Seeing Santa!

Martin and I, while Christmas shopping in Union Square, thought it would be fun to go see Santa Claus in Macy’s just as I had done growing up. After a few too many shops though, Martin and I completely forgot and ended up home before we remembered. Thankfully, Santa came to us the following weekend – all 500 of him. On December 10^th, Martin and I stumbled upon SantaCon 2011.

For those unaware, including me until a week ago*, SantaCon is a global event where people gather together in big cities, dressed like Santa Claus. In San Francisco, in true SF nature, it is a day-time drinking affair…by 3pm our local square – Washington Square Park – was filled with 500+ very jolly Santas. And while some dispersed throughout the day, we still saw large congregations of Santas in our neighborhood all night long.

We saw Santa at the bar, Santa on a bike, Santa on a bus, Santa with a mullet, Santa on a motorcycle, Santa jay-walking across Columbus and, my favorite, Santa peeing in my alley.

Overall, it was chaotic, hectic but oh so festive…how do you really get mad at 15 Santas singing carols while staggering down the street. And even better, even Martin was infected by their cheer and wanted to join in…which means it is time to start preparing for next year!

Merry Christmas!

* in reality I had first heard of SantaCon in 2005 after an encounter with 2 grown men dressed in their velvety red suits on our family trip to Whistler. These Santas had posted up at the bar before the flight, managed to get cut-off from service on the flight (don’t worry they brought their own treats) and brought their cheer to all of the unsuspecting kids upon arrival through the glass walkway to customs…thank goodness the glass prevented the kids from actually getting too close.