Holidays in Los Angeles

Last year was my first year in Los Angeles for the Holidays.  I was curious as to how LA would deck out for the holidays, and I tried to get to a lot of things to experience the holidays in LA.  I knew I’d have a hard time with the holidays because the snow wouldn’t be around, but believe it or not, that’s why I left in the first place 😉

Some of my favorite things around the holidays include:  The Holidays in Los Angeles

The Palm Trees being decked out with lights!

One of the other things I tried to embark upon last year were the Holiday Boat Parades.  What did I learn from this excursion? IT GETS CROWDED!  I love that all the houses around the Naples Canals are all decked out in lights, and everyone’s having their holiday parties.  I’m sure this is the same along the Venice Canals in Venice.  And along Newport Beach and Huntington Beach where they also have their boat parades.

But one thing I learned is that yes, the boat parades are lovely, but it wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be.  This year, my love and I are going to head to the Naples Canals on a random night and just walk along the canals looking at the lights on our own time.  I think it’ll be a bit more enjoyable, at least, for us =)

The shot above is all blurry.  I apologize, for this was before my tripod or even monopod, or me even understanding the concepts of night photography.  This year there will be far better pictures =) LOL.  But because of how crowded it was, it was hard to get good pictures that night! =)

And, I personally love how the Grove gets all decked out for Christmas.  Perhaps it was so aww strucking to me because this was my first Grove experience, and at the same time, I was impressed with the water show with music, the train on the tracks running throughout the Grove, and the decked out Santa house with the lights and garland around town.  And their tree was absolutely beautiful.  I will be visiting back there sometime this holiday season.

Pretty Spectacular, huh?  It’s incredibly tall.  I did my best to try to get the entire tree in the picture! How’d I do?

One place I never got to because it was too far out of my comfort zone, is The Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.  This year, I will be making the trek out there because I’ve heard and seen some incredible pictures from this place.  This Inn goes all out for the Holidays with lights, over 3.5 million lights adorn this Inn.  I have to feel the magic.  If you’re interested in learning more, check out their website here =)

And the other place I’m looking to take a night out for is walking the shops of Beverly Hills.  I want to see how Beverly Hills gets all decked out for the holidays, but I also want to see the window shops from the stores on Rodeo Drive.  They switch them out regularly, and some of the stores come up with some spectacular displays.  I can’t wait to see the holidays transform before my eyes.

Here’s to the next few weeks ahead!  I hope you’ll enjoy them because I know I will =)