Tonight is the last night of the Boat Parade– a “can’t-miss” local event.  The Boat Parade is truly a magical holiday tradition enjoyed annually by everyone in and around Newport Beach’s beautiful Harbor.  Initially called the “Tournament of Lights”, the parade was founded by John Scarpa, an obscure Italian gondolier, and Joseph Beek, developer of Beacon Bay, and the famous Balboa Ferry Line. This year, we …

Christmas on Balboa Island, 1950 It doesn’t look much different than it does today, does it? Do you remember any of these shops?

It’s Faturday again!  Clean up that kitchen from this weeks mess and let’s get rolling with an artery-clogging meal that we all say we’d never eat (but secretly totally will).  This week’s special? The Bacon-Jalapeño Cheese Ball!  This weeks recipe brought to you by Newporter Cheryl Kelly! Here’s the recipe: 6 slices bacon ¼ cup chopped pecans 8 oz cream …

Wednesday night, beautification workers trucked in our Christmas decorations from Pomona, and completed the holiday spirit by hanging wreaths on Balboa streetlights.  These wreaths join the pre-existing lights already in-place, and also provide their own inter-woven light display, themselves! It’s a great addition to a classic part of Newport– the original Balboa!

This photo of Blackies says it is from 1939, but friends have said that judging by the cars I think it was more like 1929. Do you know your cars? What do you think?

While the surf will still be huge tomorrow morning, the conditions will be downright awful for surfing, and the rain will be a-fallin’.  Do yourself and our lifeguards a favor and don’t attempt to swim in it. But– it sounds like we’re in for some much-needed water!  So hunker down, find your monopoly board, re-activate your NetFlix subscription, and break out …

What a ton of changes!  Last night, we saw the exiting of our old council, and the incoming of the new council.  The old council– along with Keith Curry– continued to tout that the city was in great fiscal shape, that nothing was over-spent, and that they’d do it all again in a heartbeat. The last part is what got me. …

REMEMBER: December 13-14 are the peak nights to watch the Geminids meteor shower! The Geminids are often bright and intensely colored. This is the most abundant shower of the year. Maximum meteors: around 75 meteors per hour. Velocity 22 miles/sec (medium/slow velocity) As always: The best time to see ANY meteor shower is the hour or two before dawn. Try …

I don’t have a date for this photo in the archive, but this appears to be Fashion Island back before everything got built up. Do you have any idea what date this may have been? Click to enlarge photo below

The Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Friday, December 12, 2014 at an undisclosed location in Newport between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. DUI Checkpoints are claimed to reduce drunk driving mostly by deterrent, but also serve to actively arrest those who are driving under the influence. This is a …