As we get closer to the big day, the island and surrounding areas are coming alive with festivities. We're trying to take in as many of them as we can. So far they've included a play, street festival, parade and holiday concert by the Florida Symphony Orchestra. We're full of Christmas cheer!
The play was a local community theater production of the classic Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". We weren't expecting a Jimmy Stewart like performance from the lead or accompanying cast. That being said, their efforts were quite noble.
Last Friday afternoon was a little blustery and damp. We debated going to sunset but decided at the last minute to make the short drive to our favorite viewing spot. It was very cloudy so our anticipation of anything remotely spectacular was so low that neither of us took our cameras. Much to our surprise we were treated to a great show that even included a peak at the sun through the colorful clouds.
Following sunset we decided to drive around the island a bit to check out decorations. We had heard that there was a city wide celebration at the City Pier Park so we headed in that direction. We saw that Pine Avenue, a 6-8 block long street lined with numerous small shops and restaurants was blocked off for a Christmas street party. We strolled along the entire length, pushing NaNa in her wheelchair. The merchants were offering complimentary food and beverage all along the way. By the time we finished going the distance we had enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, cupcakes, waffles, oysters, cookies, chips, wine and rum punch. We hadn't anticipated eating out that night but we certainly weren't hungry when we were done. Below are a few shots from the street festivities:
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| There was live and recorded music along the way. |
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| Free food and beverage is sure to draw a crowd! |
Saturday morning the good times continued with the annual AMI Christmas Parade. The Privateers, a local civic organization, sponsor several parades a year. There is a 4th of July Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade and a Christmas Parade that I am aware of. All the parades start at the south end of the island and travel north the entire length of the island (7 miles). The 4th of July Parade is very patriotic, the St. Patrick's Parade is very festive and green and used to include an elephant until it died, and the Christmas Parade is the merriest.
The parade wasn't long but it included angels on horseback, girls in skimpy elf costumes, decorated golf carts and cars as well as Santa riding on the back of a gnarly looking hammerhead shark! So much entertainment in so little time!
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| The Privateers and their motorized pirate ship. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty positive there is a cooler or two on there somewhere. |
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| Angels on horseback...………. |
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| ……….more angels on horseback! |
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| It just wouldn't be Christmas without Santa riding on the back of a hammerhead shark! |
We finished with a trip across the Skyway Bridge to St. Pete to take in the Florida Orchestra's Holiday Pop's Concert at the Mahaffey Theater. While I'm no expert on symphony music, we've listened to plenty of pop's performances through the years including the Fort Worth Pop's Symphony and the Boston Pop's. This was a great show that blended a little classical holiday music with more familiar songs. As is often the case at these Christmas shows, there was a sing along at the end. By this time we were full of Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas. So with apologies to those around us, we proudly and loudly sang along.
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| Christmas tree in Straub Park (Downtown St. Pete) |
The next few days are going to be quite busy so this most likely will be the final blog before Christmas. We want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Thanks again for following along on our journey!
