Christmas On The Pecos

As part of our holiday preparedness, Marilyn booked us on a downtown nighttime boat ride in beautiful downtown Carlsbad called "Christmas On The Pecos." It is the New Mexico version of "drive around town to see the pretty lights." They do it every year. Homeowners, sponsored by local businesses, do an absolutely extravagant job of decorating their water front properties. This is the desert. So you can well imagine that these properties are muy grande to begin with. In every town I have ever lived in at Christmas time, there were a few properties that went to these ends to decorate. Here, everyone does it, and the town makes money hand over fist from Thanksgiving until New Years. From dark 'til late, boat after boat hauls visitors and locals up and down the river for a 45 minute tour of the light show. Our scheduled trip departed the boat dock at 7:45 and blessed as we were the wind stopped blowing long enough for our ride. It was a delightful night. Hot chocolate and funnel cakes on the river walk. People strolling along the lighted path beside the slowly flowing river. Christmas spirit in the South West. Some times I need to make apologies for using less than spectacular photos. The camera is fine. But I certainly don't have the talents to make great night shots of lights in the distance with a slow shutter speed and a moving boat. But with the intention of sharing at least the general feel of the evening, here is a slide show of "Christmas On The Pecos."