Feeling Like A Local

Hubby and I arrived in California Saturday at noon, after a "quick" 5+ hour flight from Toronto.  We spent our flight watching movies that helped make the time whip by.  First we watched "Post Grad" with Alexis Bledsoe (Rory Gilmore) which was pretty cute.  Then we watched Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.  That was a really sweet movie, although Meryl's "Julia Child" voice began to grate on me after awhile.

After grabbing the rental car we head into San Francisco (just south of the Golden Gate Park) to a Christian bookstore to pick up my sister's Christmas gift and then head over towards the Ocean to get a glimpse of one of my most favorite things in the world... the ocean!  Sigh!  I LOOOOOOVE being near an ocean!

This particular day the waves were large and there were tons of surfers wandering along the sandy shores and in the surf.

One of the things we planned to do on our first weekend in California was to take part in some holiday events.  I had researched from home something fun and festive to do and I found the Hometown Holidays festival in Redwood City, CA (where hubby would be working during the week).  Once we had checked into our hotel, we hopped in the rental car and head down the 101 freeway to the quaint town of Redwood City.  We found a free parking spot a few blocks from the festival and we walked towards the downtown area where we found people lining the streets, waiting for the holiday parade to begin.

 

Finding a spot along the sidewalk, we watched as local groups walked, marched and danced their way down the main street corridor.

We saw angels...

and even the virgin Mary...

Mrs. Claus...

Miss Redwood City 2009...

and even flame throwers...

We left before the parade finished to grab a bite to eat but after dinner hurried down to City Hall for the tree lighting and fireworks.  After the fireworks display we made our way back to the train tracks to await the arrival of the Holiday Caltrain.

This train makes its way down the Caltrain line all decorated for the holidays, as well as hosting Santa and Mrs. Claus who greet the public and collect toys for Toys for Tots along the route.  It was really fun to see.

 

After the train made it's stop we head back down the main road towards the Courthouse where a holiday movie was getting ready to be played on an outdoor screen (we didn't stay for the movie as we were suffering a little jetlag by this time)...

and we passed by the beautiful ice sculpture of Santa on his Holiday train...

and then we head to the hotel to grab some sleep.  It was really fun being a "local" in a new town and we were so glad to participate in some holiday cheer.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in California as there was snow in the hills/mountains on the other side of the San Francisco Bay.  Locals here are all excited about the snowy weather but me... well I'm wondering where the warm California sun went!  Fortunately, today the sun did shine, although the temperature felt a little too much like home for my liking.  Maybe tomorrow will be a little warmer as I head downtown on the subway!