Moving from Colorado had its fair share of culture shock,
but I think the biggest oddity I experienced while living here are warm
holidays. The first Christmas we spent
in Tallahassee it was 70 degrees. We had
the windows open. I wore a tank
top. I probably got sunburned.
Despite my loathing of the hot weather down here, I will say
Tallahassee an extremely family friendly town. There are always tons of events
going on, especially at Christmastime.
One of my favorites is the Winter Festival that the city sponsors. The first year we went, it snowed. Well, they made it snow with snow machines
anyway, but it was a nice effect considering we were so used to real White Christmases. The festival includes a lighting ceremony
where they light up all the grand oak trees downtown, followed by the annual
Jingle Bell Run (a short & sweet 3K.
We haven’t participated since the kids arrived, but I think next year we
will start back up) and then a parade, complete with Santa. They dedicate one section of the downtown
area to kids, appropriately dubbed “Candy Cane Lane” where they don the strip
with animatronics and the local candy maker does a candy cane making display
and all the kids get free (GIANT) candy canes.
The festival this year is on December 7 (tomorrow). Festivities begin at 3, and the lighting
ceremony starts at 6pm.
Another one of my favorite events at this time of year is
Elf Night at Dorothy B. Oven Park. Every
year they light up the park, and you can drive and walk through a fantastic
light display. We never attended on Elf
Night until Abby came, because it is geared towards kids, and well, we weren’t
really into that before we had our own!
They almost always provide some sort of treat like cookies, hot
chocolate, and hot apple cider. Lots of
people are dressed up as fun characters; gingerbread man, snowman, toy soldier,
and of course, SANTA! We have gone the
past two years, and we are hoping to go again this year. Last year it even rained, but we went
anyway! They also made it “snow” last
year – with bubbles. I think that was
Abby’s favorite part. Elf Night this
year is on Thursday December 19 at 5:30pm.
So, Tallahassee friends, what is your favorite family
friendly holiday event this month? We’re
always looking for fun things to do with the kids!
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