Inflatable characters light up town streets

      This holiday season, drivers cruised the curvy dark streets of the Lake Martha and Lake Adele neighborhoods in Miami Lakes and came upon inflatable characters, including lines of Santas, some standing 10 feet tall.

     Columns of polar bears, gingerbread men, green and white Christmas trees, candy canes, nutcrackers and snowmen brightened the night on the southeast side of town.

     The practice of placing identical inflatables at the ends of driveways happens elsewhere in the U.S. It is a new tradition for these Miami Lakes neighborhoods, a resident said.