Hey everyone! Dana here.
The Christmas feeling is about roasted chestnuts and warming up with some hot chocolate by
the fireplace after spending the morning making snowmen and snow angels outside, right?
Well, not where I lived in South Florida.
The first time that Mr. German Man came back with me to Florida, it was the end of November,
beginning of December, and by that time, holiday celebrations and Christmas decorations were
in full-swing.
And he could not believe it.
For him it was like being in an alternate universe.
Sitting out by the pool, looking at Christmas decorations strung on palm trees.
And listening to Christmas music mingling with the sound of sea gulls
and the smell of salt water.
But for me, that was just the Christmas that I had been used to for a while.
Okay, so just how warm is it really during Christmas in South Florida?
Well, here's a picture of me at the beach on December 12.
So does that answer the question?
Yeah, it's pretty warm.
Of course it varies from year to year, and evenings are definitely cooler than during
the day.
I even have some photos where I'm wearing a thin turtleneck and a sweater.
So watch out for the chill.
But from what I remember, I would say for the most part, December was still a pretty
warm month.
It did get cold some years, but I recall that happening more in January, after the holidays.
And so then, what is Christmas in warm, South Florida like?
Well for one thing, yes we do decorate our palm trees with beautiful lights.
Around the city palm trees will be decorated with lights and then also often some kind
of decoration hanging off the lamp polls.
So a wreath or a star or something like that.
As for house decorations, yep, people pretty much go all-out with those, just as they do
in other parts of the country too.
Maybe even more so, I don't know, but it seems like it would be a lot easier and a lot more
comfortable to decorate your house when you can do it usually wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
So yeah, whole houses decorated with colorful lights or some people stay a little bit more
traditional with just gold or white lights.
And decorations in the yard too.
Of course, you can't have a real snowman in the yard, but I did see one time, someone
made a big ol' snowman out of what looked like styrofoam.
I don't know, I didn't get that close to it, but that was in the yard.
So people in Florida do get creative and certainly do try to create the Christmas mood, the holiday feeling.
But in addition to the reindeer and the Santa Claus decorations and the more traditional
decorations that you'll often see in other parts of the country, in South Florida you'll
also see "Florida decorations."
Like maybe a lawn decoration of a pink flamingo wearing a Santa Claus hat.
Or a pink flamingo covered in Christmas lights.
Or decorations inside of the house that are made with seashells.
In South Florida I think I can even remember sometimes the Christmas colors being replaced.
Instead of having a bright red and a kind of darker green, you've got this bright, not
quite neon green, but a bright green and a bright pink color for the sort of South Florida Christmas.
And also, some people with boats in South Florida decorate those with lights as well.
And then there are a bunch of boat parades in December where you can go at night and
watch the decorated boats cruise through the water.
And what about a Christmas tree?
Yep, a lot of people in Florida do get Christmas trees as well.
And just like in other parts of the country: some people get a real tree, others get a
fake tree.
But I would say the difference here at least for my family, was that some years we actually
put our Christmas tree out on the porch rather than inside the house.
And you can do that when, you know, it's not so cold out there.
And you wouldn't have to bundle up every time you want to go out and hang out with the tree.
You can just go out there.
And while, no, we can't make snow angels in Florida -- no snow -- we can make sand angels
on the beach!
And they didn't have this back when I lived in Florida, but I saw that now there is this
huge Christmas tree sand sculpture in West Palm Beach that is 35 feet tall, which is
about 10.5 meters.
So yeah, really big sand tree.
And as for food and drink, nothing is coming to my mind as far as a dish or a beverage
that is really unique to Christmas in South Florida.
I really, I can't think of anything.
There's Key lime pie, which is really popular in South Florida, but I wouldn't, that's not
a Christmas food.
Key lime pie is eaten in South Florida all throughout the year.
It would be cool if there was some kind of cold, refreshing Florida-specific Christmastime
drink, but I can't think of one.
So if anyone knows of a dish like this or a drink that is specific and unique to South Florida
Christmastime, I would love to know about it.
So my question for you is: what are the special traditions that really make that holiday feeling for you?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching and liking and commenting on my videos and for sharing them.
Thank you very much.
I really hope that you enjoyed this video, and I also hope that you will enjoy the bloopers
that are coming up next.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
And I hope that...like I, wait I already said that. Did I already say that? I already said that.
I don't know, it'd be really cool if there was some kind of cold, reflesh...
Lights and then there are a bunch of parades in Sept...not in September!
In December!
So yeah, better have at least one sweater ready.