ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The St. Augustine Lighthouse hits the switch on its annual holiday “Lighthouse Illuminations” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The display, featuring more than 30,000 lights and 300 feet of garland, is in its second year. It will run through Jan. 14, alongside St. Augustine’s “Nights of Lights” celebration.
Bobby Dye, the marketing manager at the Lighthouse, said visitors can experience the city’s Nights of Lights from hundreds of feet in the air.
“The holiday spirit. We really feel like this event embodies that. So many hours went into this event. Our dedicated staff and volunteers very thoughtfully crafted and curated this event,” Dye said.
Among the decorations are 21 uniquely ornamented trees -- all with different themes. From a Victorian-era themed tree to an old toy tree to an owl-themed one to one called “nautical adventures.”
All of the decorations you’ll see on one tree were donated by people around the country. We saw decorations from North Dakota, New Jersey and even Hawaii.
Bookkeeper Darlene Humphreys was instrumental in getting this all together, shopping across the country to make the decorations pop and spending two weeks to set up. Everything was bought with care and a purpose.
“A couple of the trees have a little bit of a different design. They still have the same purpose. We just designed them a little bit different,” Humphreys said.