I remember when we first moved down south, and I experienced my first holiday season with warm balmy weather. I thought it was really cool, oops...definitely wrong choice of words here...I though it was quite interesting, that when the sun went down, I wasn't always reaching for a jacket to stay warm. I was determined that we should spend our very 1st Christmas in some place warmer than West Palm Beach, so both Stacey and Brian flew to FL and all 4 of us drove to the southernmost point of the United States, Key West.
Even back in 2000, Brian always seemed to be either getting on or off an airplane-1st Christmas in FL
We wanted to have our feet in the sand on Christmas day, and that's exactly what we did!
Stacey had no problem finding the gift Santa left her that morning. It was so big it never did fit into her stocking and I had a tough time even getting the whole thing into the picture for that matter...sadly she left it behind because one size does not fit all...and there was no way she was gonna get that gift into her suitcase, past security, and back home on the plane!!!
We spent the long weekend at this beautiful historical resort in the heart of the Keys
It was the perfect spot to share our very first holiday season in Florida
The weather in Key West is this gorgeous all year round
The following year, they again were in Florida and we took them on their very first cruise to the Bahamas for the holiday. I'm pretty sure Brian had never before, and has never again, acquired such a lovely sun burn for Christmas....the sun down here is pretty darn intense all year round, especially for my fair skinned blue-eyed baby boy.
Christmas 2001 cruise
Stacey had no problem relaxing on the ship (note the visor and sunglasses--smart like her Mom)--we were all patiently waiting for our cabin to be ready...yes all four adults in one room...hey, we made it work :)
I did ask him to get some sun block or a hat--no one ever listens to Mom!
Roger asleep in the sun...like Father....like Son!
Back at the condo after the cruise to try our hand at making Christmas fondue...I believe it was a total bust :(
One phenomena that was quite new to us is the annual boat parade that is held in many of the towns along the intercostal waterway. It's a big deal here in Florida and the folks really get into the holiday spirit by decorating their boats and parading mile after mile up and down the canals. Lots of music, tons of lights and huge crowds gather in each town as boats of all shapes and sizes decked out in their holiday decorations, go cruising by. From where we live now, we just step out onto the balcony and view the parade as it travels from one end of town to the other. Floridians spend their whole lives surrounded by water, it only makes sense that they would find a way to incorporate that love for being outdoors, into their holiday season.
Even the sail boats get into the act
Who knew something like this existed? We sure didn't!
One thing I am particularly fond of and it always makes me smile, is the way they decorate the palm trees...it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Some are more elaborate than others, and unfortunately I only grabbed a quick shot of one on the way home. I'll get some more later and post them...it's like nothing I had ever seen before, and 10 years later, I still love the look of a palm tree all lit up at christmas.
If it was darker when I took this, it would show up a bit better...take my word for it, palm trees and Christmas lights are pretty darn unique to this girl from the north!!!
Cooler temps are also an indicator, that the holidays are upon us. Obviously, we don't suffer with bone-chilling days like the folks up north, for us the change is a bit more subtle. When I left work (ON TIME) today, I noticed a definite little chill in the air, and sure enough, when I turned on the car, the temperature outside read a cool 69 degrees.
I know, I know...how can I say 69 and cool in the same sentence??? Well, when it's still been reaching up into the 80's during the last few weeks, and if I feel anything below 70, it's very obvious to me the temps have dropped quite a bit. Especially when I don't happen to have a jacket with me and some of us are still wearing sandals, like yours truly :) might be time to pull out the boots...you think???
The scuttle butt around work today was that we are heading into a "cool front" this weekend and you can bet your bottom dollar, native Floridians live for this stuff. I can honestly say, I don't hop on the band wagon with them. Although I LOVE to turn off the air conditioning (yes, we actually had it on this week) and open all the windows, I'm not willing to jump for joy when I see our evening temps are about to dip into the low 50's and we may even see the dreaded 40's...what is wrong with this picture...I do live in south Florida right???
I wonder if I should pick up a bundle of firewood at the store...oh that's right, silly me, I don't have a fireplace anymore :(
And one final hint that the holidays are really here, I had to pick up an exchange gift for our annual law department breakfast. We have one of those fun little gift swapping sessions where everyone gets a number, one person at a time picks a wrapped gift off the table, then the next person can either steal your gift or try their luck with a choice from the pile of still unopened presents. It makes for a very entertaining morning, I've never seen so many people "covet" (I'm being nice here) another person's gift, especially if it happens to be something that came from the local wine shop. So what did I do...I stopped and picked up a nice bottle of bubbly in the hopes I get something made of chocolate in return. And if I end up with a gag gift, no biggie, watching the hilarious yearly "bottle wars" between my co-workers, is worth the price of admission. Some years I have good luck...some years...not so much...my bad karma with gift exchanges dates back to my kindergarten years, but that's another story.
So for all those folks who are already experiencing a cold, wet, snowy holiday season, pack a suitcase and run away from it all and see how Floridians enjoy living down south during this time of year....you may surprise yourself and actually like it...you know what they say...don't knock it until you've tried it!
On second thought, you might want to forget the bathing suits and instead put some sweaters in that suitcase....YIKES!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment