Holiday Shenanigans 2016

As I mention about this time each annum, the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year's is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I love exploring all of the holiday offerings around our local area.  Since this was our first Christmas in Long Beach, I was more than ready to see what new experiences we could discover and enjoy.

A few months back, I (politely, hopefully) very strongly hinted to Dad and Risa that we'd be interested in experiencing the annual Long Beach lighted boat parade; it just so happens that the club they belong to, the Shoreline Yacht Club, organizes the event, so I figured we had the perfect "in."  While they told us that they don't decorate their own boat anymore, they were happy to find spots for all of us (including Risa's sister, Trink, who was in town) on the boat of another club member who would be participating.

On the appointed evening, we met everyone in the harbor area and hopped aboard our designated vessel, a rather large motorboat that also serves as the home for our lovely hosts (whose names, since it's been about a month and I'm all hopped up on cold medicine as I write this, I have 100% forgotten.  This is a shame, as they were delightful).  We added our contributions to the appetizer buffet (Christmas butter cookies from us, bacon snacks from Dad, Risa, and Trink), and had a lovely time visiting with everyone on board, including one boat dog, Pyro, wearing his very own red Christmas hoodie.  After some milling about in the harbor, all of the boats (40 or so!) lined up, and we started the parade!

Our view from the front of the boat.

A movie from the parade...

...and another one!

As you can see, our photos and videos are just okay, so it was off to the internets to find some good shots of a typical example of what the individual boats look like:

Fun, right?

Thanks, interwebs!

While we thoroughly enjoyed the other boats in the parade with us, being on the water at this time also allowed us great views of the Long Beach shoreline and the Queen Mary, all lit up for the holidays:

Long live the Queen!

After the parade, we docked, thanked our hosts for the lovely time, and the five of us headed to dinner at Gladstone's, a local seafood restaurant.  Our meals were good (the lobster mac and cheese really is insanely delicious), and since my birthday was quickly approaching, when we told our waitress about this, she made sure to bring us the Gladstone's standard birthday treat: 

A pile of cotton candy

as big as your damn head.

For reals.

We ate our fill of cotton candy (surely to impact our sleep patterns that evening), then headed out, wishing a good night to Dad, Risa, and Trink along the way.

The next weekend, we further pursued our jones for holiday cheer by joining some fellow runners in nearby Newport Beach for an ugly sweater training run.  The run was hosted by the folks from the Surf City Marathon, and since I'm signed up for the half (in early February), we were happy to attend the free event and check out more of our local area (as well as make some donations to their toy drive).  Although we didn't get any shots of the event itself (a shame, as the beach path in Newport is gorgeous - I can't wait to do the race), we grabbed this one of my amazing apparel before we headed out:

Be sure to click to 

make this bigger

and check the socks.

As the holiday season approached, there were a ton of great deals on Groupon for light tours various and sundry, and after much deliberation, we settled on one that featured the use of hydrobikes, launching from nearby Los Alamitos, right in front of the new Ballast Point brewery and taphouse.  Although the day had been rainy, by the time our tour started, the skies cleared, and we were ready to hop on our rides!

Me on the hydrobike.

I swear.

The hydrobikes essentially have two giant pontoons attached to them, and there's a bike mounted in the middle.  They're not super fast, and you just peddle along, staying above the water and taking in the sights.  The company normally rents the bikes out for a few hours at a time during the day, and folks can take them all over the bay, docking at restaurants or parks, packing picnic lunches, or just enjoying a day on the water.  For our holiday lights tour, we paddled over to nearby Naples, a section of Long Beach (I think) where giant homes are perched right on an extensive canal system.  The folks in the homes decorate everything really well, and it was fun to paddle along, enjoying the light show.  Since we were busy paddling the entire time (seriously, it was way more cardio than I'd planned on - I was all sweaty by the end), here are some pics from the webs:

A better view of the hydrobike.

Santa wasn't with us on this trip.

The lighted markers in the bay.

Houses along the canal.

Folks on hydrobikes in the canals.

I don't think this is us.

More lit up houses across the bay.

Despite ending the tour and needing a shower, we had a good time and would love to see the canal lights again, albeit from a different vessel next time.  Although we had plenty of space, tours were going up and down the canal in plenty of other boats, including water taxis and even gondolas:

Yes, really!

After the tour, we finished our evening with dinner at Roe, a local seafood restaurant (we have a lot of those, as you can see), which was outstanding.  Then, it was home to rest up and prepare for my birthday the next day!

Later!

Amy