christmas traditions for charles

A completely random encounter with St Charles Historic District discovered an interesting little annual event along Main Street.  It all started with the thought of simply dropping in for a little breakfast and a walkabout to see what the area had to offer.

After satisfying ourselves with some delicious breakfast tacos, Chai for some and coffee for others, at Frontier Perk Cafe we stepped out to find the street bustling with activity.  A few blocks south found evidence of greater activities afoot, and soon after a simple parade that offered a glimpse of the various street performances that would lurking throughout the day.

The parade was not overwhelming as some that evaporated as quickly as it had appeared, with Santa waving from one of the many horse-drawn carriages serving the streets for the afternoon. The crowd trickled slowly into the space left behind, soon consuming most available space.  It had grown considerably in the twenty minutes or so since the beginning of said parade.

A frenzy of holiday shopping quickly ensued, carriage drivers shouted out at folks to make way, and the smells of Christmas filled the air.  The variety of weird little shops bulged and pulsed with people coming and coming throughout the afternoon.  Many more activities and performances were also planned on this first day of St. Charles Christmas Traditions surrounding Missouri's very first Captial building.   We neglected to get further involved on this occasion though, desiring more to make the crossing back to Kansas City before too much snow settled over home.