These Floating Parties Are Great December Destinations When Traveling
When people talk about doing travel during December, they look forward to seasonal shopping – I’m not much of a shopper but I even enjoy it, in the right places that set a scene for the season – Christmas parties and, if in Europe, Christmas markets.
What they never talk about are another great aspect to the season: the holiday boat parties.
These are gathering of boats that are lit up like mini-houses with decorations that circle a harbor or other body of water. Just about any place with a river, lake or ocean has one. Here in Los Angeles, we have so many holiday boat parades you can’t get to all of them. The biggest – and in fact, the biggest one in the world – is the Newport Beach Boat Parade, so big it lasts for five nights.
The events are free and while that’s one thing I enjoy about them, another is I can take my “concealed cocktail” right up to the water’s edge and meet and mingle with other people. There are hundreds and even thousands of people at these events and I like chatting up the boats, decorations and whatever else comes to mind.
I also like being by the water and to be at that location for a festival holiday event is another great things about boat parades. (Tip: If you’re invited on a boat be aware that they can be cold; so keep that in mind if you accept an invitation).
Of course, there’s a pretty lively bar scene afterward, too, and naturally I enjoy that aspect of it. It’s so easy to talk with people too, because pretty much everyone has been to the parade so you instantly have something in common and something to discuss together.
The next time you’re traveling in December, be sure and check to see if your destination has a holiday boat parade. If so, it could well wind up being the highlight of your trip.
Holiday cheers!
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