The Hassayampa Inn dresses for Christmas, as do all of Prescott's better resorts. Photo provided by Hassayampa Inn Roses still bloomed in late fall recently on grounds of Sharlot Hall Museum, where historic buildings have been gathered to preserve them for posterity. This one was a modest ranch house. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor. Prescott lies in a spectacular Southwestern landscape; you'll pass Granite Basin Lake just before you enter the city from the north. Photo by Deborah Wall/Cerca Contributor. John C. Fremont, the American army officer who put Las Vegas on the map, lived in this house in Prescott during his service as Arizona Territory's governor from 1878 to 1881.

Prescott's historical sites, museums, world-class shopping and old town feel are well worth a trip any time of the year, but during the holidays it is unsurpassed.

When Prescottonians (yes, that is what that they are called) celebrate the holidays, they do it so well they are Arizona's official Christmas City. For the next month, this city of 40,000 residents pulls out all the stops for locals and tourists alike with parades, tree lightings, gingerbread villages and the historical sites and museums decked out.

Prescott -- locals pronounce it "Press-kit" -- has an elevation of 5,347 feet. You might be treated to a dusting of snow for your Christmas visit; the city average about 21 inches yearly.

My daughter, Charlotte, 9, and I started our visit to Prescott by checking into the Hassayampa Inn. First opened to the public in 1927, it has been called the "Grand Dame of Prescott." Things slowed down a bit mid-century, but a multimillion dollar renovation in 1985 returned the hotel to the forefront as one of Prescott's most elegant places to stay.

Although our room was located only one short flight of stairs up from the lobby, Charlotte wanted to take the elevator each and every time. Her fascination stemmed from the fact that this elevator, installed in 1927, still requires the services of a trained operator -- in this case the hotel bellman.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we walked the block to Courthouse Plaza. The Yavapai County Courthouse takes center stage in Prescott's downtown area. Completed in 1918, this impressive three-story building was built in the neo-classical Revival style of locally quarried granite, shaped and placed by masons from Scotland. Adding to its splendor is the wide expanse of lawn surrounding it, canopied by American elm trees.

The Plaza is called the heart of Prescott, and it made a great jumping-off place for our walking tour of some of the historic buildings. We stopped at about a dozen, reading the bronze plaques. Aesthetically, the highlights were the Bank of Arizona Building; the first bank in Arizona Territory, it was founded in 1877. The building was also made of local granite, yet the upper section is of fired brick. Most unusual, it features a corner entrance.

Another jewel was the original Prescott Jail, built in 1895. This building has housed the Chamber of Commerce since 1964. The organization had quite a surprise in 1984 when it renovated the building and found the original 14-foot opening built for wagons, and arched windows that had been long hidden behind a façade. They returned the building to its original appearance, and it now stands as one of the most charming structures in the city.

No matter how much time you have for a visit here, you probably won't have enough to take in all the well-preserved historic homes and buildings; there are more than 600 on the National Register of Historic Places. And if Charlotte is a representative sample of American children, your offspring will have higher priorities, like visiting the shops. We at least attempted to visit a fair share of the 80 antique and specialty shops and art galleries. The Prescott shopping experience is rich with one-of-a-kind stores where one might find the perfect present for the most hard-to-shop-for friend or relative. But at the high-end stores, don't be surprised to see some price tags reaching well into the thousands. One item, a bronze lizard sculpture at Van Gogh's Ear Gallery, will set you back $44,000.

On Saturday, local residents as well as throngs of tourists will gather at the Plaza to listen to Christmas carols, watch the Christmas parade starting at 1 p.m. and then follow up with the annual courthouse lighting that will bathe the grand old building in thousands of multicolored lights. Prescott tradition dictates heading over to one of the local watering holes or eating establishments to continue the revelry or to the Sharlot Hall Museum to take part in its Frontier Christmas Open House. Here, you can enjoy more music, caroling and storytelling from the territorial era.

I was especially looking forward to visiting the Sharlot Hall Museum, named for the historian and poet who founded the museum in 1928 in order to preserve Arizona's past. The museum remains one of the finest in Arizona and spotlights the human and natural history of the area.

I had read one of the 10 books she wrote, "Sharlot Hall on the Arizona Strip, A Diary of a Journey through Northern Arizona in 1911." This independent woman spent 10 weeks with a hired guide exploring the Arizona Strip -- the part of Arizona north of the Grand Canyon that remains remarkably primitive and isolated 95 years after her journey.

The museum contains nine buildings on about three acres, all built around the First Territorial Governor's Mansion, a log structure constructed in 1864 from area ponderosa trees and still standing on its original spot. It had only five rooms, but they were spacious, and compared to the accommodations endured by other settlers, who lived mostly in wagons and tents, the term "mansion" must have seemed no stretch.

We took a tour of the grounds, stopping at all the buildings. Our first stop was at the oldest log cabin in Arizona, also built in 1864, which was moved to this property from about one-half mile away. We visited the small log school house, a replica of one used in 1867, where Charlotte had the chance to see the way children during territorial days learned their ABCs.

In the museum's main building is the dress that Hall wore to the 1925 inauguration of Calvin Coolidge. This unique outfit consisted of a dress with copper overlay and hat made of prickly pear cactus. Not one to be wasteful, she wore the dress over and over again when she toured giving lectures about Arizona.

That afternoon we headed over to the Phippen Museum. It was well worth the scenic 15-minute drive to see its newest exhibit of cowboy art. This show features works from the majority of members of the Cowboy Artists of America, most on loan from private collections. Acrylics, oils and watercolor paintings, as well as sculptures and drawings, re-create the West of the past and present.

Even if you aren't staying at the Hassayampa Inn, spending an evening dining in the Peacock Room or listening to live music in the lounge is recommended. If you are short on time, just taking a stroll through the lobby gives you the opportunity to see the hand-stenciled ceiling and transom windows, or just warm yourself by the fireplace. During the holidays, the lobby's perimeter is lined with decorated Christmas trees, thanks to Prescott's grade school children. Each group decorates a tree for the Inn, and in return their school receives a donation.

Check out the Talavera-tiled stairs near the bellman's desk. Those large chipped-off areas are thanks to cowboy legend Tom Mix, best known for his roles in silent films and the extravagant cowboy outfits he wore in them. In the mid-1930s, he owned a ranch in the Prescott area, and after a wild night on the town, he rode Tony the Wonder Horse into the lobby and up the stairs. Tony's weight and iron shoes chipped away pieces, and the famous steed's tracks have been left alone as part of the Inn's rich history.

The Inn has a long list of other famous guests including Will Rogers, Clark Gable and President George W. Bush.

That evening, we returned to the center of town and toured Whiskey Row, famous in song, story, and cowboy poetry. It was here that Buster Jig and Sandy Bob "starts her in at the Kentucky Bar at the head of Whiskey Row, and they winds up down by the Depot House, some 40 drinks below," thus acquiring the liquid courage for "Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail."

Once home to more than two dozen saloons, the row is now more family friendly with upscale shops and galleries, although those who want a quick glass of beer or whiskey, without frills will still find a few places to feel at home.

Charlotte and I stopped at Whiskey Row's most famous establishment, The Palace, which opened in 1877 and is said to be the oldest frontier saloon and restaurant in Arizona. A lot of whiskey has passed over the bar, and a lot of famous and infamous customers drank it, including the Earp brothers Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil, and their dangerous sidekick, Doc Holliday.

Our waitress, Jennifer Manda, told us men making a rare visit to town would first head downstairs. Here, there was a bathhouse and barber shop, a place to clean up before coming upstairs for libations and gambling. Poker, roulette, craps and keno were offered, and as was the fashion in days of old, there was also a brothel. "It was like one-stop shopping," Manda said. But it was not known as a quiet place, and to prove it, we saw a few bullet holes in the embossed tin ceiling.

Although the famous watering hole is less rowdy now, restless spirits still walk in Prescott. At the Hassayampa, we checked out claims a ghost called Faith still haunts Room 426, and at the Hotel Vandome we looked for the presence of Abbey and her cat, Noble, in Room 16. At the Palace, though, we heard a first-hand account of mysterious doings.

Brad Kreuger, general manager of the Palace, said he has had several out-of-the-ordinary experiences.

"I was carrying some plates through the dining room and felt someone grab my arm. I turned around and no one was there," he said.

There also have been many sightings of a mysterious floating "orb" on the elegant stairs in the dining area. Charlotte and I headed over there and spent some time taking photos and looking for the mysterious woman who has been seen crying on the stairs.

We declined the whiskey, but in the saloon spirit, we did have a drink. Charlotte had a Shirley Temple with the requisite extra cherries and I had a glass of chardonnay. Not quite what the Earp Brothers might have ordered, but it went well with our wonderful dinner of ribs, chicken, garlic mashed potatoes and salad.

A major fire in the summer of 1900 destroyed 11 blocks of town, including the Palace. The fine Brunswick bar, built in the 1880s, was saved in the nick of time as patrons safely carried it, as well as all the liquor, out and across the street. The Palace was quickly rebuilt and reopened in 1901.

Next to our table was the old original safe set into the wall. Above was a small door that Manda told us was an old-days version of a security guard booth. A man would sit hidden behind this elevated door, shotgun in hand, waiting to ventilate any bandit who might appear.

Besides finding some early Christmas gifts for family and friends, Charlotte and I did some antiquing on nearby South Cortez Street and found great value for our money.

We also walked to the end of Cortez Street, where we found the old and immaculately preserved train depot, built in 1907 in the Mission Revival style that served the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad.

While in Prescott this holiday season, make your way over to the Prescott Resort to see the 14th Annual Gingerbread Village. Billed as the world's largest gingerbread village, this fundraiser is for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Professional chefs as well as amateurs have fashioned confectionary cottages, estates and entire villages, which have been judged. The village will be on display through Dec. 27.

To visit Prescott in any month is to taste a legend. But in the Christmas season, it's a legend with frosting.