Spending the holiday on the sand is tradition for many
While some may dream of a white Christmas, two miles of traffic backed up from Matanzas Pass Bridge out to San Carlos Island showed plenty had their minds Wednesday on the sand of Fort Myers Beach for Christmas.
Despite intermittent clouds, beachgoers flocked to Fort Myers Beach filling up busy shops and restaurants particularly from Times Square to Lani Kai.
Large groups of families celebrated together with some partaking in games of volleyball, football, and other activities. Most were content to sit back and relax in front of the sun and the waves.
Liz Henry, of Ohio, looked on as her son Cole poked his fingers into a sandcastle that had been left behind while under the watchful eye of his aunt Emily, of Estero. Cole, who is nearing 2, “doesn’t know anything but Christmas on the beach,” Liz said.
Liz, who works as a real estate agent, said 14 of her family members came together for Christmas on the beach. Her sister-in-law lives in Estero and her mother-in-law Mary and father-in-law Mike live in Fort Myers. “We come here every summer and every Christmas,” Liz said. “We wanted to be on the beach for Christmas. That was our goal.”
So what attracts them here on such a big day where many in the country stay at home? “It’s the ocean and the fun. Seeing as many Santa Clauses as we can,” she said. “And the sand sculptures,” Mary said.
“It’s tradition. It’s what we do,” Liz said.
Gosha Jerominski, an Illinois transplant living in Cape Coral, said she was hosting 25 family members at her house. Most were from Illinois, though a few flew in from London. “It’s fun. I don’t know for a longer time,” Jerominski said about the big crowd in her home. “It’s beautiful,” she said of Fort Myers Beach. “We love it.”
Deneen Shiffert, came down from Wisconsin with her husband Jon and three children. They were joined by her parents and the families of her two brothers. There were 15 people in all for her family’s Christmas. “The sand is my kind of snow,” she said. “The people are super great.”
Her son Josh was a little sad that they had to leave behind their chocolate lab pit bull.
Deneen said it didn’t feel quite like Christmas since back home it was minus-10 degrees when they left. “At home, everything would be shut down” for Christmas, she said.
For the Martin family of Michigan, this was their last Christmas and vacation before Allen Martin joins the Air Force in February. They like coming down here for the weather. “Michigan is in a heat wave,” said Allen Martin Sr. “It’s been in the 40s.” They are planning on hitting Sea World next. “The people (here) are unbelievably nice,” Martin said.