Across the street from the year-round Christmas tree awaits a tourist.

"There must be something cool in Christmas, Florida,” ponders Jen Thomsen visiting from Switzerland.

She is not alone.

"Some of them don't even know about Christmas, Florida,” admits Angela Jones from Alabama.

They come by the masses to pass through the squeaky door that can't seem to stay shut this time of year. Most visit the United States Post Office in Christmas for a special postmark each December.

"We just come here to mail our Christmas cards,” giggles Angela as she begins counting.

Angela drove here from Birmingham, Alabama. It’s a pilgrimage she has made each holiday season since 2009.

“So that's 50, about 53,” she laughs, finishing counting her cards. Here, the attraction isn’t what’s on the inside of the card, rather what folks leave on the outside of the envelope.

Next to the mailbox painted white with Santa's name on it rests a two-seat table, with a red and green table cloth holding several rubber stamps.

Bang! Bang! Bang fills the air, as visitors queue up to place ink marks of angels, snowmen and reindeer on their envelopes.  And waiting in line is part of the game.

Upon walking in, Thomsen proclaimed, "I guess we are not the only ones who came to Christmas!”

Susan Riehl, wearing her Christmas sweater and earrings, came from the mid-Hudson Valley in New York state to mail her cards here.

"They put a heavy tag across our luggage because it weighed so much,” Susan said boasting of her suitcase at the airport in New York.

Her stack of cards made the trip south just fine, much to her husband Michael's relief.

"I kept saying, ’We could buy them down there. We could buy them down there,’ but no,” he said jokingly. 

Besides 50 of her own cards, Susan also had almost 100 of her adult son's cards, who left adding postage up to mom and dad.

"His did not have postage stamps on theme, so we had to purchase those and put them on. That is what parents are for,” Susan said happily. 

The most coveted stamp actually says Christmas, but a Scrooge may have helped it walk out the door.  Therefore, you have to stand in line, show your ID, hand it over, and they will give you the official stamp, as long as you promise to bring it back.

Here, folks from around the world meet people from down the street.

Troy Strasters from Bithlo came for the special stamp for a different kind of card.

"I wanted to get the special stamps from the Christmas Post Office on my anniversary card,” Troy said proudly.

You could call Troy a postal fan, since the Jeep with the shiny black paint job and red racing stripe use to be a letter carrier's delivery car.

"They made them for the post office,” he said proudly.  “The steering wheel is on the right hand side as if you were driving an English vehicle."

Troy needs no keys here, just a screw driver and the drive to keep stamping.

"They say, 'Oh. I see you sent them out in Christmas again!” concludes Tracy Rodgers from Bithlo, as she stamps a few envelopes before her kids get home from school.

Using the stamps is free, yet postage for each holiday greeting card will still cost you regular mail rates.

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