Golf Carts Roasting On An Open Fire............

Knowing the day was fast approaching, I've been trying for some time now to work the words 'golf cart' into some sort of Christmas song to create a suitably amusing post title about the annual Buttonwod Bay ( that's sunny Buttonwood Bay to you ) Christmas Golf Cart Parade of Decorated......err.... Golf Carts.  That we have every year.  In Buttonwood Bay.

As you can clearly see, I failed miserably.

But as this post is about a Golf Cart Parade, it'll be something new for search visitors to read about as for the last few weeks, I've had lots of 'hits' from people searching on Google for that very thing. And because I wrote a post about the parade last year, their search results bring them to me.  Of course if they come to my blog wanting technical info about CREATING a decorated cart, it'll all be a huge let down as what I know about decorating a golf cart could be written on a postage stamp for a very very small country indeed. A principality in fact.

So anyhoo, the big day arrived today. Golf Cart Parade Day. And for us, it turned into Golf Cart Parade Day Party Day.

Ok enough of the capitals already.

What started off as a couple of friends and ourselves sitting out by the roadside as the carts went by, evolved, as such things here do, into a lot more people doing basically the same thing and calling it a party.  Wooohoooo. Par-tay. Wine, women and song.  

Well men, wives and carols then.  

So at 5:15pm I set off on our undecorated golf cart (bah humbug indeed) to get to the collection point at the far end of the park where all the decorated carts were being assembled for the parade.  Lined up I mean....they were already assembled !

Some were individual efforts, some were collective efforts but effort was the key word. Lots of effort had been put into the decorating and every one was a winner.  But I wasn't a judge so my opinion didn't count.

Then in true Buttonwood tradition, the 6pm golf cart parade set off......at 5:50pm.  Everything starts early here, just in case.....y'know.  Hey the people are old remember.  You gotta go with what you've got.

So here are a few photos of the carts I took at this time......................







As you can see, it was getting darker by the minute and although the carts looked better in the dark (as most used Christmas lights as part of their decorations), I knew from previous years that the best photos were the ones taken before the parade set off......the built in flash on my camera often isn't powerful enough to fully light them up when they go past.

Once the carts had set off and cleared the area, I jumped back into mine and sped off to where my friends were set up on rows of chairs on the grass outside their house. This was the perfect location for watching the carts go past on their way to the Recreation Hall where the judging was to take place and winners announced.

In fact I'll only include one photo of an actual cart ON PARADE as it went past us ..........


I liked the idea of including the reindeer in the setup AND giving the impression of it flying through the air but I suspect PETA may have been dismayed at it's treatment. They are famous for having no sense of humour.

Unlike the residents of Buttonwood Bay who don't let a little thing like their age get in the way of having a fun old time. Take this young lady for example.......


The thing is, she wasn't dressed up like this for the parade. Oh no, this is how she dresses every day. Eccentric ? Never.

Finally, for those of you who have stuck with me so far, here is a photo of a cart before they all set off on parade. I only include it here as it shows THE house within the park that has the most elaborate Christmas decorations ever seen outside of Disney World. When the owners power up this display, they first have to clear it with the FAA (for low flying aircraft), NASA (for low flying shuttles), NORAD (for low flying missiles) and the power company (for low power levels everywhere else around the state).


Talk about taking all the glory from the golf carts !  

As so that was it for another year.  We took the par-tay inside and drank more wine and ate more food and it all broke up at some ridiculously late hour........8:45pm I think.  Oh we can be so naughty at times but lets face it, it IS almost Christmas.

So try doing a Google search for a Christmas Golf Cart Parade and see if this post has made it onto the first page.

Go on, you know you want to.