Christmas lights, Hanukkah decorations, and a Festivus nod made it into decorations for the always fun Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade. While I uploaded the drone lights images the other day, I thought you might enjoy a few videos (I’ll be uploading more throughout the day) of the parade itself.
Every year, boaters in Marina del Rey decorate their boats in celebration of the season and sometimes a theme. This year, the theme was “Margaritaville.” Honestly, I didn’t see a lot of boats diving into the theme, although a couple featured dancing margarita glasses, lights in the shape of palm trees, or live music. And the crowd is always festive.
Los Angeles isn’t known for a lot of interactions between strangers. Still, the holiday festivities in the Marina and Venice (and probably many other neighborhoods around the city) bring out a remarkable degree of friendliness that extends to the shops and restaurants.
Not to be a downer, but this year has been a tough one. And now that my parents are gone, getting into the holiday spirit is more challenging. So, I actively pushed us to get out of the house to try to engage with people, drink more hot chocolate at events, and find some wonder again in the season. The canal and marina festivities and the Christmas lights over the bridges were a big part. Luckily, Andy was all for it and jumped in with gusto.
Today is a cooking and baking day. We’ve had some terrific dinners at restaurants that were new to us over the last week, but today feels like a day for us to celebrate and indulge at home. For Andy, Christmas Eve night was the big family gathering time. While circumstances won’t allow for that this year, the two of us are ready to snuggle in, bake some bread, make some Christmas cookies, and get the stew stewing (Andy makes terrific stew).
Will “A Charlie Brown Christmas” make the rotation of holiday movies along with “Die Hard” and other classics? Highly likely.
If you celebrate or enjoy a day off to relax, I hope you have a wonderful December 24th/25th. And may the slide into the new year be an indulgent and energizing one.