A number of homeowners along Highland Drive in Olde Carlsbad celebrate the holiday season in a fun way. About 30 of them have large inflatable Santas at the front of their properties.
I went for a short drive down Highland Drive, south of Carlsbad Village Drive, while running errands yesterday to see them. Furthermore, this was a first for me. I’m surprised I didn’t know these existed!
I counted 30 of the large inflatable Santas in the 6 block drive I took – there may have been more. They are all similar and I’d say about 20 feet tall. I also saw a bunch of small ones as well. It easy to see how this neighborhood got its nickname, Ho Ho Highland.
I don’t know how long this has been a tradition or how it all got started. Anyone know?
Sadly, I saw on Nextdoor about 2 weeks ago that someone in a black SUV came along and slashed one of the Santas. As a result of my online research it doesn’t sound like the culprit has been identified or has fessed up. You can read more here in this news coverage.
Pretty shameful, don’t you think!?
I hope to get by some evening when they are lit up. That has to be pretty cool to see, even better than during the day.
