It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even here in the Florida Keys, where the only ice is in our drinks.
Keys calendars are filled with festive events, from Christmas concerts and craft fairs to lighted bike rides, beloved boat parades and pet pictures with Santa. Homes and hotels sparkle with the holiday spirit, while spirits of another kind will fill our ubiquitous insulated tumblers from now until the new year.
Our tropical holidays may not look like the winter scenes on cards and commercials, but when have the Keys ever worried about “fitting in” with someone else’s image?
Instagram feeds overflow with artificial holiday aspirations. So we filled this issue of Holidays in the Keys with the real-life wonder, not the manufactured merriment, of the holiday season. We embrace the authenticity of simpler times and the traditions that continue today.
Creative Director Stephanie Mitchell starts it all off with a holiday playlist, curated to connect us to the time before smartphones and social media. When Wham! sang “Last Christmas, I gave you my heart,” and Lindsay Buckingham’s “Holiday Road” was the unmistakable theme for the National Lampoon’s vacation movies.
I took a nostalgic trip through Toyland and traced the top toys from each decade, recalling the roller skates and Big Wheels, Lite Brites and Strawberry Shortcake dolls of my Gen X era.
Keys sommelier Julie Kushel pairs the perfect wines with the game-day fare of football playoff season, and historian Brad Bertelli traces historic holiday traditions in the island chain. Carol Shaughnessy recalls a different Keys holiday tradition involving a different variety of fragrant greenery.
We’ve also included a list of Keyswide holiday events as well as local charities that could use our support over the holidays and throughout the year, while Jen Alexander and Jim McCarthy highlight local heroes who support and protect us all year long. These first responders do double duty during the holidays, ensuring a magical Christmas for thousands of kids.
And finally, our holiday magazine wouldn’t be complete without our gift guide — several pages of perfect holiday gifts, all available at local retailers throughout the Keys.
This holiday season, remember to enjoy what matters as you explore this warm winter wonderland we call home. From our families to yours, happy holidays.
— Mandy Miles, editor
