BOSTON—Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has apparently decided public office is best enjoyed with a touch of spectacle, after she jetted to Canada — ostensibly to cut down a Christmas tree — and transformed a modest civic gesture into a five-figure taxpayer-funded production worthy of its own glossy magazine spread, according to travel records first reported by the Boston Herald.

And yes, you absolutely read that correctly. A Christmas tree.

City Hall initially insisted the outing cost a modest $5,062 — hardly enough to raise an eyebrow. But then came the updated figures, and suddenly Boston found itself underwriting what could generously be described as a small traveling circus.

The true total: $13,365. Quite a bit of money for a bit of festive shrubbery.

Wu did not, shall we say, travel light.

She arrived in Halifax with her husband, her three children, three City Hall aides, and — in a flourish more befitting a foreign minister than a big-city mayor — a two-officer Boston Police security detail whose out-of-state travel costs alone soared past $6,000. One imagines they were protecting her from rogue pine needles.

But what truly sent observers clutching their pearls was the setting.

Wu and her family stayed in a waterfront hotel so glowingly reviewed, you’d think Halifax had been hiding the Riviera all along. Travelers gush about “stunning harbor views,” “immaculate rooms,” and a “resort-like atmosphere” so serene you half expect a masseuse to materialize at check-in offering herbal tea and life advice.

Frankly, who wouldn’t want to stay there? The difference, of course, is that most people pay for their own holidays.

The supporting cast in this cross-border extravaganza played their roles with dramatic flair. Interim Parks Commissioner Cathy Baker-Eclipse contributed more than her share to the bill. Photographer Paul Bologna and scheduler Phyllis St-Hubert also managed to outpace the mayor, proving that if you’re going to tag along for a ceremonial tree-cutting, you may as well make a weekend of it.

City officials insist the trip honored Boston’s century-old friendship with Halifax. All very noble. But Wu is the first Boston mayor in history to treat the tree-cutting ceremony like a state visit requiring its own entourage, logistical footprint, and apparent sense of occasion.

The Christmas tree itself, naturally, was free. Everything orbiting it — from the entourage to the stunning waterfront hotel to the security detail — absolutely wasn’t.

And now the tree waits on Boston Common, ready for its annual glow-up — even as many Bostonians are left wondering who the $13,000 show was really staged for: the city, the cameras, or the mayor’s travel scrapbook.