In 1908, an Italian-gondolier-turned-Californian decided that Christmas just wasn't Christmas unless the yachts were decorated in lights. (Okay, back then it was just gondolas, not yachts, but whatever.) And 103 years later, we became believers thanks to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, which just happens to be the first-ever/longest-running/most-impressive Christmas boat parade there is. It also just happens to be rated the 2nd-best holiday lights display in America. Although, I should file an official protest with the makers of said list because it ranks Rockefeller 1st and Disney World's dancing lights 3rd, and having seen all three in person, I strongly believe that the dancing lights deserve the gold trophy. That said, the parade of decked-out yachts and sail boats is definitely a lovely silver candidate!
Matt and I had planned on traveling to Newport for the parade last year but rain foiled our plans, so there was no way we were missing it this time around. We bundled Jakey up on a 60-degree Wednesday night and made the roundtrip drive to OC for some holiday spirit. After donating a few dollars to the local boy scouts, we were granted access to a fantastically un-crowded viewing area, where we fully enjoyed the show.
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| What's a Christmas parade without Santa? |
That looks like so much fun and oh my goodness his eyes!! Love it :)
ReplyDeleteI remembered seeing this on your blog! We are going this year, was your "viewing area" good? Where was it? :)
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