Christmas Magic on the Beach

David and Mercedes Rizzo describe a unique Christmas display in a town along the Jersey shore.

We recently found out that a shore town about an hour away from our home set up several Christmas trees right on the beach as part of their seasonal festivities. We decided to take a ride and check them out for ourselves. 

An unexpected Christmas surprise

What a cool experience! Typically, we do not go to the beach during the colder months. We are used to being on the beach when it is really hot. This turned out to be an unexpected and pleasant surprise though. The trees are decorated by families for different reasons. One was to honor veterans; some had a theme like peace or pets, and some were to honor a loved one who had passed.

At our first stop, we met a recognizable face. A jolly man with a red suit and big white beard was handing out candy canes, taking photos and listening to the list of presents from good boys and girls.  

What made these Christmas trees different

What was unique to all of these trees is that they were adorned with shells. A few were hung on the trees, but most were laying in the sand around the tree like a Christmas tree blanket. There were rows and rows of shells that had been decorated by the families who came to see the trees. Each tree that we visited had a basket of colorful magic markers and shells for the visitors to decorate. Of course, we decorated a shell at each tree stop and wrote a message or just our family name.

Many shells were creatively decorated, and it was very pretty to see. It happened to be a day much colder than we had been having at home and with the openness of the beach and the offshore breeze you felt it and needed a hat and gloves too! The trees were spread out many blocks from each other so we would hop in our car and drive to the next stop. We enjoyed seeing the same families at the different stops. Quite a few of the shops were open and there were places to get a bite to eat, but it was a different feeling on the beach with the cold temperature and the Christmas tunes playing. 

The final stop was our favorite stop of all. At the music pier there was a boat on the boardwalk with Santa inside it. He was happy and jolly and ready to take pictures with anyone who came to see him. Many little children climbed up and sat in the boat with him. Our adult daughter who has autism stood next to him and held his hand for a photo. She was smiling and so was he. We are glad that we took the ride and had this experience. Christmas is a time for joy in your life as we prepare our hearts for the birth of the infant Jesus.  

It’s been a long time since Jesus was born into the world. There’s been a lot of changes. Yet not everything has changed. People still get cold out in the elements when the winds blow. It’s often necessary to gather together with others including people you just met walking along on the way to wherever it is you’re going. It’s a good time to remember loved ones who passed, and those who give of themselves in service of others. In these and other ways, our time looking at Christmas trees in the beach sand adorned by shells in the company of strangers taught us something of what Christmas is all about.  

This is an experience we hope to enjoy again. 

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Copyright 2024 David and Mercedes Rizzo
Images: copyright 2024 David and Mercedes Rizzo, all rights reserved.