A Not-So-Wintery Wonderland

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Kids delight in the holiday displays at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota.

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Macy's holiday parade at Universal Studios

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Flagler College is decorated with dazzling white lights during the holidays.

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The Winterfest boat parade has become a Fort Lauderdale holiday must-see.

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There's no place like warm for the holidays! Celebrate with unique events and traditions across the Sunshine State.

My friends and family up north wonder how it can feel like the holidays if you’re not wearing 70 pounds of clothing and scraping ice off a car windshield. After 25 years in Florida, I wonder how you can feel at all in a wind chill of -50 degrees.

For my family in Florida, the holidays spark different associations: the double-exposure image of decorated boats in the harbor, sand angels in place of snow angels, cheeks pink from the sun instead of the cold. Joy comes wrapped in inviting smiles; peace in seaside meditation.

It only takes one season to warm up to Florida’s brand of yuletide tradition. Come – celebrate with us. But first, tell me what kind of holiday is on your wish list this year.

My friends and family up north wonder how it can feel like the holidays if you’re not wearing 70 pounds of clothing and scraping ice off a car windshield. After 25 years in Florida, I wonder how you can feel at all in a wind chill of -50 degrees.

All I Want is a Day at the Parks

No one rejoices in the season quite like Mickey Mouse. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom means snow, fireworks and free hot chocolate with cookies. Mickey shows up at Epcot’s Holidays Around the World too, along with Santa Claus, Germany's Christmasfest, Italy’s La Befana and other performers enacting traditional Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa legends. New Year’s Eve brings spectacular parades and firework shows at the parks.

Universal Studios Florida kicks off the season with a Macy’s Holiday Parade, featuring some of the floats and balloons made famous by New York’s Thanksgiving version. Islands of Adventure hosts Grinchmas at its Seuss Landing. And Universal’s CityWalk is the place for top New Year’s Eve entertainment.

During the holiday season, families and friends can celebrate like never before at  SeaWorld Orlando. Take an exciting trip to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express Experience and enjoy special holiday-themed shows. The events begins in mid-November.

All I Want is a Floating Holiday

Fort Lauderdale’s Winterfest is the granddaddy of a tradition that has spawned lighted and decorated boat parades in nearly every Florida community on or near the water. Celebrating 40 years, Winterfest has expanded from a hometown illuminated procession and competition along the Intracoastal Waterway to include more than 100 vessels, over-the-top shoreline decorations, a black-tie ball and sporting tournaments. Over 1 million spectators view the parade over 12 miles.

All I Want is a Million Twinkling Lights

Along the main road of Sanibel Island, where street lights are taboo, hundreds of luminary candles lead the way to live entertainment, food and shopping one night early in December. Sanibel’s sister island, Captiva, continues the Luminary Festival the following evening.

In Delray Beach, a 100-foot Christmas tree and its early December lighting anchor a month full of arts and family events including live jazz, a gallery stroll and an appearance by Santa. The Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers celebrates the season, and the greatest inventions of its most illustrious winter resident, by electrifying the two historic homes with countless lights and period decorations.

St. Augustine also blends history with holidays. Weeks of celebration commence with a pre-Thanksgiving Nights of Lights ceremony that sets the Old City aglow with more than two million white lights. Early in December, the city re-enacts Christmas past with the Grand Illumination of the British Night Watch.

All I Want is a Season in Bloom

With flame-red bougainvillea and hibiscus blossoms, green coconut palms hung with oversized bulbs and mistletoe draped in cypress trees, Florida flora puts on its own holiday display. Gardens such as McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach and Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens take what’s naturally festive a step more fanciful by creating living, twinkling fantasylands.

At McKee, luminarias light gardens and Santa appears for picture-taking. Kids especially love the large-scale model railroad and McKee’s Miniature Christmas Village.

For three weeks in December, soloists, live bands and choruses perform during Selby’s Lights in Bloom: A Tropical Holiday Celebration. There are plenty of games for kids who can wander wide-eyed around the light sculptures of dragonflies, butterflies and orchids. Plus, Santa and his reindeer make an appearance. A tree made of hundreds of bromeliads graces the entrance to the gardens’ historic home, which is decorated with gorgeous holiday decor.

All I Want is a Kiss at Midnight

Resolve to greet January in the open air sans mittens and long johns. Ponte Vedra and Jacksonville, like Daytona Beach and other Florida party towns, usher in the New Year with al fresco fanfare. It starts at noon on New Year’s Eve with a family Balloon Drop in Ponte Vedra. Live bands crank the party up at Jacksonville Landing along the St. Johns River. (Likewise, Daytona Beach’s Main Street jams from one waterfront end to the other.) At midnight, fireworks blast over the river as the countdown begins. New Year’s Day brings the Gator Bowl, filling EverBank Field with more than 70,000 spirited college football fans. After all that, you’ll no doubt resolve to get some sleep.

Purely Florida Observances

Holiday Music Program at the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, Tallahassee: Featuring tours and the music of local school groups inside the decked-out capitol building. Experience the beautiful sound of music echoing through the decorated halls of Tallahassee’s most notable historic building. 850-487-1902, www.flhistoriccaptiol.gov

ICE!, Gaylord Palms, Kissimmee: An indoor land of ice-carved sculptures, snow play areas, slides and holiday scenes. 407-586-4423, www.gaylordpalms.com

Christmas Canal Cruises, Punta Gorda: A 30-year nautical-and-nice holiday tradition. 941-639-0969, www.kingfisherfleet.com

Celebration of Lights, Naples: Snow falls on downtown Naples as Third Street South stays open for nighttime shopping in anticipation of the gift-giving season. 239-434-6533, www.thirdstreetsouth.com