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Christmas at Christmas
Christmas at Christmas
Some of the family were at the villa in Florida; Christmas was looming and we wanted to contact friends and family back home . We decided that we would visit the small township of Christmas in order to secure its unique postmark on our cards to the UK. We had read that there was very little of interest there, beyond the Post Office but we really enjoyed our visit there and found the people to be very friendly.
We left the villa at 9-30 and went via the 417 onto the 528 then the 520 and from there onto the 50.
Our first stop was the small craft shop – an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ with every conceivable Christmas ornament. We purchased a selection of cards and met the proprietor, who was kind enough to loan us an illuminated snowman to complete our display back at the villa.
We got into the car and travelled back along the 50 for just 300 yards to find Rudolf’s Restaurant –to call it a restaurant was somewhat overstated- however the 99cent potato soup and the $6 pulled pork sandwiches were, fresh, tasty and homemade. We wrote our postcards as we finished an excellent cup of coffee and were well looked after by the friendly staff who offered plenty of refills. Imagine a small truck stop rather than a restaurant and you will get the idea of the atmosphere.
Having written our cards in the café, we found the Post Office (opposite the permanent Christmas tree) it was very busy with local people all posting their own Christmas cards but the lady behind the counter had time to chat. She told us some of the history of the town, including how it got its unusual name.
It had been the location of a fort which the soldiers had called Fort Christmas as they had arrived there on December 25th 1837 which was the day of the Battle of Okeechobee. They changed the name to Christmas instead of Fort Christmas when the post office opened in 1892 as the soldiers were long gone and the fort abandoned.
She said that we could visit the replica of the fort which was built in 1977 and the museum which is opposite the fire station. Sadly we had not allowed enough time for this as we had thought that there was nothing to see or do in Christmas.
We will allow much more time next Christmas and make sure that we have time to talk with the lovely people who live there but also to discover more of the history of this small place which is so easy to drive through without taking time discover any of it’s charm.
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