let's see it. Oh cool. Yeah. And another thing that's special about this time is that you can climb the lighthouse at night, which is not usually an option. Yeah. So this whole event is like you can come and climb it when you normally couldn't. That's really cool. See people in this picture taking a little climb. So is it maybe a 15 foot tree? I don't know. It's pretty neat. It's a very convenient spot to put a tree. Yeah. That's where the clockwork mechanism would come down to. Right. Very visually appealing. Yeah. Yeah. Super Christmas. Very nice. I could list the rest of them, but you can also check them out on their website.

13:34 I have a link in our show notes. And this is the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. Yes. Exactly. Big fans. Big fans. This time of year, all of the buildings on the grounds and also all the buildings in St. Augustine are lit up with lights. So it looks to be a very fun city to visit in the Christmas time. It sounds like they're really into the holidays. Yeah. Just altruism. Super focused, which I don't know how... How do you think this tradition came to be? It just seems... Well, they have the town itself has a good history as well as, well, of course, the lighthouse we talked about. You should check out our episode. But the town having such a long history and being in Florida where it's nice like all the time and being on the coast where it's beautiful, they have the beaches, they've got the...

14:25 Well, the town's actually on an island. Remember, there's the bridge that goes out there. Yeah. The lions are on the bridge, the Medici lions. Anyways, they've got a lot going on and I think it builds into people like I knew some people. I guess you know them as well that used to go to San... Sanibel? Yeah. San Isabel? Sanibel. Sanibel. I don't know why that sounded wrong. Wow. Sanibel Island regularly growing up because it was a nice place to escape from Kansas and have a nice holiday. So I think St. Augustine is a similar type of town. Plus, it's got larger cities around it. Yeah. And it's a very mild, even warm place to spend Christmas. So they probably have a lot of vacationers going around this time of year, I would say.

15:08 There was a lot of palm trees with Christmas lights, which is nice. Yeah. And you can buy tickets for this to go during the day or the night. And I think it was $25 per person and can climb the tower. So it's kind of... I would say it's worth it. It's very special. Yeah, it'd be a great time to do it. Those are three of the main lighthouses we've covered this year that also do Christmas events. So I just thought I would cover it, give them a little shout out on the pod. Yeah, I wasn't expecting a recap. Look at us. I know. Well, originally I was going to do new lighthouses, but then you get into it where... Carried away. You see lighthouses that you want to cover and you're like, why would I... I would feel like if I was covering them now, I'd have to say something about their history because nobody knows which lighthouse I'm talking about.

15:49 But for our followers on the podcast who have heard our other episodes, just like a fun little add on for the Christmas time. Maybe next year we can fit a wreath to our lighthouse logo. Yeah. Some little lights. An ode to Nosset light. Very cool. Thanks for this Christmas episode. You're welcome. I feel very cheery. I feel full of joy. What is that mug that you bought? Jolly is just a Christmas word for fat. Oh yeah, jolly is pretty good. Very good. Thanks. Happy holidays to everybody, all of our listeners. We want to thank you for staying with us this year or joining us if you're new. We have so much fun doing this podcast and hopefully you'll be able to do it.

16:32 Hopefully you guys enjoy listening to it and you stick around for next year because we got a lot more lighthouses to cover. More than we can in our lifetime. I'm pretty sure. Adventures to come. So we'll keep going and hope you guys have a great rest of your year. Thanks guys.