Sunday, December 9, 2012

LIGHT THE HEIGHTS

Saturday, December 8 – WOW! What a display of Christmas lights. Our daughter, Carrie, recommended to us the 25th Anniversary of the Lights in the Heights event here in Houston. The Heights is a downtown neighborhood on the northwest side of Houston. This is a neighborhood Christmas festival.

The snowmen are even bigger in Texas.snowman

The lighting takes place on two streets each about 8 blocks long. We did see several other parallel streets also joining in on the festivities. Just about every house is decorated to the “nines.” It's "try to outdo the Jones" time. Thousands of lights, bands, Christmas carolers, Santa Claus, manger scenes, bell ringers, etc. You name it; it's on display.

If this works for the Guyre's, we are doing it next year.nice sign

bear

One of our favorites.Merry Christmas house

See Santa back there.
Santa

Thousands pack the streets taking in the festivities. Hundreds of families with their kids, teens, young adults, and plenty of us older folks too!

small crowd

Many of the homes have private parties with groups of friends enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather on porches and patios. An outdoor event like this couldn't take place in many parts of the United States. I know it would pour down rain or snow and be bitterly cold if they tried to do something on this scale in Northeast Ohio.

m&ms

These kids were so cute with this bear.DSC02050

We arrived to the area just as things were beginning about 6 p.m. Crowds were already descending on the area, so we zipped in the first place parking spot we saw. It turned out to be a perfect parking spot, only about two blocks from the holiday lights.

Thousands of  luminaries line Bayland Avenue and Highland Street from Houston Avenue to Studewood.

DSC02044

We walked up and down the streets enjoying the lights, listening to some great music and, of course, people watching. People never seem to disappoint us for a source of entertainment.

Early on, only a dozen or so musicians performed on porches. Today, over seventy entertainment groups volunteer their time and talent for this event.

entertainers

Several houses had bell ringers. They were wonderful.bell ringers

Several children's choirs entertained the crowds.children's choir

The celebrating officially ends at 9 p.m., and we are sure the partying goes on long after that deadline. By 8:00, we had completed the two street loop and were ready to head home.

You just never know how Santa is going to arrive.santa on cycle

Santa in hot air balloon

True Houston Texans' fans live in this house.
Texan fans

It was a great night and more lights then we've ever seen. The Houston skyline was pretty impressive as we sped down I-45 on the way home. What a beautiful city.

What the season is all about.
manger scene

DSC02029

This photo is for Judy of Travels with Emma.

The end.
The end

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!