By Jeff Johnson
GLS had three Los Angeles County holiday lights walks in 2025 — central, northwest, and southeast. Here are some pictures of what we saw.
Larchmont, Windsor Square, and Hancock Park, Saturday Dec. 6
We headed out after the holiday party in Larchmont into the streets where Ted had scouted for well-decorated houses. We walked by many substantial multi-story pre-WW2 houses with substantial yards, fences, and hedges, and many of them substantially decorated. I was surprised that we were the only pedestrians out taking in the sights on a Saturday evening, not counting the neighbors walking dogs.
Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, Saturday Dec. 20
In contrast to the Dec. 6 walk, this is a post-WW2 neighborhood, streets without curbs and gutters, mostly single-story houses, many with yards open to the street. Nancy led us into the Candy Cane Lane district, which just went on for blocks and blocks, the streets teeming with pedestrians, street vendors, and cars cruising up and down with childrens’ heads poking out the roofs wishing everyone Merry Christmas. Theme decorations seemed to be popular here, ranging from Grinch (the most popular) to period mid-mod.
Naples Island in Long Beach, Sunday Dec. 21
Naples Island is the most expensive and compact neighborhood of Long Beach, and the decorations there reflected those things. Carol scouted us a pretzel-shaped route that wound us through the canals in the heart of Naples, past many bright displays. Naples has a traditional neighborhood competition for holiday decorations and, apparently, many get professional help in the quest for championship. I’ve been through there many holiday seasons but have never seen so many pedestrians, or vendors, or Santas on paddleboards, likely because we usually come here on a weeknight.
