by Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy | Nov 20, 2022 | Events, LG Lifestyle, Los Gatos Events, Parks, Visiting Los Gatos
The 24th annual Fantasy of Lights show at Vasona Lake County Park begins soon! Occasionally people call me to ask about it – please note that I do not run the event – I am only posting information about it. Full info can be found on the county’s park website, linked below.
24th annual Fantasy of Lights:
Get your tickets now, they sell out fast! Entry with prepaid tickets only!
What: The Fantasy of Lights
When:
Walk-thru Weekend Dec 3 & 4, 2022 from 4 to 9 pm
Drive-thru Nights Dec 6 – 30, 2022 with 30 minute slots from 6pm to 9:30pm
Open rain or shine. As always, the Fantasy of Lights is closed on Christmas Day (Dec 25).
Where: Vasona Lake County Park, 333 Blossom Hill Road (near University Avenue) Los Gatos, CA
How much: Tickets must be purchased in advance available online through EventBrite.
Walk through cost is $10 for ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 4 – 12, and free for 3 and under (tickets still required for free entry!)
Drive through cost is $20 per regular vehicle (up to 12 passenger capacity), $50 per oversized vehicle (13+ passenger capacity).
More details:
Please visit the Santa Clara County Parks page for the Fantasy of Lights to get more information and updates on this event.
Please check the county’s page for this event.
More questions? PLEASE do NOT call me about this event. Please contact the SCC Parks Dept and check out their website for the Fantasy of Lights! The Vasona phone number is (408) 355-2201.
Please visit Live in Los Gatos for year round events, neighborhood information, photos around the town, interesting real estate market data, haunted places and the occasional historical tidbit.
Los Gatos is a wonderful place to visit during the holidays, but it’s also a great place to live year round! If you are interested in buying a home in Los Gatos (or selling one), please contact me, Mary Pope-Handy (contact information in the sidebar). I’m both a Realtor based in the Town of Los Gatos and a resident myself, working full time in helping nice folks to buy and sell homes here and throughout the west valley and greater Silicon Valley communities.
If you aren’t familiar with the area, here are a few things to know!
Buy a home in Los Gatos (info on neighborhoods, school districts, homes for sale to browse online, links to important local sites & info)
Relocating and buying a house in Los Gatos
Los Gatos real estate on Facebook
Monthly Los Gatos real estate market update
Los Gatos real estate market statistics & trends for houses
Los Gatos realty trends and stats for condos & townhouses
by Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy | Nov 12, 2022 | Events, Los Gatos Events
The annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Service is a longstanding holiday tradition here in Los Gatos, and this year it’s both in person and virtual.
Thanksgiving Interfaith Service in Los Gatos: key info
Date: Thursday, November 17, 2022
Time: 7 – 8 p.m.
In Person Location: Los Gatos United Methodist Church
111 Church Street – Los Gatos, Ca. 95030
Live stream link for the service.
Attendance is free.
A charity or worthy cause is always supported at these events. In the past they’ve included food and clothing drives as well as cash. This year’s recipient is Recovery Café – more on that below.
This lovely event is organized by the Los Gatos Interfaith Clergy Association. All are welcome!
Recovery Café
The worthy cause being supported this year is Recovery Café. There will be a message shared about the vital work that they do during the service. Donations can be given in person or online. Here’s the link to donate to them. It’s not too early to chip in!
“A healing community for those traumatized by addiction, homelessness, and mental health challenges.”
Learn more about Recovery Café in San Jose here.
Participating Congregations Include
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Congregation Shir Hadash
Jewish Silicon Valley
West Valley Muslim Association
The Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic)
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Skyland Community Church UCC (United Church of Christ)
The Terraces of Los Gatos
Los Gatos United Methodist Church (Hosting)
The participating communities change a little from year to year. In the past, this also included Faith Lutheran Church (ELCA), The Baha’i Faith of Los Gatos, chaplains from Good Samaritan Hospital, and Stanford Health Care.
Many thanks to all of you: those on the committee, the volunteers at the houses of worship who make this possible each year, everyone who donates, and everyone who prays with a grateful heart this season and always.
I wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season!
Related reading
See other Los Gatos events (or nearby) written about on this site
by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 24, 2022 | Visiting Los Gatos
July 30, 2010
Los Gatos is a wonderful place to live, but also it is a great place to visit for a retreat, a weekend getaway or a family reunion at any time of the year! Whether you are travelling alone, with one special person or thirty of your closest relatives, there’s a lot to do and to enjoy in Los Gatos.
Why vacation in Los Gatos?
Whether you’re on a vacation or a staycation, there’s lots to do and to enjoy in the Town of Los Gatos for people of all ages!
- Free music Los Gatos has a variety of free musical concerts outdoors throughout the summer, as well as special holiday performances throughout the year.
- Awesome parks Our parks can’t be beat! Oak Meadow park, with it’s historic carousel and small gague railroad, and the adjacent (and expansive) Vasona Lake County Park are a great place to picnic, throw around a frisbee, bird watch, let off steam at various playgrounds, do some sailing or take a paddle boat ride. And a discussion about Los Gatos parks would be incomplete without mentioning…
- Hiking galore The Los Gatos Creek Trail is perhaps the best known of many places to “go take a hike”, but Los Gatos is crawling with scenic places to hike or go mountain biking. Among the foothills and the Santa Cruz Mountains are a plethora of hiking trails which branch out into expansive open space wilderness.
- Wine tasting Napa and Sonoma are lovely, but you do not need to go that far to find excellent wines! We have tasting rooms both in town (Testarossa and Gali Vineyards as well as wine bars like Rootstock) and in the hills above Los Gatos. Have a look at the website for the Wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains and be amazed at the selection so close to Town!
- Amazing restaurants Los Gatos offers all kinds of foods and menus for all kinds of budgets, ranging from simple and affordable to world-class and pricey. Many restaurants are also “kid friendly” – and more restaurants than ever now offer outdoor dining. Several restaurants downtown can package food to go so you can picnic at the park. If you’re just passing through, it’s a great place to pick up a quality cup of locally roasted coffee or a sweet treat (I recommend Dolce Spazio’s gelato!)
- Spas and massages There are a number of places for experiencing a relaxing massage, so go ahead…be pampered! (The Spa of Los Gatos is my favorite but I understand that the Hotel Los Gatos also has great massages too, and I know there are others.)
- Shopping The charming downtown area is full of all kinds of shops! But even away from the main streets, this is no indoor-mall kind of town. Scenic Los Gatos offers unique shopping experiences at outdoor malls, standalone mom-and-pop shopsm as well as a few chain stores. Shop away!
- Scenic neighborhood strolling If hiking the Los Gatos Creek Trail is not for you, don’t fear! You can stroll or roll through downtown Los Gatos and still enjoy the view. Meander off the main roads among beautifully well preserved neighborhoods full of Victorian homes in the Edelen, Broadway, and Almond Grove neighborhoods. Or follow a flight of stairs up to the Fairview Plaza area. What could be prettier than the “painted ladies” of yesteryear? Prefer the downtown area? That works too. The Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce provides an historic walking tour of downtown Los Gatos through a free downloadable app.
- Museums Los Gatos is home to a history and art museum. Check out the current offerings online at NUMUlosgatos.org.
- Movies Los Gatos boasts a classic movie theater, recently rennovated for a more luxurious viewing experience, that is right in the heart of downtown.
- Petroglyph Paint and fire up some ceramics and make memories that you can take home with you! Great for all ages.
- Ongoing events The Los Gatos Chamber has a great calender of Los Gatos events which you should check out – there’s loads going on all the time in Los Gatos!
- Farmer’s Market every Sunday morning next to Town Plaza Park – great food, flowers and more often then not, live entertainment.
- Bocce Ball can be played at Campo di Bocce restaurant over a glass of wine and a slice of pizza or under the trees at Oak Meadow Park
- Dog friendly despite it’s namesake the town is a very dog-friendly place! There’s a dog park that Los Gatos shares with the neighboring city, Campbell.
- Romantic Los Gatos and the nearby areas are full of wonderfully romantic places, both restaurants and otherwise. Please see my post, Great Places to Kiss (in LG)
And…there’s even more nearby!! Go just a little further and you can enjoy several fabulous things in neighboring Saratoga, too: horseback riding (at Garrod Stables), concerts at Montalvo and at The Mountain Winery, and more shops, restaurants and spas in downtown Saratoga too.
Got more than a couple of days? Make Los Gatos your “home base” and spread out and see a bit of Silicon Valley, including the Winchester Mystery House, Great America Theme Park, The Tech Museum of Innovation or the Children’s Museum in San Jose. Or go “over the hill” to the beach & boardwalk at Santa Cruz – it’s only about 25 minutes away in regular traffic. You’re just scratching the surface!
Children will love many things about Los Gatos & nearby areas
- Vasona & Oak Meadow Parks: the carousel, the train, the paddle boats, the playgrounds (esp the firetruck and real airplane!), the 100+ acres of lawn, the lake, the ducks and swans, and more!
- Eating at The Diner of Los Gatos, where burgers come in large paper “cars” with 50s styling (and milkshakes are generously portioned)
- Outdoor music (where you don’t have to be too formal or too neat)
- Decorating ceramics at Petroglyph
- Bocce Ball
- Movies
- Shopping at Affordable Treasures and the Wooden Horse
- Nearby: the Children’s Discovery Museum (San Jose), Great America Theme Park (Santa Clara), the Beach & Boardwalk (Santa Cruz), horseback riding at Garrod Stables (Saratoga)
What about accomodations in Los Gatos?
Hotels: There are a number of wonderful hotels in Los Gatos, including the Hotel Los Gatos, the Toll House Hotel and The Garden Inn (where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio spent part of their honeymoon). Unfortunately, Los Gatos does not have any bed and breakfasts. (I don’t know why not – the downtown area strikes me as perfect for a B&B!) Some residents do rent out their homes for vacation rentals, though, and you can find them listed on sites like AirBnB.
Clothing optional resort: There are other types of accomodations, too. Up in the hills a little bit you’ll find the Lupin Lodge, a clothing optional resort. I can’t say much on it because I’ve never been (not my thing and the idea terrifies me, frankly).
Religious Retreats: There are religious retreat centers nearby, too. The Holy Names Sisters (Catholic) have a retreat place close to downtown [Los Gatos at 82 Prospect Avenue, Los Gatos 95030 tel (408) 354-2312]. I made a retreat there in the early 80s and it was very, very nice. There have been other similar retreat centers in the area, but I’m not sure which are still around as of 2022.
Whether you want a quiet day or two or more by yourself, a romantic weekend with the one you love or to organize a reunion of family & friends, there’s plenty to do in Los Gatos. Summer is a particularly good time to vacation here because of the many free music concerts and the fabulous plays. But year-round, there’s always something to do and enjoy, so come visit. You may like it enough that you’ll want to stay!
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Nov 25, 2019 | Los Gatos Events
December is almost upon us, and with it comes all kinds of holiday events and activities in beautiful Los Gatos.
Keeping up is half the battle with so much happening this December! To make your season a little less stressful and a little more jolly, I have organized a list of holiday events and activities going on in Los Gatos. Below you will find two lists – one with unique events you might only have a day or two to enjoy, and a separate list of ongoing events you can join in all December long. These lists do not include religious services, so please check your preferred place of prayer for those schedules.
So get ready for carriage rides, the Fantasy of Lights, the tree lighting ceremony, the Los Gatos holiday parade, crafting, caroling, cookies and more! (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Dec 5, 2017 | Los Gatos Businesses
December 05, 2017
Downtown Los Gatos has much to offer, particularly during the holidays, but now we can add one more thing for which to be grateful – downtown Los Gatos is working to bring the holiday joy into your shopping experience!
This Sunday, December 10, from 11am – 4pm Los Gatos encourages you to shop local for the holidays at the 2nd Annual Holiday Stroll. In addition to the seasonal decor, there will be carolers, hot chocolate sales, a visit from ol’ Saint Nick, and plenty of kids activities for revelers and shoppers alike. Additionally, there’s free valet parking!
More details on the Stroll at the event page.
For valet parking, check out the flier.