Snow on the ground
When one thinks of Christmas, snow and freezing rain might come to mind.
I live in Minnesota, where during the heart of winter, the weather outside can drop to below zero.
In Minnesota it is not entirely unheard of for a person’s mere breath to instantly fog up and sometimes freeze solid against their rosy red face.
With that wicked Minnesota winter weather in mind, an awesome vacation to Florida, where even during the winter months it is usually a stable 50 degrees or warmer outside, doesn’t sound to shabby indeed.
And what better time than Christmas.
My grandparents are Minnesota snowbirds.
Meaning that during the summer months, they both reside in Minnesota.
But when the frigid Minnesota cold weather starts to settle in, they jet-set per say down to their second home in sunny Florida.
I remember very vividly the one fine year where me and my family spent Christmas with my grandparents their.
With everyone all packed-up and set to go, my Dad said wheels were rolling in five minutes to be able to catch our flight on-time at the MSP Airport.
Patiently waiting in line at the airport to go through the TSA security checkpoints, we all talked about how exciting this trip was gonna be!
Our flight to fun in the sun took off around noon on a Wednesday, leaving the dreary winter weather behind in Minnesota.
The flight didn’t take to long to arrive in Florida; but what I will always remember is how after stepping off the plane into the terminal and proceeding onwards to the awaiting rental car outside, was how quickly we all starting peeling off the extra warm layers of clothing we had donned while freezing in the bitter icy cold Minnesota.
It was about a two hour jaunt to get to my grandparents condo, but time just literally flew by as we gazed out the car windows in pure innocent amazement and bewilderment, admiring all the various palm trees softly swaying in the windy breeze.
Florida
Upon arriving at my grandparents awesome condo, we happily greeted them with love and warm affection.
My sweet grandmother had already planned out a tentative itinerary filled with various fun activities and a bunch of special highlights that we could possibly go see, contingent on the time we had to spend of course.
One special highlight was eating a scrumptious supper out at an authentic 1950′s themed restaurant.
Now that was awesome and a ton of fun!
I distinctly remember all of the fascinating décor that adorned the inside walls of the 1950′s themed restaurant, which was named Cruisers Malt Shop & Grill.
Posters and pictures of the stunningly beautiful starlet Marilyn Monroe, and Mr. Rebel Without a Cause, the one and only James Dean.
Cruisers Malt Shop & Grill’s cheeseburgers are absolutely second to none in terms of yummy awesomeness, except for Lion Tap’s cheeseburgers, which I feel are the best dang cheeseburgers I’ve ever had in all my various travel adventures.
Lion’s Tap is a fun family owned and operated local burger joint located in Minnesota.
We had arrived in sunny Florida two days before Christmas time.
Palm trees
Those two wonderful days in Florida leading up to Christmas with my grandparents, just flew by so quickly, with all of us setting forth on many alluring wild adventures and sightseeing expeditions.
For our special Florida Christmas supper all together, my grandmother had whipped up her “famous” batch of sweet potato pie and raspberry custard pudding.
We had a really nice Christmas meal consisting of honey baked ham, Grandma’s famously awesome sweet potato pie and raspberry custard pudding, crunchy fresh organic green beans w/roasted slivered almonds mixed right in, and my Dad’s secretly spiked eggnog concoction dashed with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Stunning Christmas tree
With the brilliantly bright colorful glow from the Christmas lights illuminating the now darkened living room, we all sat down together as both my sisters starting in on playing Santa’s Little Helpers.
My sisters started handing out all the awesome presents to everyone, and we then proceeded to start a somewhat orderly mad flurry of ripping open all the nice gifts.
Christmas in Florida was awesome!
What I personally felt was even more awesome, was the special opportunity and time spent with my grandparents and beloved family.
Thank you for reading, Follow Me
Danko Winters
