There’s Christmas at home and then there is Christmas with Palm Trees. Yes, I capped that, because they are THAT great! I grew up in the Midwest and our family is five snowbird generations deep in Florida. Jingle Bells is playing at the airport right now, I’m not joking. I’m sitting at the departures bag check and don’t want to give them my bag. I’m in panic as my water baby soul is searching for any way to stay and play!

I have the best memories of being in Florida at the Holidays, now they are body memories. I crave water, salt water, lake water, any water. I am my best, and also the most beautiful version of me, on a pink sand beach! How I ended up a water baby at high altitude is another story …

My Great Grandparents were original snowbirds from the Midwest. One of their adult children would drive them to Florida each winter. They would meet friends there and play cards and music, and celebrate each season together with family. We had a small tree with the big joyful C9 bulbs and single strands of tinsel in Florida and Santa always managed to find us.

My parents married in December and even spent their honeymoon with the Great Grands in Florida. We went there every spring and winter for as long as I can remember. Beach days were almost every day. We lined up for orange goopy sunscreen and packed PB&J lunches, the best threadbare towels, sand toys, boogie boards (truly, I’m not sure how we didn’t drown or get bit by sharks), shell bags, and went to the jetty beach. The jetty offered more people, extra fishing entertainment, and craggy rocks with barnacles to brave, and also tar. After the beach, we had the obligatory stop at the shed, sat on the storage bench for our feet to be scrubbed with turpentine and a rinse before heading to the shower.

Sometimes we went to a dreamy desolate beach under the pines. Who knew that Florida had pine trees at the beach? It was a different kind of beach day, the sand was like silt and just enough soft pine needles so that we didn’t burn our feet, and better shells. My Uncle moved there in the 70’s. He had the best surf shack house filled with driftwood art and treasures and an open air jeep that sometimes we would get to ride in with the dog. He was a teacher and a commercial fisherman in the off season. Always an adventure.

Fishing was an every day event, except for rain. The boat was a simple rowboat type of boat, easy to store year round. We would roam the neighborhood until the Grands and Dad came back. The streets were alphabet letters, and we explored, played shuffleboard outside, and rode bikes. As soon as they got back, they would clean their fish by the water. The pelicans would line up for any scraps that they could catch. Once in a while they would catch a flounder with both eyes on one side of their head, it was like a lucky penny and oh so strange. At that time, the fisherman proudly displayed their fish for a photo in the grass after the catch. There was always a photo of a dad holding a toddler with a scowl at the fish in one hand and the catch of the day in the other.

The Grands lived at the causeway at the base of the tallest bridge over the inlet and sometimes we got to go there and fish around the pilings with them. My Greatgrand and Grandmother put on hand-sewn smocks (short versions of aprons) and would lightly bread the fresh catch of the day with flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper, and fry up the most amazing fish with homemade cornbread with butter for dinner. Sidenote, my Great Grandmother made the original kettlecorn in an old aluminum sauce pan. It was divine and I can still smell it now! Not kidding, her last name was Sweet.

On rainy days we would catch lizards in the Cabana and play with the crank-open levered windows, Jalousie windows; they were the best! The Great grandparents had big adult tricycles with baskets to roam the neighborhood and we would ride through the puddles. The puddles were hot, warmer than bath water. Rinse, and repeat.

Sometimes, we were there through the New Year. One year, it even snowed, it was magical! As the years passed, one by one the Greats and Grand left us. The adult children moved them into a duplex and great community close to the dreamy pine beach. Some tall apartment development came in, but not much, still dreamy. My heart is full with family memories and palm trees at the Holidays! 

Leave a comment letting us know how you love spending the holidays? Are you a fellow palm tree at Christmas person or do you prefer snow-covered pines?