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brookston · 2 months ago

Text

Holidays 9.28

Holidays

Banned Websites Awareness Day

Battle of Marathon Anniversary Day (490 BCE)

British Home Child Day (UK)

Cabrillo Day (California)

Canterbury South Day (New Zealand)

Carrot Day (French Republic)

Carson King Day (Iowa)

Circassian Costume Day

Ethel Rosenberg Day of Justice (New York)

Fiesta of San Miguel (Mexico)

Fish Tank Floorshow Night

Flag Day (Thailand)

Frances Willard Day (Minnesota, Wisconsin)

Freedom From Hunger Day

Global Day of Student Prayer

Gold Lining Day

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

Grandmother’s Day (Moldova)

International Day of Arnold Chiari Syndrome

International Day of Scientific Culture

International Day for Universal Access to Information (UN)

International Right to Know Day

International Safe Abortion Day

Let Freedom Read Day

National British Home Child Day (Canada)

National Chris Day

National Day of Awareness

National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines)

National Good Neighbor Day

National Gordie Day

National Manufacturing Day (UK)

National North Carolina Day

National Parks Free Entrance Day

National Penicillin Allergy Day

National Self Awareness Day

National Son’s Day (Canada)

National Talk Like Mr. Krabs Day (Aenopia)

National Traffic Door Day

NICU Staff Recognition Day

928 Day (Arizona)

Nuclear Industry Worker’s Day (Kazakhstan, Russia)

Popular Uprising of Naples Day (Italy)

Porsche 928 Day

Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day

Railway Day (Indonesia)

Read a Child a Book You Like Day

Silver Lining Day

Teacher’s Day (Philippines, Taiwan)

World News Day

World Pet Day

World Rabies Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Drink As Much Beer As Possible Day

Drink Beer Day

International Poke Day

Marshmallow Twisters Day

National Drink Beer Day

Ohio Pint Day

Strawberry Cream Pie Day

World Marmite Day

Independence & Related Days

Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic)

Nefaria (a.k.a. Timonoucitiland; Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Referendum Anniversary Day (Republic of Guinea; 1958)

4th & Last Saturday in September

American Frog Day [4th Saturday]

Cavan Day [4th Saturday]

Centzon-Totochtin Drunken Rabbit Day [Last Saturday]

European Mushroom Day [4th Saturday]

Everybody's Day Festival [Last Saturday]

Family Health and Fitness Day USA (Last Saturday]

Fish Amnesty Day [4th Saturday]

International Lace Day [Last Saturday]

International Rabbit Day [4th Saturday]

Kiwanis Kids' Day [4th Saturday]

Museum Day (Smithsonian) [4th Saturday]

National Colouring Day (Canada) [4th Saturday]

National Ghost Hunting Day [Last Saturday]

National Hunting & Fishing Day [4th Saturday]

National Public Lands Day [4th Saturday]

National Seat Check Saturday [4th Saturday]

National Wildlife Ecology Day [4th Saturday]

Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play [Last Saturday]

R.E.A.D. in America Day [4th Saturday]

Salacious Saturday [4th Saturday of Each Month]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sausage Saturday [4th Saturday of Each Month]

Save Your Photos Day [Last Saturday]

Seat Check Saturday [4th Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Splurge Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

Stir-Fry Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

World Cyanotype Day [Last Saturday]

World Day of Leukodystrophies [Last Saturday]

World’s Largest Pet Walk [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 28 (4th Full Week of September)

National Alpaca Farm Days (thru 10.6) [Last Saturday]

Festivals Beginning September 28, 2024

Afton Apple Orchard Apple Festival (Hastings Area, Minnesota) [thru 9.29]

Alpaca Farm Days (Lincoln, Nebraska) [thru 9.29

Apple Fest (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

Apple Festival (Media, Pennsylvania)

AppleUmpkin Festival (Wyoming, New York) [thru 9.29]

Banana Festival (Port of Hueneme, California)

BAROMETER International Bar Show (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 9.29]

BBQ Brews & Brats (Enumclaw, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Beef-A-Rama (Minocqua, Wisconsin)

Boston Veg Food Fest (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 9.29]

Chili Challenge (Steamboat Springs, Colorado)

Chili Challenge (Waterville Valley, New Hampshire)

Chili-Chowdah Festival (East Bridgewater, Massachusetts)

Cornstock (Garnett, Kansas)

Country Applefest (Lebanon, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Cumberland County Fair (Cumberland, Maine) [thru 9.29]

Fall Harvest Festival (Sherman, Connecticut)

Festival of India (Richmond, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Festa Italiana Seattle (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Flushing Harvest Festival (Flushing, Michigan)

Geneva Grape Jamboree (Geneva, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Genoa Candy Dance (Genoa, Nevada) [thru 9.29]

Germantown Pretzel Festival (Germantown, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Glenville Oktoberfest -(Glenville, New York)

Goleta Lemon Festival (Goleta, California) [thru 9.29]

Great Plains Renaissance & Scottish Festival (Wichita, Kansas) [9.29]

West Virginia Autumn Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cook-Off (Marlinton, West Virginia)

Hartford County Wine Festival (Bel Air, Maryland)

Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cook-off (Marlinton, West Virginia)

Homesteaders Day (Hardy, Arkansas)

Honey Bee Festival (Palo Cedro, California) [thru 9.29]

Hudson Valley Garlic Festival (Saugerties, New York) [thru 9.29]

Irish Italian International Festival (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular (Apple Valley, Minnesota) [thru 11.2]

Jelly Belly Candy Palooza (Fairfield, California) [thru 9.29]

Kelseyville Pear Festival (Kelseyville, California)

Kendal Torchlight Carnival (Kendal, United Kingdom)

Lenox Apple Squeeze (Lenox, Massachusetts)

Maine Lakes Brew Fest (Casco, Maine)

Maryland Microbrewery Festival (Westminster, Maryland)

My-Oh-My Apple Pie Weekend (Willcox, Arizona) [thru 9.29]

Naples Grape Festival (Naples, New York) [thru 9.29]

NC Muscadine Festival (Kenansville, North Carolina)

Nelson Farm Pumpkin Patch Festival (Litchfield, Minnesota) [thru 10.27]

Newport Oktoberfest (Newport, Rhode Island)

North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival (Orange, Massachusetts) [thru 9.29]

Northwest Tea Festival (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Oktoberfest Weekend (Chester, New Jersey) [thru 9.29]

OkTUPPERfest (Tupper Lake, New York)

Plains Peanut Festival (Plains, Georgia)

PotatoFest (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania)

Pumpkin Festival (Rapid City, South Dakota)

San Juan Capistrano Greek Fest (San Juan Capistrano, California) [thru 9.29]

Saratoga Giant PumpkinFest Weigh-Off (Saratoga Springs, New York)

Seafood and Soul Festival (Stockton, California) [thru 9.29]

Sedona WineFest (Sedona, Arizona) [thru 9.29]

SeptOberfest (Wabasha, Minnesota) [thru 10.6]

South Toms River Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Toms River, New Jersey)

Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival (Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Sonoma County VegFest (Santa Rosa, California)

A Taste of Soquel (Soquel, California)

Treasure Coast Seafood Festival (Vero Beach, Florida)

Turkey Festival (Eldon, Missouri)

Valpo Brewfest (Valparaiso, Indiana)

Wichita Wagonmasters Downtown Chili CookOff (Wichita, Kansas)

Wing Dang Doodle Festival (Forest, Mississippi)

Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival (Elkin, North Carolina)

Yavapai Cattle Growers Annual Calf Sale & BBQ (Peeples Valley, Arizona)

Feast Days

Aaron of Auxerre (Christian; Saint)

Al Capp (Artology)

Alexandre Cabanel (Artology)

Annemund (Christian; Saint)

Cailleach An Dudean (Hag of the Mill-Dust Dance; Celtic Book of Days)

Confucius (Confucianism; Founder)

Conval (Christian; Saint)

Eustochium (Christian; Saint)

Exuperius (Christian; Saint)

Fast of Gedalia (Judaism) [3 Tishri]

Faustus of Riez (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Khepera (Egyptian Beetle God)

Festival of Wawatsari (God of Deer Peyote; Huichol, Mexico)

Fictional Character Day (Pastafarian)

First of San Miguel (Christian; Mexico)

Fred (Muppetism)

Hapi’s Day (Day of the Nile; Pagan)

Hazelwood Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Dukla (Christian; Saint)

Leoba (a.k.a. Lioba; Christian; Saint)

Lorenzo Ruiz (Christian; Saint)

Michaelmas Eve (Celtic)

Mme. de Staal (Positivist; Saint)

Paternus of Auch (Christian; Saint)

Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA))

Simón de Rojas (Christian; Saint)

Simon Winchester (Writerism)

Tales of Kelp-Kori’s Second Visit (Shamanism)

Thesmophoria (Ancient Greece; Festival to Demeter)

Warja Lavater (Artology)

Wenceslas of Bohemia(Christian; Saint) [Bohemia, Czech brewers] *

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 271 [58 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 45 of 60)

Premieres

Aqua Duck (WB MM Cartoon; 1963)

…Baby One More Time, by Britney Spears (Song; 1998)

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild (Children’s Novel; 1936)

Blackadder Goes Forth (UK TV Series; 1989)

Blonde (Film; 2022)

The Clock Store (Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1931)

Cool Hand Luke, by Donn Pearce (Novel; 1965)

DC Showcase: Green Arrow (WB Cartoon; 2010)

The Dissent of Man, by Bad Religion (Album; 2010)

Dr. Kildare (TV Series; 1961)

Eldorado, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1974)

Fallen Into the Pit, by Ellis Peters (Novel; 1951)

The Great Friendship, by Vano Muradeli (Opera; 1947)

Greedy for Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Hearts in Atlantis (Film; 2001)

Hook, Line and Sinker (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

Hotel Transylvania (Animated Film; 2012)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Song; 1967)

L’Histoire du Soldat, by Igor Stravinsky (Theatrical Work; 1918)

Looney Lightning or Nuts and Volts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 306; 1964)

Looper (Film; 2012)

Love Me Tender, by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

Mildred Pierce (Film; 1945)

Minding the Baby (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1931)

Night School (Film; 2018)

On Ice (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, by The Temptations (Song; 1972)

Pitch Perfect (Film; 2012)

The Professor and the Madman (UK Title: The Surgeon of Crowthorne), by Simon Winchester (Book; 1998)

The Show Must Go On or Give “em the Acts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 305; 1964)

Smallfoot (Animated Film; 2018)

Songs in the Key of Life, by Stevie Wonder (Album; 1976)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series; 1987)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (WB Animated Film; 2010)

Tales from Margarita, by Jimmy Buffet (Short Stories; 1989)

To Know Him Is To Love Him, by The Teddy Bears (Song; 1958)

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (WB Animated Film; 2012)

Travels with My Aunt, by Graham Greene (Novel; 1969)

Ugly Betty (TV Series; 2008)

The Watchdog (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N’ Roses (Song; 1987)

The Wild Life (Film; 1984)

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1968) [Earthsea #1]

Zoolander (Film; 2001)

Today’s Name Days

Dietmar, Giselher, Lioba, Thekla, Wenzel (Austria)

Faust, Lovorko, Većeslav (Croatia)

Václav (Czech Republic)

Venceslaus (Denmark)

Lennart, Lenno, Leonhard, Linnar, Linnart (Estonia)

Arja, Lenni (Finland)

Venceslas (France)

Giselher, Lioba, Wenzel (Germany)

Heriton (Greece)

Vencel (Hungary)

Venceslao (Italy)

Gaita, Kaira, Lana, Sergejs, Svetlana (Latvia)

Saliamonas, Tautvydas, Vaclovas, Vacys, Vientautė (Lithuania)

Lena, Lene (Norway)

Jan, Laurencjusz, Luba, Lubosza, Marek, Nikita, Salomon, Sylwin, Wacław, Wacława, Wawrzyniec, Więcesław (Poland)

Hariton (Romania)

Václav (Slovakia)

Lorenzo, Wenceslao (Spain)

Lennart, Leonard (Sweden)

Baruch, Preston, Prior, Pryor, Wenzel (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 272 of 2024; 94 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 39 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 28 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 26 (Yi-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 25 Elul 5784

Islamic: 24 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 2 Orange; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 15 September 2024

Moon: 14%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 20 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Richardson]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 7 of 90)

Week: 4th Full Week of September

Zodiac: Libra (Day 6 of 30)

#calendar #Holidays

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brookstonalmanac · 2 months ago

Text

Holidays 9.28

Holidays

Banned Websites Awareness Day

Battle of Marathon Anniversary Day (490 BCE)

British Home Child Day (UK)

Cabrillo Day (California)

Canterbury South Day (New Zealand)

Carrot Day (French Republic)

Carson King Day (Iowa)

Circassian Costume Day

Ethel Rosenberg Day of Justice (New York)

Fiesta of San Miguel (Mexico)

Fish Tank Floorshow Night

Flag Day (Thailand)

Frances Willard Day (Minnesota, Wisconsin)

Freedom From Hunger Day

Global Day of Student Prayer

Gold Lining Day

Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]

Grandmother’s Day (Moldova)

International Day of Arnold Chiari Syndrome

International Day of Scientific Culture

International Day for Universal Access to Information (UN)

International Right to Know Day

International Safe Abortion Day

Let Freedom Read Day

National British Home Child Day (Canada)

National Chris Day

National Day of Awareness

National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography (Philippines)

National Good Neighbor Day

National Gordie Day

National Manufacturing Day (UK)

National North Carolina Day

National Parks Free Entrance Day

National Penicillin Allergy Day

National Self Awareness Day

National Son’s Day (Canada)

National Talk Like Mr. Krabs Day (Aenopia)

National Traffic Door Day

NICU Staff Recognition Day

928 Day (Arizona)

Nuclear Industry Worker’s Day (Kazakhstan, Russia)

Popular Uprising of Naples Day (Italy)

Porsche 928 Day

Psoriatic Arthritis Awareness Day

Railway Day (Indonesia)

Read a Child a Book You Like Day

Silver Lining Day

Teacher’s Day (Philippines, Taiwan)

World News Day

World Pet Day

World Rabies Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Drink As Much Beer As Possible Day

Drink Beer Day

International Poke Day

Marshmallow Twisters Day

National Drink Beer Day

Ohio Pint Day

Strawberry Cream Pie Day

World Marmite Day

Independence & Related Days

Czech Statehood Day (Czech Republic)

Nefaria (a.k.a. Timonoucitiland; Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Referendum Anniversary Day (Republic of Guinea; 1958)

4th & Last Saturday in September

American Frog Day [4th Saturday]

Cavan Day [4th Saturday]

Centzon-Totochtin Drunken Rabbit Day [Last Saturday]

European Mushroom Day [4th Saturday]

Everybody's Day Festival [Last Saturday]

Family Health and Fitness Day USA (Last Saturday]

Fish Amnesty Day [4th Saturday]

International Lace Day [Last Saturday]

International Rabbit Day [4th Saturday]

Kiwanis Kids' Day [4th Saturday]

Museum Day (Smithsonian) [4th Saturday]

National Colouring Day (Canada) [4th Saturday]

National Ghost Hunting Day [Last Saturday]

National Hunting & Fishing Day [4th Saturday]

National Public Lands Day [4th Saturday]

National Seat Check Saturday [4th Saturday]

National Wildlife Ecology Day [4th Saturday]

Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play [Last Saturday]

R.E.A.D. in America Day [4th Saturday]

Salacious Saturday [4th Saturday of Each Month]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sausage Saturday [4th Saturday of Each Month]

Save Your Photos Day [Last Saturday]

Seat Check Saturday [4th Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Splurge Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

Stir-Fry Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

World Cyanotype Day [Last Saturday]

World Day of Leukodystrophies [Last Saturday]

World’s Largest Pet Walk [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 28 (4th Full Week of September)

National Alpaca Farm Days (thru 10.6) [Last Saturday]

Festivals Beginning September 28, 2024

Afton Apple Orchard Apple Festival (Hastings Area, Minnesota) [thru 9.29]

Alpaca Farm Days (Lincoln, Nebraska) [thru 9.29

Apple Fest (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

Apple Festival (Media, Pennsylvania)

AppleUmpkin Festival (Wyoming, New York) [thru 9.29]

Banana Festival (Port of Hueneme, California)

BAROMETER International Bar Show (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 9.29]

BBQ Brews & Brats (Enumclaw, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Beef-A-Rama (Minocqua, Wisconsin)

Boston Veg Food Fest (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 9.29]

Chili Challenge (Steamboat Springs, Colorado)

Chili Challenge (Waterville Valley, New Hampshire)

Chili-Chowdah Festival (East Bridgewater, Massachusetts)

Cornstock (Garnett, Kansas)

Country Applefest (Lebanon, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Cumberland County Fair (Cumberland, Maine) [thru 9.29]

Fall Harvest Festival (Sherman, Connecticut)

Festival of India (Richmond, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Festa Italiana Seattle (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Flushing Harvest Festival (Flushing, Michigan)

Geneva Grape Jamboree (Geneva, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Genoa Candy Dance (Genoa, Nevada) [thru 9.29]

Germantown Pretzel Festival (Germantown, Ohio) [thru 9.29]

Glenville Oktoberfest -(Glenville, New York)

Goleta Lemon Festival (Goleta, California) [thru 9.29]

Great Plains Renaissance & Scottish Festival (Wichita, Kansas) [9.29]

West Virginia Autumn Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cook-Off (Marlinton, West Virginia)

Hartford County Wine Festival (Bel Air, Maryland)

Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cook-off (Marlinton, West Virginia)

Homesteaders Day (Hardy, Arkansas)

Honey Bee Festival (Palo Cedro, California) [thru 9.29]

Hudson Valley Garlic Festival (Saugerties, New York) [thru 9.29]

Irish Italian International Festival (North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular (Apple Valley, Minnesota) [thru 11.2]

Jelly Belly Candy Palooza (Fairfield, California) [thru 9.29]

Kelseyville Pear Festival (Kelseyville, California)

Kendal Torchlight Carnival (Kendal, United Kingdom)

Lenox Apple Squeeze (Lenox, Massachusetts)

Maine Lakes Brew Fest (Casco, Maine)

Maryland Microbrewery Festival (Westminster, Maryland)

My-Oh-My Apple Pie Weekend (Willcox, Arizona) [thru 9.29]

Naples Grape Festival (Naples, New York) [thru 9.29]

NC Muscadine Festival (Kenansville, North Carolina)

Nelson Farm Pumpkin Patch Festival (Litchfield, Minnesota) [thru 10.27]

Newport Oktoberfest (Newport, Rhode Island)

North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival (Orange, Massachusetts) [thru 9.29]

Northwest Tea Festival (Seattle, Washington) [thru 9.29]

Oktoberfest Weekend (Chester, New Jersey) [thru 9.29]

OkTUPPERfest (Tupper Lake, New York)

Plains Peanut Festival (Plains, Georgia)

PotatoFest (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania)

Pumpkin Festival (Rapid City, South Dakota)

San Juan Capistrano Greek Fest (San Juan Capistrano, California) [thru 9.29]

Saratoga Giant PumpkinFest Weigh-Off (Saratoga Springs, New York)

Seafood and Soul Festival (Stockton, California) [thru 9.29]

Sedona WineFest (Sedona, Arizona) [thru 9.29]

SeptOberfest (Wabasha, Minnesota) [thru 10.6]

South Toms River Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Toms River, New Jersey)

Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival (Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Sonoma County VegFest (Santa Rosa, California)

A Taste of Soquel (Soquel, California)

Treasure Coast Seafood Festival (Vero Beach, Florida)

Turkey Festival (Eldon, Missouri)

Valpo Brewfest (Valparaiso, Indiana)

Wichita Wagonmasters Downtown Chili CookOff (Wichita, Kansas)

Wing Dang Doodle Festival (Forest, Mississippi)

Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival (Elkin, North Carolina)

Yavapai Cattle Growers Annual Calf Sale & BBQ (Peeples Valley, Arizona)

Feast Days

Aaron of Auxerre (Christian; Saint)

Al Capp (Artology)

Alexandre Cabanel (Artology)

Annemund (Christian; Saint)

Cailleach An Dudean (Hag of the Mill-Dust Dance; Celtic Book of Days)

Confucius (Confucianism; Founder)

Conval (Christian; Saint)

Eustochium (Christian; Saint)

Exuperius (Christian; Saint)

Fast of Gedalia (Judaism) [3 Tishri]

Faustus of Riez (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Khepera (Egyptian Beetle God)

Festival of Wawatsari (God of Deer Peyote; Huichol, Mexico)

Fictional Character Day (Pastafarian)

First of San Miguel (Christian; Mexico)

Fred (Muppetism)

Hapi’s Day (Day of the Nile; Pagan)

Hazelwood Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Dukla (Christian; Saint)

Leoba (a.k.a. Lioba; Christian; Saint)

Lorenzo Ruiz (Christian; Saint)

Michaelmas Eve (Celtic)

Mme. de Staal (Positivist; Saint)

Paternus of Auch (Christian; Saint)

Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe (Episcopal Church (USA))

Simón de Rojas (Christian; Saint)

Simon Winchester (Writerism)

Tales of Kelp-Kori’s Second Visit (Shamanism)

Thesmophoria (Ancient Greece; Festival to Demeter)

Warja Lavater (Artology)

Wenceslas of Bohemia(Christian; Saint) [Bohemia, Czech brewers] *

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 271 [58 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 45 of 60)

Premieres

Aqua Duck (WB MM Cartoon; 1963)

…Baby One More Time, by Britney Spears (Song; 1998)

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild (Children’s Novel; 1936)

Blackadder Goes Forth (UK TV Series; 1989)

Blonde (Film; 2022)

The Clock Store (Silly Symphony Cartoon; 1931)

Cool Hand Luke, by Donn Pearce (Novel; 1965)

DC Showcase: Green Arrow (WB Cartoon; 2010)

The Dissent of Man, by Bad Religion (Album; 2010)

Dr. Kildare (TV Series; 1961)

Eldorado, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1974)

Fallen Into the Pit, by Ellis Peters (Novel; 1951)

The Great Friendship, by Vano Muradeli (Opera; 1947)

Greedy for Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Hearts in Atlantis (Film; 2001)

Hook, Line and Sinker (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

Hotel Transylvania (Animated Film; 2012)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Song; 1967)

L’Histoire du Soldat, by Igor Stravinsky (Theatrical Work; 1918)

Looney Lightning or Nuts and Volts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 306; 1964)

Looper (Film; 2012)

Love Me Tender, by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

Mildred Pierce (Film; 1945)

Minding the Baby (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1931)

Night School (Film; 2018)

On Ice (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, by The Temptations (Song; 1972)

Pitch Perfect (Film; 2012)

The Professor and the Madman (UK Title: The Surgeon of Crowthorne), by Simon Winchester (Book; 1998)

The Show Must Go On or Give “em the Acts (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 305; 1964)

Smallfoot (Animated Film; 2018)

Songs in the Key of Life, by Stevie Wonder (Album; 1976)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series; 1987)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (WB Animated Film; 2010)

Tales from Margarita, by Jimmy Buffet (Short Stories; 1989)

To Know Him Is To Love Him, by The Teddy Bears (Song; 1958)

Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse (WB Animated Film; 2012)

Travels with My Aunt, by Graham Greene (Novel; 1969)

Ugly Betty (TV Series; 2008)

The Watchdog (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N’ Roses (Song; 1987)

The Wild Life (Film; 1984)

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1968) [Earthsea #1]

Zoolander (Film; 2001)

Today’s Name Days

Dietmar, Giselher, Lioba, Thekla, Wenzel (Austria)

Faust, Lovorko, Većeslav (Croatia)

Václav (Czech Republic)

Venceslaus (Denmark)

Lennart, Lenno, Leonhard, Linnar, Linnart (Estonia)

Arja, Lenni (Finland)

Venceslas (France)

Giselher, Lioba, Wenzel (Germany)

Heriton (Greece)

Vencel (Hungary)

Venceslao (Italy)

Gaita, Kaira, Lana, Sergejs, Svetlana (Latvia)

Saliamonas, Tautvydas, Vaclovas, Vacys, Vientautė (Lithuania)

Lena, Lene (Norway)

Jan, Laurencjusz, Luba, Lubosza, Marek, Nikita, Salomon, Sylwin, Wacław, Wacława, Wawrzyniec, Więcesław (Poland)

Hariton (Romania)

Václav (Slovakia)

Lorenzo, Wenceslao (Spain)

Lennart, Leonard (Sweden)

Baruch, Preston, Prior, Pryor, Wenzel (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 272 of 2024; 94 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 39 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 28 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 26 (Yi-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 25 Elul 5784

Islamic: 24 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 2 Orange; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 15 September 2024

Moon: 14%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 20 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Richardson]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 7 of 90)

Week: 4th Full Week of September

Zodiac: Libra (Day 6 of 30)

#Holidays

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a-lbeit · 6 years ago

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2018: a year in review

rang in the new year with really good people actually watching the ball drop for the first time in a few years. it always makes me sad in a happy way.

had my friend (from california) i met while studying in berlin come to visit!!! but there was a giant (relatively speaking) snowstorm that came through, so we had to rearrange a couple things we had planned on doing. but most things worked out, especially since i didn’t have to go to work for like 5 days lmfao. we did a ghost tour, went to a few historical sites, and even drove to savannah for a day.

went to waffle house with a few people the night before i left for my last semester at american university and....tbh....started feeling some things about someone again (but it’s gone away lmao)

returned to dc for the last time for a while

actually started booking things for the best goddamn spring break -- a trip to western south dakota to visit badlands national park and everything around it

saw the devil makes three

started an internship with rock creek park, my own door into the nps

went to the bars on u street for the first time for my friend’s birthday. almost got projectile vomited on during the pregame lmfaooooo

saw arlo guthrie

got moviepass at the height of it. i saw many films with it, some of my favorites being lean on pete, three billboards outside ebbing, missouri, and bad times at the el royale. however, the company obviously went downhill. i was all right with only being able to see 3 movies a month, because for 10 bucks, that’s still not bad. but then showtimes started disappearing and i finally gave up hope. it was nice while it lasted.

took my german midterm and skrrted right out of dc to embark on one of the greatest journeys of my life. i’d had this spring break in mind for a year and a half, and i feel so grateful that i could actually accomplish virtually everything i had dreamed of:

drove to dayton, ohio, then waterloo, iowa, then wall, south dakota, my final destination. along the way, i saw a zoo that was my window to a west i had only ever heard about, a statue of abraham lincoln right next to the mississippi, the world’s largest truck stop, a hobo memorial, an intricate and delicate and intriguing grotto, a tri-state marker, a corn palace, the goddamn missouri river, and all the farmland and life that make up the heartland of the united states. i was mesmerized and i had barely started.

reached my motel in the evening with a backdrop of the sunset over the badlands, got nervous by a group of men wearing camo and carrying what seemed to be hunting or fishing gear, went to dairy queen, and came back to a once-again empty motel parking lot. i felt better.

spent the next day in the national park. it was the off season, so the entrance i went through was unmanned. i saw countless sheep and prairie dogs, sometimes within a few feet of me, and admired the bright, layered colors in the rock. i played springsteen’s “badlands” with nobody in sight, miles of land in every direction that seemed both right there and unreachable at the same time. the visitor’s center had information and nice people. the cliff shelf trail was a small introduction to my hiking in the park. the notch trail was fun and gave me a bruise and let me see the badlands as they are meant to be seen -- you get to climb a ladder and get into the formations. there is an astonishing view, but if you go a bit further than most people do, it’s even more incredible. i lay down backwards and looked at everything upside down. i drove back the way i came and stopped to admire the sunset over the jagged and far-off edges. it was still the beginning.

(got an email saying i was accepted into the disney college program lmfao)

with the next day came a further destination. in belle fourche, sd, there is the true geographical center of the us. you go down a gravel road for around 8 miles. it’s scary when the fog doesn’t let you see more than 200 feet in front of you and the farms on either side of you are encased in snow. but the mysticism surrounding the decor -- a homemade cross, a simple “the true center of the nation” declaration, and various hiking boots stuck in the fence -- especially when you seem to be the only person for miles, is surreal. i left there and finally found my way out of the fog and went on into wyoming to see devils tower. the sky was a piercing blue and i was blinded by the light, but snow is always on the ground that time of the year, i guess, and i hiked knee-deep through 2 miles of it. i dropped to my knees in happiness like a weakling when i saw my car again, but i felt like cheryl strayed. people feed the prairie dogs so much there that they come right up to you. the squeaks were unending and cute. i drove the 2 or 2.5 hours back, mostly in the dark, my feet water-logged but my heart full.

i drove to mount rushmore the next day. it’s strange always knowing of something and finally seeing it in person. i love the sculpture and i don’t know how people are able to do things like that. i wish i could have hiked closer to it, but the trails were still closed for winter. then, through the black hills i continued, coming up to the crazy horse memorial and reluctantly paying the admission fee, although i know it helps their progress. i know i probably won’t be alive when (and if) it’s completed, but it’s nice to see at least part of it. i wish i could go up to it. maybe one day. wind cave national park came after, and i saw bison munching on grass 10 feet away from me. i wish i could have gone into the cave. maybe one day. i walked along the grassland without a jacket on. i couldn’t believe it. i left and took the backroads to return to mount rushmore to see it at night. it was scary, especially navigating the never-ending curves in the black of the unpopulated areas, but coming closer to the monument, i passed through one-car tunnels that framed the sculpture perfectly.

the next day was my second time around at the badlands. i hiked half of the castle trail and climbed some of the formations, able to admire all i could see from a throne made of crumbly rock. there was fog in the morning which lifted to another sunny day. there were cacti and deer and even phone lines. the shadows in the creases of the hills kill me with their nonchalant elegance. i went back to my motel and came back into the park at night. i had never seen so many stars, although it was so goddamn frightening being in a parking lot unable to see 5 feet in front of me that i left after a few minutes.

my last day, i was supposed to go to jewel cave national monument, but it snowed and caused some of the roads to close. instead, i walked through the storm to wall drug store and meandered around the kitschiness. i want to bring people there to show them how incredible it is.

i drove back to washington over the next 3 days, stopping at the now snow-covered badlands for one last look, the green giant in minnesota, effigy mounds national monument, dubuque, and everywhere in between along the way.

native american history around all of the places i have mentioned is rich and cannot be underestimated. i didn’t talk about it, but these places are of course sacred to the tribes of the region and it is paramount to respect that. i think the nps tries to educate, but it could do more.

i went about 4,200 miles on that trip. i miss the days of driving with my playlist that took months to create.

i came back to washington and didn’t really talk about my journey except for a mention of it when discussing what we had done over spring break in german class. i love to recount this 10 day period, but i don’t do so very much because i feel inarticulate and i don’t want to minimize the effect it has had on me.

saw langhorne slim, don mclean, and george ezra (on 3 separate occasions)

was a part of park rx day with rock creek park

saw old crow medicine show (which has become a yearly tradition i guess lmfao)

went to the graduation happy hour for the library circulation desk. that night was something i’ll never forget. i miss that place so much.

the next day, drove to clemson to see melissa graduate! what a time in our lives. then promptly drove back to dc for my own graduation

but the night before my ceremony, i saw david byrne. it was wild but not as great as i had hoped, mostly because i couldn’t see too well.

graduated from american university, but continued to be on its campus a few days a week until mid-august because i couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the library or the campus. i love that place more than i thought i ever would.

saw shakey graves 2 days in a row, as you do

saw pussy riot thanks to a recommendation from my german professor

visited my work friend’s farm just outside of baltimore

saw pauly d dj at a club lmfaoooooo

found a shark’s tooth at calvert cliffs state park

went to new york for a day to visit brandon before he moved to san francisco! i got in around 5:30am and had the first part of the day to myself. i went to staten island and all the nps sites downtown, then met him at his brother’s apartment a couple blocks from central park (???!!!!). we went to greenwich village, ate lunch at the white horse tavern, and then had a second lunch from mcdonald’s in washington square park. he had to go after a while, but i walked over to the high line to see the sunset. i walked ~45k steps that day but the joy is remembered more than the pain in the end.

i worked and flirted with a nice guy. i might visit him in california in may.

went to nashville to see paul simon with my friend callie. we rocked and enjoyed trashy nashy. that same day, paul simon announced his final show in queens was to be in september. i thought about how i could attend.

we came back to charleston through the smokies and went swimming in the rain. the beauty of that area is unlike anything else. then we met lauren for lunch and it was so goddamn nice. i wish it could have been for longer.

saw harry styles bc i love myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

had a couple friends visit and we did the touristy stuff of dc. it was nice to do that with people for once.

had a couple more friends visit and we went to asbury park for the fourth of july. it was atmospheric and i couldn’t believe i was in springsteen’s stomping ground, especially as one of his song’s namesakes.

saw southside johnny and the asbury jukes

saw a ship belonging to the spanish navy when it docked in charleston for a couple days

started my second long trip of the year

drove from dc to cleveland, first of all. i spent as much time as i could in the rock and roll hall of fame. i saw all the stuff i had learned about in my rock and roll history class and stuff i had grown up with and everything else i didn’t know about. “bruce juice,” pete seeger’s banjo head, and a couple free games of pinball were memorable moments. then, i went on to the cleveland museum of art, where i took a photo i wasn’t supposed to and recognized a couple pieces from my art class sophomore year. i loved cleveland way more than i thought i would and saw myself as a resident there.

went to cuyahoga valley national park the next morning, admiring the only national park in ohio with its waterfalls and greenery, and continued on to bowling green, kentucky. on the way, i went to kent state (which affected me more than i thought -- the military is too often a disgusting institution).

took a 4 hour tour deep into mammoth cave and saw things i couldn’t have even fathomed before. i couldn’t really wrap my head around the fact that we were underground where it is always dark yet still teeming with life. the change in humidity when coming back outside made my camera fog up for a good few minutes. it was funny, really. afterwards, i took advantage of the parts of mammoth cave national park that light does touch -- i got soaked in a rainstorm but seeing the green river and having a butterfly land on my finger were things i will always remember. wet and cold, i went on a second tour of a different part of the cave by lantern light in the evening. we saw cave graffiti and even a bat.

i left that area and moved on to the cumberland gap. it was the day before my 22nd birthday and i was in 3 states at once (for the second time this year). “salt seeking buffalo, moccasin clad warriors, dreaming pioneer, battling civil war soldiers. each was here in the historic cumberland gap, and now so are you.” [punctuation added] has got to be one of my favorite signs i’ve ever seen. it conveys the history in simple terms, which is the way i like things. it’s endlessly meaningful without being pretentious.

on my birthday, i toured the forbidden caverns near the smokies, then hiked some of the alum cave bluffs trail. i wish i could have done the whole thing, but i was short on time, as i wanted to be back in charleston by the evening to celebrate my birthday with my parents.

the day after, i slept in for once, went to the angel oak with melissa, and saw brian wilson and the gang perform all of pet sounds with callie. it was nice but there were so many empty seats that it was a little sad.

started my travels again, going back to the smokies area but stopping in blowing rock first and then going down the blue ridge parkway. the next day, i went to pigeon forge and rode an alpine coaster and finally did a somewhat substantial hike in the smokies -- charlies bunion. i saw a mother bear and her 2 babies and was alone on the trail with a beautiful deer. after that hike, i did the tail of the dragon drive and went to fontana dam, where the fog along the water made for an otherworldly feeling in my heart.

came back to charleston once again, but not before swimming around looking glass falls and feeling that this is what summer should look like. also made a stop at the carl sandburg home nhs.

started my drive back to dc for the last time, but took the scenic route -- south of the border, luray caverns, and the hardest hike i’ve ever done over in shenandoah. the famed old rag. it was a rainy tuesday, and the rocks were slippery. i didn’t see a single other person. i clutched those rocks for dear life at times, but i made that 10 mile hike and it was invigorating. i miss getting grimy in the forest.

that whole trip took me 3,755 miles around the eastern us with my ipod, 60s on 6, and phlash phelps’s voice in the morning as my soundtrack.

acknowledged in my head that it was nearly time to the leave the library, a home of mine for the past three and a half years. i told people the date of my departure and it inched closer despite my desire for time to stop progressing.

had a tour of the towers of the national cathedral. it’s not something many people have done and i’m glad to have seen the not-so-showy parts of the structure, along with a closer-up look at the showy parts we know and love.

had a visit from lauren -- we went to nando’s, the portrait gallery, and thrift shops with paige. i wish it would have lasted longer.

went to six flags with my friend from work, where we rode every ride we wanted to. it was carefree, even though my pants ripped.

my final day at the library inevitably came and went. instagram follows and facebook friends increased as i knew this was now the only way to see the people i had known for so long. i got choked up, and i’m choked up even writing this. to say i miss it is to put it very insignificantly. i have left some of myself there.

went back to new york for a few days, where i met up with my father so that we could see a concert in central park celebrating the greenwich village folk scene of the 60s. the mc was richard barone, who we’d met 2 years prior when he gave us a tour of greenwich village. on that trip, i saw theodore roosevelt’s birthplace (thank god for him, sincerely), the cloisters, staten island again, the seinfeld restaurant, and even coney island. we took the bus back to dc and drove my ‘97 ford escort back to charleston.

for the few days i had in charleston before moving to orlando to work for disney, i hung out with people like old times. trivia, the beach, apartments. the circuit.

i really fuckin moved to orlando, i guess. i moved in with 7 other people. we resort-hopped before we got our entrance passes to the parks. i felt mostly unmoved by the orientations that they try so hard to brainwash us with. i took a huge paycut coming here.

i started working at the food and wine festival. goddamn, i miss working at epcot. i saw the groovin alps play their bavarian percussion music and i poured beer and served lobster rolls and korma chicken and lentil stew and everything in between. i met dozens of beautiful people, some of whom are gone back now to from where they came. but i’m still here.

i mentioned earlier that paul simon announced back in june that his final concert would be in queens in late september. i bought a ticket the day they went on sale and was determined to find a way to attend. i did. i flew to new york for a few days -- came into penn station from newark, walked around to greenwich village and the brooklyn bridge and went to the museum of the moving image late in the evening on a friday when it was free. the next day, i visited the queens museum in flushing-meadows corona park (where the concert was also being held) and was in line for the show by 11:30am. i waited for like 8 hours in all, but i was front row. that final paul simon show (which we all know isn’t really the final one, but it did have a certain finality to it) was transformative for me, paul, and everyone else in the audience. i saw lorde, jimmy fallon, and john mulaney. i cried and was recorded and tapped along and admired the performances of “the cool, cool river” and “the obvious child” and every other goddamn song he played. i stuck around as long as i could. the next day, i flew back to orlando and returned to work, but i felt different.

lived the typical life of a college program participant: work, go to the parks, work, go to the parks, sleep.

voted somewhere along the way and was overjoyed that democrats took back the house.

went to st augustine with sarah

eventually, the food and wine festival ended and i was transferred to port orleans riverside, where i currently am. it’s awful but i’m alive.

spent thanksgiving, christmas, and every other holiday at work. it wasn’t really a big deal but it was obviously depressing.

at the beginning of december, broke down and bought a plane ticket back to dc. i had to pick up a poster from the anthem (a music venue), anyway. i stayed with paige and saw my old work friends and just had a good time. goddamn, it was cold, but it was worth it. i finally was able to tour the department of the interior and and i went to theodore roosevelt island for the first time since like freshman year. we even saw zoo lights and went to the christmas pop-up bar on 7th street again.

played basketball one time lmao

played jackbox countless times with my roommates and we made a few trips to jellyrolls, one of the best parts of disney world. i love to go there and sing and hear the piano.

spent new year’s eve at jellyrolls, coincidentally, where i stole a noisemaker and we all wore hats and sang “auld lang syne” when the clock struck midnight, just as you’re supposed to do.

laughed and cried while going through so many large life changes but still understanding that there is always some sort of constant in your life

drove more than i think i ever have before

went to several of the concerts they had for the food and wine festival -- saw people like air supply, starship, and the plain white t’s

listened to countless hours of music -- i think my most listened-to artists were springsteen, dylan, paul simon, maybe david cassidy, old crow medicine show, and lorde.

song of the year: “fare thee well (dink’s song),” marcus mumford and oscar isaac (from inside llewyn davis). it’s an incredible song to travel to.

was always conflicted about working for disney, but really became disgusted with the corporation the more i worked here. i will be happy to not work for them anymore when the time comes because it makes me so uncomfortable to be employed by an entity that doesn’t give a shit about its employees and milks every single fucking penny that it can out of its customers, all under the guise of being giving and magical by using terminology such as “interactions,” “magical moments,” and “guests”

considered my options after this is all over

loved the national park service and even wrote a capstone on it

2018 was the most eventful year of my life. i am not in school for the first time that i can remember; i have a degree. i travelled to more of the us than i ever knew really existed, i saw incredible concerts, and i met some truly wonderful people. but of course, the difficult moves that come along with a year like this were depressing. i knew i would be completely heartbroken when i had to leave the library back in august, but i didn’t realize how sorry i would also be to see my roommates go back to their homes at the end of their tenure at disney. it’s been 2 days, but i miss being able to hang out with them. to gain all the life experience i did, it was necessary to lose some really great parts of my old life. and that blew. but you get over it.

this year in review has taken me so long to write because i had so much to include that it seemed overwhelming to try to articulate it all. i think back to when i would wait until the night before a paper was due to start it, and i feel the same way. but the power in finishing it and having something tangible that points to a certain time in your life and explains the way you felt at that moment is like nothing else. even if the paper you write is shit, it never seems as bad (at least, to me) when you return to read through it a year or two later. it’s your thoughts set in stone, frozen in time. it’s a nice reminder. and i really enjoy writing these posts and i generally like what i write and how i say things, despite the inevitable procrastination in doing so.

i always think of “auld lang syne” when i do a year in review. sure, it’s a standard song for the new year and these year in reviews are written on or around the new year. but to write this, i have to think back to days gone by, before the year even started. and i get this feeling in my stomach of nostalgia and wistfulness (i’ve written about it before, i know) reflecting on the good ol days of these past 365 days and the times before them. we live in strange times right now, especially during what has become a two-week long (and counting!) partial government shutdown, but the memories of the warm past and the dreams of a better future are always going to be around to steady your head. without the abstract, how would we get to the concrete?

“we all cherish our children’s futures. and we are all mortal.”

#about me #me #a year in review #2018

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Ghost Kitchens Find a Home in Empty Hotels Richard Zaro always wanted to open a chicken cutlet joint inspired by the deli sandwiches served across northern New Jersey, but the challenge was coming up with the required capital. The pandemic finally gave him an opportunity. Mr. Zaro’s family has a long history in the restaurant business. In 1927, his great-grandfather Joseph Zarobchik founded the Zaro’s Bakery chain, which today is a fixture for New York commuters with storefronts at Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal and across the city. But he wanted to start a concept of his own, and in the pandemic, he found a solution: the hotel industry, which, after months of hanging by a financial thread, was renting its empty kitchens and banquet spaces to restaurateurs hunting for cut-rate space. Ghost kitchens, also called digital kitchens, are cooking facilities that produce food only for delivery or takeout. And as U.S. cities bounce from one lockdown to another, keeping restaurant dining rooms shuttered, demand for the concept is booming. Euromonitor, a market research firm in London, predicts ghost kitchens will be a $1 trillion industry in the next 10 years. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that the hotel industry, where occupancy rates are still down 30 percent from a year ago, is getting in on the trend. Hotels have become adept at repurposing their spaces throughout the pandemic. They’ve offered their empty rooms as housing for the homeless and temporary offices for executives; they’ve even turned their conference rooms into classrooms for children learning remotely. The conceit isn’t entirely new: Butler Hospitality, founded in 2016, was one of the first companies to streamline in-room dining by funneling food and beverage service for multiple hotels through a single neighborhood kitchen. Analysts now estimate that fewer than 5 percent of hotels in the United States are operating ghost kitchens from within their properties, but the number is expected to grow. “Hotels see this as a profit center,” said Frederick DeMicco, executive director of Northern Arizona University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Name-brand restaurants, in particular, can bring added value to a struggling hotel. “It supplements the existing menu options at the hotel, and extends well-respected restaurant brands as partners in the hotel,” he said. “Consumers recognize and approve of that.” The pandemic has opened the business model to more entrepreneurs. To turn his sandwich concept into a business, Mr. Zaro started renting space in July at the Four Points by Sheraton Midtown near Times Square, paying $6,000 a month for a fully outfitted catering kitchen. Average restaurant start-up costs for brick-and-mortar locations, in comparison, can run from $200,000 to more than $1 million. Within four months, he had generated enough revenue — and created a large enough base of loyal customers — to move to a stand-alone location. His new business, Cutlets, opened in a former Tender Greens restaurant near Gramercy Park on Dec. 1, and has plans to expand. Testing from a base at a Times Square hotel was the ultimate risk reduction, Mr. Zaro said, adding that the hotel benefited, too: “It was nice for them to have incoming revenue.” And the situation removed many of the stumbling blocks that new restaurateurs face. “We were able to do decent business on Day 1, get open for next to nothing and test the market,” he said. Mr. Zaro found his rented kitchen space through Use Kitch, an online commercial kitchen marketplace that likens itself to an Airbnb for the restaurant industry. Dan Unter and Aaron Nevin started the platform last January; they estimate that half of their rental kitchens, nearly all in New York, are inside hotels. Business & Economy Updated Jan. 26, 2021, 8:09 a.m. ET They plan to lower that share, but relying heavily on kitchen space in hotels was ideal for the company’s rollout, Mr. Nevin said. “Hotels are already accustomed to having third-party operators in their spaces, so it’s not that foreign of a concept for them,” he said. “The larger restaurant industry still needs to wrap their heads around it.” The marriage of ghost kitchens and hotels has potential as a long-term business model, said Sam Nazarian, the founder and chief executive of SBE Entertainment, a hotel and restaurant management company. Its brands include the Mondrian and Hyde hotels, as well as restaurants from chefs like Wolfgang Puck, José Andrés and Katsuya Uechi. In 2019, Mr. Nazarian started C3, a food hall platform with a focus on delivery and a hybrid of ghost and brick-and-mortar kitchens. C3 has eight virtual brands, including Umami Burger and Krispy Rice. Using the hotel model, it is beginning a partnership this month with Graduate Hotels, a collection of more than 30 millennial-focused boutique hotels in college towns across the United States. “Nobody was looking to unlock the power of dormant real estate,” said Mr. Nazarian, who estimates that many hotels are using their kitchens only 15 percent of the time and losing valuable revenue as a result. “Now we can utilize that kitchen at 80 or 90 percent effectiveness and deliver our brand to that millennial generation.” The joint venture will start first at the Graduate Berkeley, near the University of California, Berkeley, and then expand to campuses in Minnesota, Arizona and Iowa before being folded into the entire chain. Graduate Hotels will provide the banquet and catering spaces; C3’s restaurant brands will offer in-room dining as well as delivery and takeout for the community. “When you think about the distribution angle of targeting how many millions of college kids who are there forming their appetites and their brand loyalty, it made sense, both for Sam and for us,” said Ben Weprin, the founder and chief executive of AJ Capital Partners, the Chicago real estate company behind Graduate Hotels. “I think this will be profitable. It’s a great differentiator.” The right partnership is crucial to making the business model a success, said Kim Stein, a principal at KLNB, a commercial real estate services firm in Washington. “If you are trying to make your business survive, you need to find a partner to help you do that right now,” she said. Among her clients, she said, are buyers who are looking for a full kitchen for delivery and carryout but don’t want to pay for more than 1,000 square feet. (Restaurants tend to run 1,200 to 10,000 square feet, including the kitchen and dining room.) “From a real estate perspective, it is nearly impossible to find a thousand square feet with a full kitchen,” Ms. Stein said. Hyatt, which has more than 900 properties, sees another benefit to installing ghost kitchens in several of its hotels: a support system for small businesses. In November, the company started Hyatt Loves Local, a partnership program that offers resources — including kitchen space — to local businesses that have struggled during the pandemic. Sixty Hyatt hotels have participated so far. Hyatt is offering its spaces to small business for free. The program adds to the hotels’ appeal by expanding their food options and supporting the neighborhood, said Amy Weinberg, a Hyatt senior vice president. “Our hotels are part of the community in which they operate,” she said. “If the neighborhood is struggling, that’s not good for anyone.” Through the program, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta gave a kitchen to Anna Bell’s Mac; a Hyatt Regency in Dubai offered both a kitchen and a storefront to Fables UAE, a confectionary; and after foot traffic at the Hana Farmers Market in Hawaii slowed considerably, it moved to the Hyatt Hana-Maui Resort, which provides kitchen and refrigerator space to vendors for food prep. The union of hotels and local allies is a trend that is likely to stay, Ms. Stein said. “Hotels are able to keep the amenity of having some kind of food service, and the restaurant is able to reach new customers through delivery and carryout,” she said. “It’s really a win-win.” Source link Orbem News #empty #Find #Ghost #home #hotels #Kitchens

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Scary Christmas Stories: A History of the Holiday’s Ghostly Tradition

https://ift.tt/2LtOQF3

“It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story” – Jerome K. Jerome, 1891

In the English countryside, dinner had ended, and the company retired to the drawing room. They gathered around the fire as the parson, who sat in a high-backed oak chair, proceeded to tell of goblins and ghosts. The squire, not a superstitious man himself, listened intently as the parson spoke about the crusader who rose from his tomb for a nighttime ride. The old porter’s wife added to the tale with her own of the crusader’s march on Midsummer Eve, when fairies became visible.

Such was Christmas Night at Bracebridge Hall, England, in 1820.

The story set in the fictional manor was written by American author Washington Irving, and published in 1820 in the fifth installment of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. This was less than three months before the world was introduced to the Headless Horseman in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” prior to the start of the Victorian era – and when Charles Dickens was only seven years old.

Twenty-three years before Ebenezer Scrooge changed his ways on the holiday in 1843, and 143 years before Andy Williams first sang about the most wonderful time of the year in 1963, Christmas had already been established as the season for telling scary ghost stories.

Irving’s English countryside story reminded readers of the idea of the paranormal and Christmas connection, but he didn’t invent it by a long shot.

Before it was “Christmas,” it was midwinter, solstice, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and Yule. It was the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It represented death, and rebirth, and was a time when the veil between worlds was thin. And it took place around December 21.

Prior to the emergence of what we know as the seasonal mascot Santa Claus, there was Sinterklass, and Saint Nicholas before him. There was the long-bearded Odin who would lead a band of hunters, or fairies, or armies of the dead across the sky during Yuletide on the Wild Hunt of Old Norse and Germanic Pagan beliefs. And much like Odin, and solstice, were appropriated, or enveloped, into Christmas, so were seasonal pagan songs turned into carols.

As Christianity spread, folklore incorporated the supernatural with the religious holiday. The anti-Claus Krampus is possibly from a pre-Christian era, but the beast of Germanic and Eastern European origins became a counterpart to St. Nick, and appeared as a hairy goat-like demon with horns and cloven hooves. Written in the 9th-11th century, the Sagas of the Icelanders has some pretty heavy duty spectral action during the season, including revenants. And the underworld race of goblins known as kallikantzaroi emerged in Southeastern Europe in (approximately) late 14th Century with a mission to wreak havoc during the 12 Days of Christmas.

The idea of paranormal stories told during the winter had already been documented in fiction by 1589, when Christopher Marlowe wrote of the season’s tales of “spirits and ghosts” in The Jew of Malta. Shakespeare shortly thereafter wrote of a sad story best for winter, “of sprites and goblins” in 1623’s The Winter’s Tale — nearly two decades ahead of Oliver Cromwell banning, or trying to, Christmas celebrations in 1644 during the English Civil War.

Meanwhile, in the colonies, the Puritans rejected the pagan trappings and revelries of Christmas. Stephen Nissenbaum, author of The Battle for Christmas, writes that from 1659 to 1681, Massachusetts made public celebrations of the holiday a criminal offense carrying a fine. Notably, Captain John Smith of Jamestown celebrated the holiday in 1607, but festivities in America weren’t widespread. Christmas wasn’t even a national holiday until 1870.

By the time Irving came to write of English Christmas traditions, which also involved “mumming” and hanging mistletoe, it was a romanticized notion, and not likely being observed with much fanfare outside the countryside. In the industrial areas, December 25 was just another day of work.

But Irving’s story nonetheless connected with Charles Dickens. In his book Dickens, Peter Ackroyd writes the author had lived an idyllic life in the country until that happy existence abruptly ended, and his father was sent to a debtor’s prison when young Charles was just 12. So Irving’s Bracebridge — a setting familiar to Dickens, and based on the real-life Watt Family at Astor Hall — must have stirred up nostalgia for his childhood lost.

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In time, Dickens and Irving became friends, and the former credited the American author with influencing his own Christmas writings. A Christmas Carol, in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas was published December 19, 1843, but Dickens’ previous work The Pickwick Papers had already included a story about a Christmas Eve with ghost stories, reminiscent of Irving’s “Old Christmas.” He likewise introduced a proto-Scrooge in “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole A Sexton” in 1836 as a chapter of Pickwick.

Interestingly, from a paranormal perspective, Dickens’ “ghosts” in Carol are more inhuman entities than traditional spirits of those who have passed. Christmas Past is described as an “it” with a bright flame atop its head; Present is described as quite large with a wreath of holly and icicles; Christmas Yet to Come is the Grim Reaper-esque figure in a black shroud without a discernible face and body. The ghost of Marley is a familiar sort of ghost, though trapped in chains, returning when the veil is thin much like the old pagan tales suggested.

If Irving’s successful Sketch Book reminded English readers of the ghost story tradition, it was Dickens’ blockbuster hit that made it mainstream. Like any good creator, he gave the audience more, and wrote four additional Christmas books, and several essays on the topic – many of which involved supernatural elements, and promoted Dickens’ “Carol Philosophy” and themes of generosity.

After Jesus and Santa, Dickens gets a lot of well-deserved credit for how we celebrate Christmas. He helped remind the urban English population of the good ol’ days of Christmases of yore, and popularized the holiday as a secular charitable observance (and he coined the phrase “Merry Christmas”).

Though Dickens didn’t create the idea of Christmas ghost stories, he helped make it quintessentially British. Victorian magazines and newspapers took to publishing these themed stories for holiday fireside reading, and readers ate it up. Not surprisingly, other authors wanted in on the trend, even if they didn’t echo the Carol Philosophy.

Elizabeth Gaskell contributed the ghost yarn “The Old Nurse’s Story” to Dickens’ 1852 collection, A Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire. The list goes on: John Burwick Harwood’s “Horror: A True Tale” (1861); Ada Buisson’s “The Ghost’s Summons” (1868); Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Markheim” (1885). Even American Edgar Allan Poe set his 1845 poem “The Raven” in “bleak December,” and American ex-pat Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw (1898) begins on Christmas Eve.

By 1891, English humorist Jerome K. Jerome commented on the popular tradition in Told After Supper:

“It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story. Christmas Eve is the ghosts’ great gala night. On Christmas Eve they hold their annual fete. On Christmas Eve everybody in Ghostland who IS anybody…comes out to show himself or herself, to see and to be seen, to promenade about and display their winding-sheets and grave-clothes to each other… Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories. Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about spectres. It is a genial, festive season, and we love to muse upon graves, and dead bodies, and murders, and blood.”

This popularity of ghost stories in Christmas was aided by the fascination with the paranormal, and the rise of Spiritualism in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. As seances and the use of spirit boards became more vogue, so did the holiday trend. When the religious movement faded from the spotlight in the 1920s, the ghost story tradition stuck around even if the English slightly cooled on it during the early-to-mid war-torn 20th century.

M.R. James, the medieval scholar, and one of the best ghost story writers ever, took to telling fireside tales of the supernatural while he served as Provost at Eton College from 1918-1936. In North America, Canadian novelist Robertson Davies would do the same at Massey College, according to bibliographers Carl Spadoni, and Judith Skelton Grant. Meanwhile, American horror author (and racist) H.P. Lovecraft set his 1925 Necronomicon story “The Festival” during Christmastime.

Anecdotally, it seems Halloween now dominates when it comes to the season of the ghost, even in the United Kingdom. But the Christmas tradition has not entirely faded. The 1970s BBC special A Ghost Story for Christmas has returned in recent years, and The Guardian published five such stories over the course of as many days in 2013.

Contrary to the “scary ghost stories” lyric of classic American Christmas carol “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” the U.S. didn’t take to the Christmas ghost story in the same way our British cousins did in the late 19th century (which makes it especially peculiar the song was written by two New York City kids, Edward Pola and George Wyle, and sung by Iowa’s own Andy Williams).

Rather, Christmas in America became especially defined by the jolly (but also supernatural) Santa Claus character presented in the 1931 Coca-Cola advertisement, painted by Haddon Sundblom, and inspired by Clement Clark Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” aka “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The folklore of Christmas in America in the early 20th Century was candy cane sweet. Lacking was the ominous spookiness that reminds us to seek the light.

(The indigenous peoples of North America also celebrated solstice, such as with the Iroquois Haudeshaune; the Passamaquoddy tribe’s belief that frost giants returned north during this time; the general idea across different native nations that this time is a celebration of light returning to turtle island (Earth). These traditions were never incorporated into American culture, and were instead purged by colonization.)

Still, America has gradually been making up for its absence of Christmas ghosts and goblins. The angelic 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart, espouses enough of the Carol Philosophy of goodwill to make Dickens proud. In Dr. Seuss’ 1957 book, and 1966 animated special, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the creature on Mount Crumpit is a modern-day Krampus. Rod Serling toyed, somewhat literally in one case, with the notion of magic and ghosts in his 1960-62 Christmas episodes of The Twilight Zone (“Night of the Meek,” “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” and “Changing of the Guard”).

These days the holiday horror subgenre of film has channeled the scary nature of Victorian tales. Santa -as-slasher is well-tread territory thanks in large part to 1974’s Black Christmas, directed by Bob Clark (who also co-wrote and directed A Christmas Story). More than ghosts, the monsters of Christmas in American cinema has included Gremlins, Krampus, Jack Frost, Gingerdead Man, and the zombies of Anna and the Apocalypse. And the “real” Santa and his creepy elves themselves become the monsters in the Finnish film Rare Exports.

But perhaps with the exception of A Nightmare Before Christmas, and some of the more effective adaptations of A Christmas Carol, such as Scrooged, the sentimentality of Irving and Dickens is mostly absent from modern holiday tales of the supernatural. Yet they certainly bring us right back to the monsters and undead of the pagan tales.

However, with the seemingly nonstop demand for “content” across streaming platforms — and the seasonal English tradition gaining fresh attention on media outlets — we might be on the threshold of a new age of December-set stories populated with spirits and goblins.

Perhaps once more in the near future, every Christmas Eve will be a great gala night for ghosts.

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davidoespailla · 6 years ago

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The Multimillion-Dollar Homes on Campus Where Rent is Free

Art Meripol for The Wall Street Journal

In August, Katherine A. Rowe and her husband Bruce Jacobson moved into a 5,763-square-foot Colonial Georgian built in 1732 that has witnessed the famous, and infamous, for centuries. It housed British General Charles Cornwallis near the end of the Revolutionary War, and has hosted George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and every president from Woodrow Wilson to Dwight Eisenhower.

It is also a great deal. As president of the 325-year-old College of William & Mary, Ms. Rowe gets to live free in what the school attests is the country’s oldest official college presidential residence. “Being in this house brings us back to that early moment of thinking about the beginning of higher education in this country,” she says.

One of the most lucrative perks of becoming a college or university leader is the housing. The average tenure of a college chief was 6.5 years in 2016, according to a study by the American Council on Education. During their time in charge, many presidents get to live in some of the grandest and most historic properties in the U.S.

College of William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe and her husband, Bruce Jacobson, stand in the gardens in front of the President’s House, a three-story Colonial Georgian mansion built in 1732.

Tyler Darden for The Wall Street Journal

For many campus leaders, the value of their free accommodations is not taxed as income. According to Donald Budnick, a New York-based accountant, housing isn’t considered part of taxable compensation so long as the president is required to occupy the home as a condition of employment and the home is located on campus. This is the case for about 70% of public college and university presidential contracts, according to research from James Finkelstein, professor emeritus, and Judith Wilde, professor, both in public policy at George Mason University. (No data was available for private college presidents.)

Built in 1732, the President’s House is the country’s oldest official college presidential residence, according to the College of William & Mary.

Tyler Darden for The Wall Street Journal

For these presidents and chancellors, the campus homes are also more than residences. They serve as the cog in a university’s social life, hosting events for students, faculty, alumni and prospects throughout the year.

The President’s Mansion at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, is a bustling social center for the campus. President Stuart R. Bell and his wife Susan say they host dozens of events annually at the antebellum, 11,781-square-foot Greek Revival mansion, which features dramatic, twin curving staircases from the ground to the formal second-floor balcony entrance.

Stuart R. Bell and his wife Susan live in the President’s Mansion at the University of Alabama.

Art Meripol for The Wall Street Journal

Between alumni and student tours, formal dinners, student barbecues, tailgate parties for up to 800 and Easter egg hunts for local children (featuring 9,000 eggs this year), the place clearly belongs to the campus community. “It did take a little bit of an adjustment to hear people coming and going through our house all the time,” says Mrs. Bell. “Within a couple of months, it was astounding when there were not people going through.”

Some presidential homes, due to location, size or tradition, are less a social center and more like an inn. The President’s House at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I., occupied by President Sister Jane Gerety for the past 10 years, is a 6,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom renovated carriage house and stable that was part of a grand estate built for successful banker William Watts Sherman in 1876, according to historical records. It is one of the seven contiguous historic estates owned by Salve Regina in the Ochre Points/Bellevue Avenue neighborhood in Newport, known for Gilded Age mansions like the Marble House, built in 1892 for William Vanderbilt, and the Breakers, built in 1895 for his brother Cornelius.

The President’s House is divided into two apartments, one for the president, one for visitors. Sister Gerety says her bedroom was where Mr. Sherman’s staff used to wash the estate’s horse-drawn coaches. “I’m living in a place where servants lived,” she says. “I like the symbolism of that.”

Aside from their history and pedigree, another recurring theme among these campus treasures is the maintenance, repairs and renovations they require, which because of their age and intensity of usage can be a constant, expensive process.

President Jonathan Brand, wife Rachelle LaBarge and Didi at Garner President’s House at Cornell College.

Rau + Barber for The Wall Street Journal

Garner President’s House at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Gifted to the college in 1908 by William Fletcher King, one of Cornell’s earliest presidents, it is hailed by architects as an exceptional example of Gothic/Victorian architecture, the college says.

It was also falling apart. When President Jonathan Brand and his wife Rachelle LaBarge arrived in 2011, they had to move to temporary housing as the school was just launching an 18-month, $1.9 million renovation.

Garner President’s House, along with the entire campus, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rau + Barber for The Wall Street Journal

Prior to their arrival, Mr. Brand said the board debated whether to undertake renovations at all, given the poor condition of the 168-year-old home. His predecessor, Les Garner and his wife Katrina, lived in the house for 16 years, and Mr. Brand says the house was named after them to honor how they made the home a focal point of the community, and also due to their fortitude in living with its challenges, including constantly freezing pipes and a leaky roof. “They had a very tight relationship with the facilities staff,” says Mr. Brand. “I mean I can visualize them blowing with hair dryers on pipes literally an hour before an event.”

Despite the renovation, Mr. Brand says that rumors persist that the spirit of Mr. King, the early president who donated the home to Cornell on the condition he be allowed to continue living there, still occupies the place. “People say he stayed for 13 years after he retired,” says Mr. Brand. “But I think it might be more like 100 years.”

Ghosts are another of the perks that come with a presidential residence. William & Mary’s President’s House, which is on several campus ghost walks, reportedly has apparitions, says Ms. Rowe. They like to knock on the front door, and open the kitchen cabinets at night, she says. There are tales of a ghost of a French soldier who died in the house in the 1700s. “I speak French, and I figure when he’s ready to have a conversation, he’ll let me know,” she says.

The music room is one of the favorite places in the home for Cornell President Jonathan Brand and his wife Rachelle LaBarge. The portrait on the left is of former Cornell president William F. King, painted by Louis O. Jurgensen. Mr. King donated the house to the college when he retired as president, on the condition that he could continue to live in it until he died. Ms. LaBarge hung a portrait of a flamenco dancer across from Mr. King’s portrait to ‘remind him to lighten up,’ says Mr. Brand.

Rau + Barber for The Wall Street Journal

The University of Alabama home may have one as well, says Mr. Bell. “We’d been here a week and a half and heard noises,” he says. “We looked all through the house and couldn’t find anything, and Susan and I turned to each other and said, ‘this is a big house, let’s go to sleep.’”

Despite the challenges of living in so public a space—with visitors both corporeal and incorporeal—the presidents and their spouses say they wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. The Bells are enamored with their home’s majestic front porch, where Mr. Bell says he spends many Sunday mornings with hot tea and the newspaper. Ms. Rowe and Mr. Jacobson say they cherish their cozy upstairs den. Sister Gerety likes to meditate in her home’s sunroom, which looks out over a rose garden. Mr. Brand and Ms. LaBarge love their bright kitchen.

Mr. Brand says that he’s taking a cue from former President King who, as was his wish, lived in the house until he died in 1921. “I’ve already penned a letter to my successor,” Mr. Brand says. “‘Get ready. We’re not leaving.’”

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ultralifehackerguru-blog · 7 years ago

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The most unusual Christmas tradition in every state

Christmas traditions vary depending on weather, culture, or location.

Minnesota has a large population of Scandinavian people, so they celebrate with lutefisk, a traditional Nordic food.

In New Mexico, wreaths are often made up of dried chiles.

Christmas is celebrated very differently throughout the world. And in a country as large as the United States, it’s no surprise that every state adds their own individual spin to the holiday.

No matter what state you’re in, you can be guaranteed to find a special holiday celebration happening in December, whether it’s a Santa Claus race in Reno, Nevada, or a Christmas tree made of beer kegs in Rochester, New York.

Keep scrolling to see the most unique holiday celebration in every state.

In Alabama, Mobile residents try to break the world record for most elves in one place in “Elfapalooza.”

Santa’s little helpers gathered in Mobile, Alabama.

Photo courtesy of LODA Art Walk

In Mobile, Alabama, thousands of people dress up in pointy ears to join one of the largest congregations of elves in the world: Elfapalooza!

Elfapalooza is currently second to a festive congregation in Bangkok, Thailand, which holds the world record of most elves in one place, but every year Mobile tries to take their spot.

Alaskans parade a wooden star from house to house to represent the Star of Bethlehem.

A Christmas tree in Alaska topped by a star.

Wonderlane/ Flickr

The Russian Orthodox tradition of selaviq, also known as starring, is celebrated in Alaska.

In the days leading up to Russian Christmas on January 7, parishioners parade from house to house carrying a wooden star, which represents the star of Bethlehem. At each house, the size of the group increases as the residents of that house join the party.

At the end of the trek, there are food, gifts, and hymns sung to celebrate the culmination of the Three Wise Men’s journey.

Chandler, Arizona, is home to the world’s largest tumbleweed Christmas tree.

Christmas in the desert.

Photo courtesy of Tomigirl22/ Instagram

One of the most popular tourist attractions during the holiday season in Arizona is the giant tumbleweed tree in Chandler, Arizona.

Workers begin to assemble this dry tannenbaum in September until it is lit for the Christmas season. The tradition of lighting a tumbleweed “tree” goes back 60 years in Chandler.

In Arkansas, people follow the Trail of Holiday Lights from one end of the state to the other.

The Lights of the Ozarks display in Fayetteville.

Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Trail of Holiday Lights

Ostentatious Christmas lights displays may have caught on in all four corners of the globe, but in Arizona, each of the state’s holiday light displays is connected on a giant “trail” that covers the whole state.

The Trail of Holiday Lights is mapped so that you can easily drive from one awe-inspiring display to another.

Santa rides the surf instead of a sleigh in California’s Laguna Niguel Surfing Santa competition.

Santa’s on winter break.

Steve Bruckmann/ Shutterstock

In sunny Laguna Niguel, California, surfing is sprinkled with a little holiday spirit in December for the Surfing Santa competition.

Athletes enter this Christmastime contest wearing white beards and jolly hats. Proceeds from the event support Surfers Healing, a surf camp for children with autism.

In Colorado, Hispanic residents re-enact the nativity during Las Posadas.

Donkeys lead the way to Bethlehem in this reenactment.

Photo courtesy of Tesoro Cultural Center

Las Posadas, or “The Inns,” is a Mexican Christmas tradition, during which people of all ages gather to re-enact the story of Christmas — specifically the journey of Mary and Joseph from inn to inn searching for a place to stay before Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ.

In Colorado, the Tesoro Cultural Center leads a procession of children dressed as Mary and Joseph, as well as shepherds and angels, to travel from house to house asking for shelter. At the end of the re-enactment, there is a celebration with hot chocolate and sweets for children.

Christmas gets spooky in Connecticut with the lantern light tours in Mystic Seaport.

A lantern-lit tour during the Christmas season.

Photo courtesy of Mystic Seaport

Every December in Mystic Seaport, actors put on an interactive play that’s set around Christmas Eve.

This year, the lantern-lit tour of the Mystic Seaport museum is called “The Spirit of the Holiday: A Christmas Ghost Story,” which culminates in a visit from St. Nicholas.

In Delaware, children leave out milk for the mischievous Tomte spirits on Christmas Eve.

Tomte visits children in a Swedish home on Christmas Eve.

David Castor/ Wikimedia Commons

For Delaware’s Swedish population, Christmas is associated with a visit from Tomte, the devilish imp who leaves gifts for good children.

According to the legend, tomten were mischievous and vengeful creatures who guarded farmsteads, but today they are regarded as benevolent Santa Claus or St. Nicholas-like figures.

Wreaths Across America lays holiday wreaths on every single grave in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Honoring the fallen.

Photo courtesy of Macdill Air Force base.

On December 16, Wreaths Across America, a non-profit organization, lays out holiday wreaths on thousands of graves in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., as well as 1,200 other locations across America.

The ceremony is meant to honor the fallen soldiers that have been buried in military cemeteries.

Florida heat means decorating lifeguard chairs instead of trees during the “Deck the Chairs” bash.

Floridians can still be festive even in the warm weather.

Photo courtesy of Hal Padgett/ Deck the Chairs

Deck the Chairs on Jacksonville Beach, is one of the largest holiday lights celebrations in Florida.

Volunteers decorate the iconic red lifeguard chairs of the American Red Cross with elaborate holiday lights displays, combining the spirit of the holidays with the balmy warm weather of the Sunshine State.

Macy’s iconic pink pig train makes its annual holiday appearance in Atlanta, Georgia.

Macy’s iconic pink pig train.

Photo courtesy of Mike Raker/ Instagram

Unless you live in Atlanta, you likely have never seen the pink pig train that comes to Macy’s Lenox Square every holiday season. The pink pig tradition began in 1953 at Rich’s downtown store, and has become a holiday mainstay for Georgia residents who recognize it as a unique staple of the holiday season.

Children can take photos with Priscilla the Pig, climb aboard, and, of course, purchase pink pig merchandise.

In Hawaii, a pig roast over an open fire is the most delicious part of Christmas dinner.

A traditional Hawaiian pig roast.

Tim Wilson/ Flickr

In Hawaii, celebrating Christmas with a hula that ends in an epic pig roast over an open fire is a tradition that dates back to the first Christmas in Hawaii. Celebrated in 1786, a merchant ship docked off the shores of Hawaii during Christmas sent a search party ashore who hunted a pig, killed it, and roasted it.

Later, they are said to have participated in a gift swap with the island’s natives, when a local chieftain sailed out to the docked ship and gifted them with a roasted pig.

The tradition, which resembles the American Thanksgiving story, continues todaywith a roast pig on almost every Hawaiian table on Christmas.

In Idaho, you can take a Christmas cruise to watch the Lake Coeur d’Alene fireworks and light show.

A view of the lakeside Christmas fireworks

Photo courtesy of Lake Coeur d’Alene Cruises

Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Journey to the North Pole cruises are some of the most popular holiday events in Idaho.

The holiday light show on the water features floating displays of Santa, Rudolph, The Grinch, and more, as well as fireworks.

Shoppers flock to the Chicago Christkindlmarkt — the largest Christmas market in Illinois.

A bird’s eye view of the market.

Photo courtesy of Christkindlmarkt of Chicago

The most famous American Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market) is in Chicago. Styled after the traditional, centuries-old markets of Germany, this Christkindlmarkt features hundreds of vendors selling traditional crafts and trinkets from Germany, Austria, and local artisans.

There’s also plenty to eat and drink, like glühwein (mulled wine), hot cocoa, and giant German pretzels.

It isn’t Christmas in Indiana without a trip to the Indy Auto Show.

A Christmas-red convertible in the Indy showroom.

Photo courtesy of Indy Auto Show

Held every year starting the day after Christmas, the Indianapolis Auto Show is a unique tradition that puts a hold on traditional holiday cheer in favor of shiny fast cars for lookers and buyers alike.

In December, Iowan residents get together to decorate rooms in the Salisbury House mansion.

The Common Room as decorated by White Willow Events.

Photo courtesy of Salisbury House & Gardens

The Holly & Ivy is a holiday decorating tradition at the Salisbury House in Des Moines, Iowa. Community groups and organizations each adopt a room of the spacious mansion to decorate with trees, ribbons, baubles, and more.

The Salisbury House then hosts tours a few days before Christmas to show off the volunteers’ decorating skills.

In Kansas, young women dress up as Saint Lucy for the St. Lucia festival.

A young woman wearing the traditional lighted wreath of St. Lucia Day.

Photo Courtesy of Visit Lindsborg

Lindsborg is widely known as the Swedish capital of Kansas, so it’s no wonder that the community throws an impressive St. Lucia Day festival every year.

On this Swedish holiday that celebrates the life of the martyr Saint Lucia, the eldest daughter of every family — wearing a white robe and crown of ivy and candles — serves traditional Swedish food to her family. Her appearance is supposed to represent light and hope during the Winter Solstice.

Fruitcake soaked in whiskey is a traditional Christmas dessert in Kentucky.

Fruitcake made with nuts and dried fruit, also known as twelfth night cake.

Brent Hofacker/ Shutterstock

Fruitcake is known around the world as the laughingstock of Christmas culinary traditions. But in Kentucky, you’d be lucky to get your hands on the famous fruitcake made by monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Also known as Twelfth Night cake, this fruitcake made with dried fruits, nuts, and spices, which is often soaked in bourbon (after all, this is Kentucky), is a popular Christmas delicacy.

Christmas bonfires light up the night on the Louisiana bayou.

A traditional bonfire effigy made to celebrate the holiday season.

Nancie Lee/ Shutterstock

Christmas Eve bonfires on the levees are a holiday tradition synonymous with Creole culture.

Every Christmas Eve, locals burn log structures that stand up to an impressive 30 feet. Most are built as traditional teepees (like the one pictured above), but some depict shapes like houses and ships.

In Maine, no Christmas dinner is complete without seafood chowder.

A bowl of Christmas chowder.

Carolyn-Parsons James

In New England, particularly in Maine, one of the most important parts of Christmas dinner is the seafood chowder, made with lobster, crab, and/or clams in a warm, creamy broth.

Get a recipe for New England Christmas chowder here.

A whole block gets decked out with lights on Maryland’s own “Miracle on 34th Street.”

The “Miracle of Lights” tradition.

Mark Peters/ Flickr

Over two decades ago, in Baltimore, Maryland, a man living on 34th Street placed a string of Christmas lights in the tree in his front yard. Soon, his neighbors mimicked his tradition.

Now, more than 25 years later, the humble Baltimore block is transformed every year into a decorative spectacle known as the “Miracle on 34th Street.” Every house participates in the annual lighting tradition that draws visitors from all over the country.

Stockbridge is the Christmas capital of Massachusetts — as made famous by Norman Rockwell’s paintings.

A view of quaint Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Photo courtesy of Tracey_Anne/ Instagram

Not many people know that the nostalgic paintings created by the popular artist Norman Rockwell actually depicted a real place, and not just small town Americana from his imagination. That place — Norman Rockwell’s hometown — is Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Stockbridge Main Street goes all out every year in December to recreate the idyllic New England setting with parades, caroling, and holiday concerts.

Shoppers come from all over to visit Bronner’s — the world’s largest Christmas store — in Michigan.

Just one corner of this giant Christmas store.

Paul Wilkinson/ Flickr

Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland claims to be the largest Christmas store in the world. Open all year round, the 320,000 square-foot store contains multiple floors of decorations, gifts, trees, and any holiday trinket you can possibly think of.

Minnesota residents always serve lutefisk on Christmas, whether they love it or hate it.

A Nordic lutefisk dinner.

Fanfo/ Shutterstock

Lutefisk dinners began as a Nordic holiday tradition, and are now part of a quintessential Christmas dinner for Minnesotans across the state, regardless of their ethnic background.

Lutefisk is a dried white fish soaked in water for several days and treated with lye. The dish has a Jell-O-like consistency, and is reminiscent of gefiltefish served during Jewish Passover. It has become popular in the Twin Cities region due to the large population of immigrants from Scandinavia.

Decorated boats line the shores of Biloxi Beach for the largest Christmas boat parade in Mississippi.

A boat all decked out for the holidays.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Martini Images/ Instagram

Instead of just decorating houses, Mississippi residents look forward to the decked-out boats that take part in the Biloxi Beach Water Boat Parade. Boaters decorate their vessels to the nines, and the show culminates in a stunning fireworks display.

In Missouri, kids are just as excited to meet the Fairy Princess as they are to see Santa.

The Fairy Princesses from 2015 decked out in white.

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Museum

If you live outside the Twin Cities, you probably have no idea who the Fairy Princess is. But for local kids, the Fairy Princess is a holiday icon. Young local women dress up in crowns and royal regalia to meet with children. Each child who meets a Fairy Princess gets a toy that comes out of a secret treasure chest.

The Fairy Princess was a tradition started by Kline’s Department Store in 1936. The Klines came up with the idea because they were Jewish and did not wish to hire a Santa Claus. Thus, the non-denominational (and sparkly) figure was born.

December in Montana is about athletic endurance during the Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

Photo courtesy of Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival

The Montana Ice Festival may sound magical, but this annual ice climbing competition is all about athletic grit.

Held every year right around Christmas in Bozeman, Montana, the festival features daring climbing contests on the face of the Bridger Mountain Range, as well as the annual Adventure Film Festival.

Buffalo Bill’s house puts on a fantastic display in Nebraska for “Christmas at the Cody’s.”

The Cody House.

Photo courtesy of the International Cody Family Association

Yes, Buffalo Bill was a real person. William Frederick Cody was well-known as a historical figure of the Wild West, but these days his mansion — the Cody House— is popular for its holiday traditions.

Local organizations “adopt” rooms of the Cody Mansion and decorate them for the holidays. Visitors can take a tour of the house and will receive hot cocoa and Christmas cookies.

In Nevada, people don their Christmas outfits for the annual Great Santa Dash.

Hundreds of Santas line up for the race.

Photo courtesy of Las Vegas Events

The Great Santa Dash in Reno, Nevada, is one of the largest Christmas-themed 5K races in the country. Expect Santa hats instead of race bibs, and cocoa and cookiesinstead of water and sports drinks.

New Hampshire inns participate in the “Inn to Inn Cookie Tour.”

Nothing better than a plate of cookies by the fire.

Photo courtesy of Country Inns in the White Mountains

Inns and bed and breakfasts across New Hampshire take part in what’s become known as the “Inn to Inn Cookie Tour.”

Participants can travel to different lodging locations in the White Mountains area to sample homemade holiday cookies and hot chocolate, and mix and mingle with guests at each inn.

New Jersey’s own Storybook Land is tailor-made for celebrating Christmas.

Santa Claus’ house at Storybook Land.

Stephen B./Yelp

Storybook Land has been a prime spot for New Jersey kids for over 60 years, and their Christmas Fantasy With Lights parade has been around for over 25 years.

The evening’s highlight is when Santa appears, lighting up the entire park with a wave of his magic wand.

In New Mexico, “ristras,” a type of red pepper, are hung up as decoration.

Ristras are said to bring health and good luck.

Flickr/Tony Alter

They don’t have white Christmases in New Mexico, so it makes sense they’d decorate with something a little spicier, which is why dried peppers are often strung across homes, or turned into wreaths. The peppers are said to bring health and good luck.

In Rochester, New York, locals look forward to the unusual Genesee Keg Tree all year long.

The Genesee Keg Tree in 2017.

The Genesee Brewery/Facebook

A beer keg tree is constructed in Rochester, New York, annually, with the 2017 tree being their biggest one yet, made out of 430 kegs and covered in 2,000 feet of lights.

In North Carolina, Santa Claus rappels down the biggest chimney in the state every year — Chimney Rock!

Santa rappelling down Chimney Rock.

Asheville/YouTube

Every year in Asheville, Santa climbs down the 315-foot Chimney Rock, and then joins in other Christmas festivities at the park — there’s hot chocolate, cookies, as well as a kind of petting zoo.

The entire town of Garrison, North Dakota, transforms into a Victorian-era village for the holiday season.

Festival-goers.

Helena/Flickr

Garrison is known as the Christmas Capitol of North Dakota, and for good reason, as the entire town transforms into a Victorian-era village for the holiday season. There’s a fruit cake toss, English high tea, top hat decorating, live performances of Dickens’ works, horse-drawn carriages, and a whole lot more old-school festivities.

Residents of Ohio (and people all around the world) flock to Cleveland to remember “A Christmas Story.”

The house was restored recently to look like the film.

A Christmas Story House/Facebook

Take a tour or even stay overnight at the house with the leg lamp in the window from “A Christmas Story.”

Oklahoma residents fire “Christmas guns” every year.

Hitching a ride to the ceremony.

Historic Fort Reno/Facebook

Firing the “Christmas guns” at Fort Reno is a longstanding tradition. Originally a custom brought over by German immigrants, the firing of the guns (and cannons, in some cases) was thought to dispel evil spirits in preparation for Christmas.

Oregon takes caroling to a whole new level with the Singing Christmas Tree.

The Singing Christmas Tree consists of over 350 people.

Portland’s Singing Christmas Tree

Portland’s Singing Christmas Tree entered its 55th season this year. The tree consists of over 350 singers, and the event, which is around two hours long, includes dancing, a nativity scene, and a light show.

In Pennsylvania, Santa Claus ditches the sleigh and rows his way across a lake.

The tree floats in the middle of Children’s Pond.

Handsome Red Productions/Facebook

In Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, Santa makes a more low key entrance than flying in on a sleigh. After a tree has been lit and set afloat on Childrens’ Lake, Santa rows across it to greet all the kids waiting for him on the lit up shores.

Rhode Island’s Block Island creates a tree made from lobster traps every year.

Block Island’s lobster trap tree.

Block Island/Facebook

An annual tradition on Block Island, this Christmas tree, made with around 200 lobster traps, is a little unusual, but makes sense once you think about all the lobster consumed in Rhode Island.

South Carolina celebrates its past with “Christmas 1860.”

Celebrating a Civil War-era Christmas.

Edmondston-Alston House/Facebook

In 1860, Charleston, South Carolina was about to enter the Civil War. To remember that turbulent time, the Edmondston-Alston House gives visitors the opportunity to try and imagine what Christmas Day before the Civil War was like.

South Dakota has an entire town that’s a designated a National Landmark, and it goes hard for Christmas.

Deadwood.

Historic Deadwood/Facebook

The entire town of Deadwood (yes, that Deadwood) is a National Landmark, and has been since 1961. It’s a true time capsule into the days of cowboys and the Gold Rush, and goes all out for Christmas with lights, decorations, and a Christmas Spectacular show.

A band in Tennessee gives away a Christmas ham to a member of the audience every year.

The Station Inn all decorated for Christmas.

bob_johnsen/Instagram

The Nashville Bluegrass Band performs at the Station Inn in Nashville’s hippest neighborhood, the Gulch, every December. And every year, the band gives away a Christmas ham to someone in the audience, after they perform the song “Ham Beats All The Meat.” If not just for the ham, go for the music and the banter.

Texans ditch the normal Christmas pine tree and decorate a pecan tree instead.

A pecan tree.

Highland Parks Texas Parks and Recreation

Dallas residents have a beloved tree they call Big Pecan Tree — all capitalized. The enormous tree gets decorated every year — and has been since 1927— and seeing it in all of its holiday glory is a local tradition.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is constantly on tour, but during the holidays they take a break and perform in their home state of Utah.

The choir has performed in Salt Lake City for over 100 years.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir/Facebook

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was founded in 1847, making it one of the oldest traditions on this list. The Choir has released over 10 albums, including one this year called “Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Friends.” But the best place to see them perform is in their home state of Utah, which they do around Christmas every year.

A town in Vermont gets locals in the Christmas spirit with a scavenger hunt.

The event is part of A Very Merry Middlebury.

Vermont Book Shop/Facebook

Middlebury, Vermont, gets its entire population into the holiday spirit with different events, like the “I Spy” contest. This year, the contest involves finding 10 tiny chickens hidden in 10 store windows in downtown Middlebury. The winner of the contest gets $100 in Middlebury Money — money that can be spent at local shops and restaurants across town.

Virginia remembers the US’ first president by keeping his Christmas traditions alive.

George Washington brought a camel home one Christmas.

Aladdin the Camel/Facebook

In 1787, George Washington brought a camel to his home in Mount Vernon for Christmas, and now Mount Vernon pays tribute to the tradition by having their very own Christmas camel every year. It even takes selfies.

Washington has an entire festival dedicated to tree decorating.

One of the contestants.

Seattle Festival of Trees/Facebook

This year was the 40th Festival of Trees in Seattle. Trees are professionally decorated according to a theme (this year’s was “Project Welcome Home, Vietnam War Memorial”), and can be sponsored by companies or individuals. Trees are for sale, and all of the proceeds go to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

West Virginia’s Winter Festival of Lights spans 300 acres.

Winter Festival of Lights.

Oglebay Resort

The Oglebay Winter Festival of Lights, which first started in 1985, is one of the biggest light shows in the country. It spans 300 acres, and has over 89 lit up attractions — from a rainbow tunnel to Peanuts characters — made with over one million lights.

The Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin offers Sing-A-Long Caroling Tours in an unusual setting.

Carolers in the cave.

Cave of the Mounds National Natural Landmark/Facebook

During weekends in December, Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin offers Sing-A-Long Caroling Tours. The cave’s acoustics will make your favorite holiday songs sound otherworldly.

In Wyoming, you can actually ski with Santa.

Santa takes selfies.

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort/Facebook

On Christmas morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, skiers can fly down the mountain with Santa.

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