Sunday, December 20, 2015

Christmas Trees and Beautiful Holidays Displays

I was reading on a website last night about how people were disappointed that they are not seeing as many seasonal displays or Christmas decorations in stores or store front windows anymore.  The reason given is because people of other faiths (or no faiths at all) are offended by Christianity.  I thought it was so sad that one group of people, Christians, have to have their holiday taken away from them while other groups are still free to practice their religions and traditions.  I am certainly not afraid to say "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy Kwanzaa" to someone, so why would someone not want to say "Merry Christmas" to me?  This is America, a place of religious freedom, where everyone is free to worship whatever and whoever they please, and no one should be limiting the religious freedom of another.  Christianity at its core is about freedom and liberty and Christmas is about love for all humanity.  So in honor of that I thought I would spend some time showing all the beautiful Christmas trees and holiday displays I discovered on my last vacation to Florida.

The first Christmas tree I fell in love with was actually displayed in a store.  It was covered in the most gorgeous seashell and aquatic ornaments I have ever seen.  


This large tree is at the entrance to Sea World.


 These beautiful trees are scattered all over a lake.  Their bases are actually in the water.  There is a very long bridge across the lake where you can get the best view of them.


I loved how they did the lights up the trunk and branches of this tree.  Amazing!


Another pretty Christmas tree with a palm tree all lit up too!


I continuously marveled how they are able to grow poinsettias outside in Florida.  It is such a fragile flower for us in the north.  I loved this display of poinsettias in clay pots.


 And these white and red poinsettias are growing right in the ground!


 Perhaps the most amazing holiday display I saw in Florida was the nativity at Busch Gardens.  WOW!


It is a set of seven topiaries:  an angel, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a camel, donkey, sheep, and cow.  My favorite was the camel.  Is that amazing or what?  And what's really amazing is that they even had a nativity in a public place and they weren't afraid of repercussions.  You just don't see this too much anymore.




In the Sesame Street area of Busch Gardens, they had these fun Christmas trees in the Sesame Street colors.




This large tree was located in a plaza in the center of Busch Gardens.  Don't you just love the puppeteer?  He was so fun to watch,  it took some time to figure out where his actual head and body parts were in relation to the costume.


It was nice to see that Sea World wished everyone a "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".


And this is the same entrance tree to Sea World that I showed you at the top of this post, but this time it's all lit up for night.


Whether your a believer or not, or you follow a different faith, my wish for you all when I say "Merry Christmas" is love and peace.

Merry Christmas!  Amy

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9 comments:

  1. I love seeing all of these gorgeous trees! Those trees on the lake look amazing! Have a wonderful holiday!

    Jill
    Doused In Pink

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  2. So many beautiful trees! Love this time of year!
    xo,
    Jacqueline
    Stylin In St. Louis

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  3. Oh it's sad you don't get to see many displays! We have lots of Christmas trees and decorations up here in Australia. Sometimes they go up too soon, haha! I think everyone likes the sparkle and festivity of Christmas, even if they don't celebrate the religion behind it.

    Away From The Blue Blog

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  4. Those are lovely, but seeing the sun shining and people in shorts so so strange to me!

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  5. Great post Amy and loving all the trees. I was disappointed that our town of about 30000 didn't put up a nice tree this year. But I heard it had to do with the city being broke. Not sure. I miss the Christmas markets in Germany so much, it was always a highlight of the Christmas seasons. One year I will visit the one in Chicago, unfortunately it takes a lot of convincing my husband to go to the big city. So not sure when that will ever happen...

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  6. Wow, those are some amazing trees! I wonder how long it takes to put all of those bulbs on?
    Thanks for sharing your wonderful outdoor post on this week's Maple Hill Hop!
    Merry Christmas!

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  7. What wonderful Christmas scenes! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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  8. A delightful festive post, Amy!
    May 2016 be full of health and happiness for you and yours!
    Thank you for being part of Floral Friday Fotos in 2015.

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