WINTER is indeed the opportune time to visit Florida. There are lots of places to see in Florida. There are the Everglades, the Seven Mile Bridge, Miami and Tallahassee. Let’s tackle them one by one. The Seven Mile Bridge is said to be the longest bridge in the world. I’m not sure if that’s accurate though but I’m telling you, a stretch of bridge seven miles long is worth seeing more than San Francisco. Seven Mile Bridge has been the subject of Hollywood movies. The most famous of which is True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was not yet governor.

The movie was directed by James Cameron who has already made a name of himself as an action icon when he directed the groundbreaking CGI-laden movie Terminator 2. But enough of Hollywood talk here. We’re talking about Florida. Florida has been very popular as far as pop culture is concerned. It’s got two popular governors – Jesse Ventura was a WWE champion, Jeb Bush was the President’s brother. That’s how popular Florida is. Also, during the 2000 elections, Florida became the rallying point of George W. Bush’s controversial and slim victory over Al Gore.

During winter, Florida can be very cold. Now let’s go to Miami and find out how cold it is. Temperatures can be as low as -5 degrees Celsius and vapor will literally foam in your mouth. You need layers and layers of clothing but make sure not to stuff cottony fiber on yourself because cotton tends to absorb moisture. If you are from the United States, then there’s no problem coming here in Florida because its entrance is bordered with Georgia and Alabama. In Miami, they spend winter there in heated bars.

Most of the minorities in Florida are Catholics because of their Hispanic origin. That’s why they celebrate Christmas here the way they do in predominantly Catholic countries. They start it off with Advent which kicks off four Sundays before Christmas Day. There are a lot of Catholics here in Florida and naturally enough, lots of Catholic parishes. Each parish has a prominent family assigned to light the candle of each Advent Sunday. After the third Sunday of Advent is the nine dawns before Christmas where Florida residents endure going despite the bitter cold.

And then comes the commercial aspect of Christmas. Along with every major American city, Miami has its share of shopping malls. These shopping malls are filled with the Christmas spirit dating as far back as Thanksgiving or Black Friday which is the traditional start of shopping during the holiday season. Expect the usual novelty items to run out such as Christmas lights, Christmas decorations and toys. Parents right now are quite apprehensive to purchase toys because of their lead content but despite that, kids will continue to pressure their parents to buy some of them in the spirit of Christmas. After all, Christmas is a time for children because it commemorates a birth anniversary celebration. So come here in Florida and enjoy winter at its finest.

CHRISTMAS in Florida can tend to get cold. To compensate for this, both the religious and the commercial sectors have organized lots of activities to get the mood of the people going even at these coldest hours. For Roman Catholics, Christmas in Florida can be particularly gratifying for them even when it’s cold. For them, it is a passion every year to celebrate the birth anniversary of their Messiah. And there are a lot of Catholic souls here in Florida because majority of the ethnic groups here are Latino in origin.

Most of them have even come as far as Cuba where there’s an influx of refugees coming from that country. These are mostly Roman Catholics and these Catholics celebrate Christmas as early as four weeks before December 25. They call it Advent and on each week prior to Advent, a wreath is placed before the church and on each mass, a candle is lighted by one prominent family in the Catholic parish. This will get on until about December 25 and also nine days before that date, a mass is celebrated every dawn.

After the mass, Florida folks will have the gay time of their lives in consuming breakfasts at street corners. After the breakfast which may consist of steak, waffles, fruits, sausages, coffee or milk or chocolate or orange juice or scrambled eggs, pastries and pancakes. After these, they will then jog all the way home from work. If you are here in Florida for a visit, make sure that you have reserved early in the hotel or in the holiday home of your choice. There are lots of hotels here in Miami or in any other city here such as Orlando and Tallahassee. One of the most known hotels here is the Gaylord Hotel. You can actually find out how to reserve hotel rooms by logging through Travelocity, one of the well-known travel agencies online based in the United States.

In Florida, malls have lots of activities organized ingeniously just to make sure that both visitors and residents alike are happy during the entire Christmas season. There are fireworks everywhere especially during New Year’s Eve and it is nice to see these fireworks at the Seven Mile Bridge, said to be one of the longest bridges in the world which links a few Florida Keys. Also during Christmas here, there are lots of Christmas trees and gnomes and Christmas lights for kids to be entertained as well as Santa Claus and even his little brother is already been advertised, Fred Claus.

Ice rinks are definitely not a place to be isolated here in Florida during this Christmas season because these are the areas where ice skating championships are held, particularly in the field of figure skating. If you want to spend time at home, all you do is turn on the fireplace or the heater in the holiday home that you have been billeted into and enjoy a movie marathon. Just make sure that before committing to rent in that home, you already have checked it out that the amenities are complete such as the heater and other appliances like the oven and the electric stove.