Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Holiday Regatta of Lights 2009 – St Augustine, Fl

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Come to St Augustine, Florida on Saturday December 12, 2009, to see the Regatta of Lights – a holiday parade of boats. The boat parade consists of boats 15 to 85 feet in length – sailboats, trawlers, shrimp boats and more – all festively decorated with glittering lighted displays ranging from Christmas, to patriotic or whimsical.

Awards will be made for the best theme, most colorful, best in class, and best overall. Beginning at 6 p.m., the boats will light up Matanzas Bay between the Bridge of Lions and Castillo de San Marcos. The Regatta of Lights is sponsored by the St. Augustine Yacht Club. For more information, call 904.824.9725 or go to St. Augustine Yacht Club.

St Augustine, Florida

Track Santa’s arrival via Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

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This year you can go high-tech and track Santa’s arrival with the help of NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Follow Santa’s flight via Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more. Even OnStar is on board.

It’s that time of the year again and the North American Aerospace Defense Command is getting ready to track Santa! The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, is now live and features fun holiday games and activities that change daily. The Web site is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese. On Dec. 24, the website will stream videos, captured by NORAD “Santa Cams,” from numerous cities along Santa’s journey.

This year, children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and TroopTube.mil. To follow us on any of these Web sites, type in @noradsanta into the search engine and start your tracking.

New this year, OnStar is partnering with NORAD to provide OnStar subscribers with live Santa updates as they travel in their vehicles on Christmas Eve. Subscribers simply push the blue OnStar button to get status reports on Santa’s whereabouts.

Also new and beginning at 12:00 a.m. MST on Dec. 24, visitors to the website can watch Santa as he prepares his sleigh, checks his list, and goes through all his preparations to ensure he has a successful journey.

As soon as Santa takes off from the North Pole, children can also track him with up-to-the-minute Google Maps and Google Earth reports.

Santa trackers will begin answering phones and replying to email at 4:00 a.m. MST (6:00 a.m. EST) on Christmas Eve. Children of all ages can call the NTS toll free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.

The NTS program is carried out with the assistance of many corporate partners. Booz Allen Hamilton has designed the NTS Web site. Other sponsors helping with the event include Verizon, who donates the toll-free number, Time Warner, Avaya and PCI provide communications engineering, while OnStar, 5 Star Bank, Pepsi Distributing and First Choice Awards and Gifts keep the trackers happy with food, beverages and souvenir tracking pins.

The NTS program began on Dec. 24, 1955, after a phone call was made to the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The call was from a local youngster who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a local newspaper advertisement. The commander at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo. who answered the phone that night gave the youngster the information requested – the whereabouts of Santa. This began the tradition of tracking Santa, a tradition that was carried on by NORAD when it was formed in 1958.

The NTS program has grown immensely since first presented on the Internet in 1998. The Web site receives millions of unique visitors from hundreds of countries and territories around the world. In addition, the NTS Operations Center will be occupied for 25 hours with over 1,200 volunteers on Christmas Eve, who will be receiving hundreds of thousands phone calls and emails from families around the world.

We look forward to helping you with NORAD Tracks Santa!
santaclaus

Jazz Holiday Concert on Christmas Day – Savannah, GA

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Jazz-up your spirit this holiday season in Savannah by attending The 34th Annual CJA Holiday Concert and Jam Session. Mark your calendar for Friday, December 25 at 5:00 p.m. and head down to Westin – Savannah Harbor Resort on Hutchinson Istand –Just Across the River- for some great jazz.

Trombonist, Teddy Adams will host a who’s who of regional jazz All-Stars. “Yule” hear some of the best musicians in the Coastal Empire. This is the annual CJA fundraiser and will benefit the student scholarship education fund. Tickets Cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

More information at www.coastal-jazz.org or to reserve your tickets by calling 912.920.1317

Jazz on the Beach

A Christmas Carol on IMAX in St Augustine

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Disney’s “A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come, will premiere on the largest IMAX screen in northeast Florida Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. The film will be a special engagement at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater with tickets being $13 for adults with discounts for children, military, seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased and additional film information may be found at www.wgv.com.

“A Christmas Carol” is Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of an old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who must face Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come as they help to bring kindness to his otherwise cold heart. The Ghosts remind Scrooge of the man he used to be, the hard truth of what the world is today and what will happen if he does not strive to be a better man. Set around Christmas, the most joyous day of the year, Scrooge realizes the sharp contrast of his own personality.

“A Christmas Carol” is rated PG for scary sequences and scary images and runs one hour and 36 minutes. The film will play at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater through Monday, Jan. 18, 2010.

The theater also is currently presenting a holiday favorite, “The Polar Express,” on the big screen through Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. The 90-minute animated holiday adventure based on the Caldecott Award-winning book by Chris Van Allsburg, tells the story of a boy battling with the belief of Santa Claus’ existence and takes audiences on the boy’s extraordinary journey to the North Pole. Tickets for “The Polar Express” are $6 for all ages.

Closed captioning services are available for both holiday films. For all film and ticket information, visit the IMAX Theater section of www.wgv.com.

Additionally, Santa Claus will make appearances at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater lobby around the holiday films. Santa’s schedule is as follows:

snowflakeSaturday, Dec. 5  -  10 to 11 a.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6  – 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12  – 10:30 to 11 a.m. and 1:30 to 2 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 13  – 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2:30 to 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 19  – 12 to 2:30 p.m.

Watch our video from the Disney Train Tour “A Christmas Carol” in Jacksonville, Florida below

3rd Annual Holiday Home Tour in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL

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Amelia Island Museum3rd Annual Holiday Home Tour in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL takes place on December 4th and 5th, 2009.
The Amelia Island Museum of History showcases the 3rd annual Holiday Home Tour in historic Fernandina Beach this weekend. Five unique homes, never before open to the public, has been chosen for the tour.

The Holiday Home Tour will take place on December 4th and 5th, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tour tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the tour.

You can also enjoy a Victorian-style tea at the historical Bailey House after the tour. Tickets are $15.

For more tickets and more information visit www.ameliamuseum.org or call (904) 261-7378 ext. 100.


For more information, visit our events calendar listing for the Holiday Tour of Homes in Fernandina