Olde Town Christmas Crawl 2022

 

“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”

Amy Poehler

Just another one of many fun events in Olde Town, Augusta, Georgia with our friends. The Olde Town gang have had a tradition of doing a Christmas porch crawl every December. If you are unfamiliar with what that is, let me explain. You go to multiple houses in the same area, preferably walking. Each house has a specialty drink and some kind of food. If the day is nice enough, you can have your get together on your porch or invite all in to see your Christmas decorations. Each home has a limited amount of time before going to the next home. So go get your friends together and give it a try.

The weather may not have been what we hoped that day but for our hardy group, it didn’t matter. Some toted rain coats or umbrellas (including Beth and Francis with their beach umbrella) as well as the usual Santa hats and Christmas outfits and off we went. “We’re off like a herd of turtles.” Our event started at 4:30 and our first stop was Who-Ville, alias Chuck’s house. He and his beautiful girlfriend, Nancy we there waiting for the crowd. He had the Grinch theme and they did it up right. He had a creamy green specialty drink that was fabulous and Nancy had made a Tortellini Soup that was amazing. It was the perfect recipe for this rainy day. More and more people started showing up including Corbin, Amy’s dog. He was a big hit in his little Santa outfit. Now we were rolling. After forty minutes, we headed to the next house.

Becky’s house was next. We all headed to her house through a narrow passageway between what was Brian’s house on Broad Street and his neighbor to get to Reynolds Street. Her house was decorated up nicely and she had a nice spread laid out on her table. She had Mimosas, wine, and beer for her drink and had cheeses, sausage balls, and cookies. Great munchies. Her Christmas trees were lovely and her fireplace mantle was decorated to perfection. Forty minutes went by fast and now it was once again time to move on. I somehow missed getting a picture of our host, Becky.

Onto Carmen’s house which was a couple blocks away. We strolled over with umbrellas raised high as it was raining a good bit again. First thing I noticed and chuckled was her skeleton man and skeleton dogs dressed up for Christmas. Candy canes lit up her sidewalk to her porch and her porch was lit up with multi colored Christmas lights. She had multiple Christmas trees and one that was the Happy Tree, which was decorated with buttons designed by Leonard “Porkchop” Zimmerman, a local artist. She had prepared a lovely soup as well as dips with veggies and chips. Her specialty drink was a fancy hot chocolate drink that was delish. I love her home as her decorations and art work are so unique. She had made huge gingerbread men to give to all who wanted one.

Time to go again. Now we were off the Deborah and Barry’s home. She had prepared Empanadas. Some were pork and some were chicken and they were wonderful. She also had Olde Town cookies. Her home looked lovely with the mantel dressed up and her Christmas tree full of ornaments. I loved seeing all her dogs enjoying the night with us. Her specialty drink was Sailor Girl spiced rum with mango/passion fruit and a splash or two of rum. Very tasty. Her mom, Marion was visiting and was so nice to catch up with her. As all left, she handed out a wrapped can of coke and a travel size bottle of rum. “Rum and Coke” How creative.

Time flew by and once again we are up and moving. Next home is Birkie and Carols home. They always decorate their Spanish style home gorgeously. She had made shrimp and grits, chicken on a waffle adorned with small gravy holders, and snacks. Their drink was called a Snowshoe Shooter. Outside on her side porch, the fireplace was glowing and people were sitting nearby. Inside, the fire was warming her living room with more people gathered around. It was lovely. There tree was gorgeous and the small tree in the bar is always one of my favorites.

Last home for the night is Beth and Francis. We strolled to their home and it had started raining again. Even with the rain, the night was full of lights, friends, and fun. Beth and Francis with the help of Two Dudes and a Boat guys had sugar cookies laid out on the table that you could decorate or just grab one that was pre-iced. They had a bar set up with a choice of many drinks. They had multiple trees also creatively decorated and looked great. This is always a great house to visit and was wonderful hearing stories of Francis growing up since this was the house he was raised in. How special is that.

What a wonderful day. I love this event as we have plenty of time to talk with all our friends and to get caught up on their year. Then as a bonus, seeing how beautifully they have decorated their homes is such a joy. Porch Crawls are a great way to get to know your neighbors and get together with friends. Try it.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year. Till next time. Bye for now.