Snowflake Bridge

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know how much I like bridges. This one is no exception.

I've been dedicating my blog the last few weeks to Christmas lights, so I had to include these but still add the bridge in. The Christmas tree you see at the end of the walkway is in the Wedding Garden.

There are Christmas trees all over the place. They're at every station within each scene. This is the first time I've been to the Florida Botanical Gardens at Christmas time, and I can surely say I've been missing a lot! These are amazing lights.

Christmas Tree at Florida Botanical Gardens

During our trip to the Florida Botanical Gardens, we saw many Christmas trees. This is one of the ones I liked best.

It is located on one of the rest areas on the bridge overlooking the water. I liked the way it is framed by the bridge and the overhang. The all blue lights with the white frame is what I think makes this one especially pretty.

Reindeer Corral

In keeping with my Christmas theme about how Floridians celebrate Christmas, this is another section in Straub Park in downtown St Petersburg.

I call this the Reindeer Corral. As you can see, there is an archway of lights for viewing the "Reindeer" lined on the outside with candy cane lights. It's too bad this isn't video because the long streaked lights on the trees looked as if they were dripping off the trees. I've never seen these before and would love to have some for my tree.

Straub Park spans about 6 blocks along the waterfront, with a North and South part. Both parts are decorated with different sections representing a Christmas wonderland. At any time of the day or night one can see people walking around the park. The stores and hotels on the other side of Beach Drive are also decorated for the holidays.

St Pete Christmas Tree

In Florida we have no snow, so we have to make it seem like Christmas with lots of lights.

Straub Park is on the waterfront in downtown St Petersburg. The entire park is decorated with lights and lighted scenes. This is the city Christmas Tree. If you look closely near the bottom, you'll see where we still have flowers in bloom.

Part of the celebration includes trucked in snow and ice. The kids will be able to play in the snow and skate on the ice. It's kind of strange to see them playing in the snow wearing shorts, T-shirts and flip flops. But at the same time, it's good to see the kids enjoying the snow--something they've never seen except in photos and on calendars. This all takes place December 10th.

In the evening, it'll all be topped off with the decorated boat parade. It's a fun time for all to enjoy.

Christmas in Straub Park, St Petersburg, FL

Every year I look forward to the Christmas lights in Straub Park, in downtown St Petersburg. Last year, due to budget cut-backs the lights were scaled down a bit. This year, they were scaled down so much that they were no longer such a big deal.

It's so sad to see everything around us just falling apart. These times certainly are tough! Hopefully, for us all, my Christmas wish is that things will
turn around quickly.