Naples has LOTS of Christmas spirit! From the spiral strings of lights encircling all the palms up and down Tamiami Trail, to the light sprays at the top of the palms in downtown Naples on 5th Ave., it's the Christmas season down here, that's for sure!
Tonight was the boat parade...it started at 6:00 PM, but in order to get a good viewing spot, we headed to the Bay Front Bridge area to park ourselves along the rail in front of the harbor and the canal where the boats were going to parade by us. No seats available, unless you manage to come and start drinking and eating early at one of several fine dining establishments in Tin City. We chose to just stand by the dock railing and wait....and wait.....and wait....We started waiting at 4:30 PM, thinking the boat parade started at 5:30 PM. It was 6:00 when the festivities began....By the time the boats began floating by, the crowd was four and five deep at the railing, and our tootsies and backs were tired of standing! But it was well worth the wait!
Last year we saw a yacht dressed in blue lights, with an Elvis impersonator singing with great gusto. This year was a little more tame...very little music championing the holiday season, mainly cool light decorations. It was amazing to see the yachts turn on a dime at the end where the Bay Front Bridge was, and head back out from where they came....skillful captains maneuvering the ships/yachts/boats was a sight to see! The boat parade lasted about a half an hour. It was great to see the spirit on board everyone's pride and joy......
It was a beautiful evening in Naples...We enjoyed the parade very much....
We really lucked out with our viewing spot for the one boat parade we've seen. We were aboard a cruise ship in San Diego for a 2-week cruise. Departure was scheduled after the boat parade. We made ourselves comfy on the balcony of our cabin and watched as the boats made a u-turn and came right by our cabin. Lots of music, colorful lights, interesting decorations ... a very festive occasion indeed.
ReplyDeleteJeannie, email says no reply ... so to answer your question about putting my name/date on the photos. I shoot RAW, so I add my watermark when I process them in Lightroom and then export as a jpeg for posting in the blog. If you have Picasa, you can also add it in the export panel. Most photo processing software will provide for a way to add your watermark ... and it can be something other than a simple one ... see my special watermark here ... http://2totrvlviewfinder.blogspot.com/. Have a great evening, and thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteAlways fun. We sure enjoyed taking part in the Destin boat parade:)
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