Why I Love Christmas in Miami

This time of year you invariably find yourself talking to some poor sour spending his first winter living in a tropical climate.

“Oh, man, this weather is phenomenal,” Johnny Transplant says, “I can definitely get used to this.” But then our new fellow Floridian looks around, takes in the Holiday scene on Lincoln Road and qualifies his last statement. “It’s great, but it really doesn’t feel like Christmas.”

Now, being a card carrying member of the Hebrew faith, I’m not sure what exactly Christmas is SUPPOSED to feel like. But I’m guessing the folks moving down here from places where “White Christmas” means something other than doing an entire 8-Ball between the 24th and 25th are expecting something different.  A chill in the air, perhaps. Kids with runny noses building snowmen and whatnot. Warming yourself by a fire. Humbug, I say.

IF FEELING LIKE CHRISTMAS MEANS FREEZING YOUR ASS OFF, YOU CAN HAVE IT

Christmas in Miami is the best precisely because it DOESN’T feel like Christmas. You don’t have to try and pretend freezing temperatures and snow are fun. You don’t have to act like wearing 18 layers of clothing is an exciting part of the season. You don’t see people getting all excited to bust out their Martin Luther King Day sweaters, do you? No. Because winter is fucking miserable no matter what month it is. Christmas was just created to make it a little less so.

But you know what’s NOT miserable? Going to the beach in December. Not having to wear anything other than a light jacket to hang your lights.  You know what else is the opposite of miserable? Businesses actually being OPEN on December 25. Yeah, when your economy is based on tourism, nobody’s shutting down on a weekend that’s brimming with visitors. Not to mention the fact that a good number of the people working in those establishments moved down here so they WOULDN’T have to see their families on Christmas. Flight’s too far. But thanks for the check, I can pay rent now.

SANTA WOULD BE HERE TOO IF HE COULD GET OFF WORK

Christmas in Miami is colored lights on palm trees. It’s the Bank of America building lit up with snowflakes. It’s nativity scenes done in only the obscenely overdone Catholic way Latin Americans can. It’s not walking through snow to look at houses with cool lights. It’s standing on the shoreline watching happy people in boats with cool lights.  Maybe Christmas in Miami isn’t what you’re used to it feeling like. But if you live here it feels absolutely perfect.

Now, anyone who knows me knows the only thing I hate more than children is Christmas. And perhaps that is why I find a climate that has no need for the holiday season to be so wonderful. But I say if you can have all the parties and all the presents with none of the snow and none of the trees that leave dead leaves all over the place, well, that sounds like paradise to me. So the next time a transplant bitches and moans about Miami not feeling like Christmas, just laugh in his face.

“You’re right,” you can reply. “It’s feels a hell of a lot better.”

Related Categories: About the Author: Matt Meltzer is a featured columnist at Miami Beach 411. See more articles by Matt Meltzer. See more articles by Matt Meltzer Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

15 Comments on

"Why I Love Christmas in Miami"

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

Discuss the surrounding area in our hugely popular Miami forum.