On a crisp late-fall evening, when it’s dark by 4:30 p.m., the greenery-wrapped lamplights glow against historic buildings on downtown Nevada City’s Broad Street. Well-bundled revelers—some dressed in Victorian-era attire—wander among outdoor booths, nibbling roasted chestnuts and shopping for gifts made by local artisans. They listen to carolers and call “Merry Christmas!” to neighbors, friends, and strangers. Children extend mittened hands for candy canes and tell Santa what they’d like to find under the tree this year.
This is Victorian Christmas, held two Wednesday evenings and three Sunday afternoons in December in Nevada City (Dec. 10 and 17, 5–9 p.m.; Dec. 7, 14, and 21, 1:30–6 p.m.). Since 1978, the event has drawn crowds to the hilly town nestled among pine trees. It’s free to attend and promises a festive time. Lining the quaint streets, more than 100 vendors sell one-of-a-kind goods—jewelry, home décor, clothing, toys, foods, and more. Shops and restaurants remain open. Santa hears wishes at the Masonic Lodge, and a model of a Dickens Village adorns windows of the Alpha Building. The lighted Christmas tree in Robinson Plaza, typically decorated with frosted pine cones and red bows, anchors the district’s traditional holiday decorations, which include swags of pine and cedar garland and string lights among the gas lamps. The Walking Christmas Tree and Toy Soldier mingle with the crowd (unless it’s raining; then the tree stays in), and on Sunday afternoons, Father Christmas makes the rounds.
To make a getaway of it, consider overnighting at one of the historic B&Bs in town, or at the recently renovated and remodeled National Exchange Hotel. It opened in 1856 as a gathering spot, stage stop, and communication hub—it housed the first telegraph office in Northern California; and later, till 1942, a post office. In 1973, the property made the National Registry of Historic Places; it’s also a California Historic Landmark. Nowadays, its history is preserved with original brick walls, vintage furnishings and fixtures, and old photos showing earlier glory days. Each guestroom—38 in all—is different, loaded with antiques and present-day luxuries (including good wifi). Floral wallpapers, dark woods and crisp whites add freshness. In the Grand Lounge, find a stunning and irresistible wraparound gold couch; in Lola restaurant, eye-popping teal blue and blood-red bench seating invites diners to settle in to enjoy innovative dishes created from ingredients sourced as locally as possible. End the evening with drinks in The National Bar, on a plump barstool or at a candlelit table for two. It’s the perfect spot for a shot of brown liquor, hot and fierce, to warm up from the outdoors.
Meanwhile, four miles away in Grass Valley, another renowned holiday event happens on three Friday evenings in December (5, 12, and 19, 6–9 p.m.). Cornish Christmas shuts down automobile traffic downtown to celebrate Grass Valley’s heritage. English miners from Cornwall, skilled with hard-rock mining, flocked to the area in the 1860s to extract gold from deep underground. (By 1890, 85% of Grass Valley residents were of Cornish descent.) Fast-forward, and since 1967, Cornish Christmas has brought downtown Grass Valley to life, kicking off the holiday-season weekends with carolers, musicians, cloggers, artisans’ booths, fire pits, mulled cider, chestnut roasting, food vendors, and Santa. Attendees can peruse the booths and eat their fill of delicious Cornish pasties—savory shortcrust hand pies filled with meat, potatoes, and vegetables. It’s said that in the old days, these were warmed up by candlelight and eaten on the job by grubby-handed miners who used the crimped crust as a disposable handle.
For a sleepover, Holbrooke Hotel, a California Historic Landmark, circa 1852, sits on Main Street as a previously rough-and-tumble Old West stopover, renovated to historic white-washed glory with rich interior bar and lobby spaces (think cowhide rugs, leather settees, dark wood, brick, original iron). The Golden Gate Saloon is one of the longest-operating barrooms west of the Mississippi River. The restaurant serves dishes reminiscent of the Old West (elk, perhaps, and duck, and definitely steak), as well as present-day California-inspired specialties like crispy tofu salad and mushroom risotto. The Iron Door, a cellar space rumored to have been a speakeasy and a brothel early on, is now a sophisticated amber-lighted bar (and sometimes performance venue) with cozy banquettes set against original stone walls—and the iron doors that once led to underground tunnels. The Holbrooke’s guest rooms, all different, blend old and new with antiques, old brick walls, fluffy high-thread-count bedding, and luxurious baths (some with original-but-refinished clawfoot tubs). Fun touches include old leather-bound books, vintage suitcases, and old-fashioned radios and dial-up telephones.
For more information about Victorian Christmas, go to nevadacitychamber.com; about Cornish Christmas, downtowngrassvalley.com. Check out the hotels at thenationalexchangehotel.com and holbrooke.com.
"Lining the quaint streets, more than 100 vendors sell one-of-a-kind goods—jewelry, home décor, clothing, toys, foods, and more."