We Went to a Castle and Met Santa

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Until December 21st, those that are in Atlanta can go visit Santa someplace special... 

In a CASTLE!!!  That is right, right in Atlanta on Peachtree Street.  

Broxton was pretty excited about seeing the Castle and truth be told, I was excited as well... I had never been in there before, so I wanted to check it out!  
The "Castle on Peachtree Street" is also known as Rhodes Hall and it is part of the Georgia Trust of Historic Preservation.   During the month of December, it hosts Santa on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and allows for families to make one of a kind memories during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

You do pay $38 per family, but a benefit is that parking is FREE and that is hard to find pretty much anywhere in Atlanta!  

The Castle on Peachtree, also known as Rhodes Hall.

 

One thing I did like about going to the castle, besides Broxton seeing Santa was the photo opps available.
Of course, the day we went it was raining... had been raining all morning and was not stopping...  So, the picture of Broxton in front of the castle was not a great one and is why it is not on this post.   I did manage to get one of him in front of the windows out front of there... and then I loved the staircase, so I wanted to get a picture of him in front of that... See it with the tree behind him?  Broxton was totally in awe of the stained glass windows that lined the beautiful staircase. (One was a battle scene of some sort with soldiers, so he was of course drawn to that!)

A great thing about going to Rhodes Hall is that you don't just stand in line at a mall to meet Santa.  Here, you make an appointment in advance to see him... Then, once you get there, you have time to look around (like I said, photo opps) and they even have a craft room for the kids.  You get to go in there and pick out one craft.  I had Broxton color a picture while we waited for our appointment and then we went back to make his craft afterwards.

 

We were called for our appointment time and Broxton headed in to talk to Santa.  It was great, as you did not feel rushed, but they had time to chit chat and do more than just jump up and take a picture.  

Broxton had to ask him what his favorite cookie was... 

(His answer, the round ones!  I laughed and said sounded like Santa loved ALL cookie flavors!)  

Broxton jumped on up for his photo with Santa and I was able to snap one really quick.
In the $38 appointment fee, you get a 5 x 7 to take home.  I will point out, if you want to use your own camera (including phone)  you have to pay a $20 fee.    But, they do offer several picture packages, including a snowglobe and a tree ornament for you to purchase at different prices.  

 

Once our time with Santa was up, we headed to the craft room for Broxton to decide what craft he wanted to make... They had a cute little mouse ( made with felt and a candy cane) or a rudolph (made with your handprints and a brown paper bag) as the craft options for the kids to make.  Broxton went with Rudolph!

After our craft (which I loved that once again there was NO RUSH to do, it was all very laid back and relaxed) we headed out to the snack area.  We had the choice of popcorn (with different seasonings to be added by yourself, you want some) as well as chips, cookies, brownies and BBQ sliders.   I am not sure if they rotate out the snacks each weekend, but our choice was great and broxton absolutely loved the brownie!   They also had a drink selection of tea, lemonade, soda and water.  

There was an additional room with yet another Christmas tree that had several tables in there with different Christmas books available for you to read while you were there, but we did not make it into that room.  

Once we got home, I asked Broxton if he had a good time...
He said he had fun, but that he wished they would have had games of some sort for them to play... He just really isn't into crafts as much as I am.  I thought it was great, but I did wish they would have had more decorations out front.  (Not that we would have been able to go and take pictures in front, since it was raining on us the whole time...)   He also said he wished they would have had hot chocolate.  

A friend asked me what I thought about the $38 fee...
Here is what I think...

Yes, I do believe it is a bit pricey.  No lie, if you are just wanting a picture with Santa to have for your memories, I would totally skip it.  BUT - if you are wanting to create memories... This would be a great place.

- You are seeing Santa in a Castle.

- You make an appointment for your picture, but can stay and actually relax, not feel rushed.

- You get to make a craft while you wait, or after you are finished seeing Santa.

- They have snacks and drinks for you to enjoy.

- Storytelling 

- Several different photo opps for you to enjoy.  (Saw many families taking family pictures while they were there.)

- Supporting saving this beautiful historical building.  (Rhodes Hall was built in 1904.)

You can click HERE to learn more about Santa at Rhodes Hall and to make an appointment.