ON THE MENU — Judice’s, High Tides brings back Christmas on the Bayou
Published 12:30 am Sunday, December 4, 2022
High Tides is located at 3109 Texas Avenue in Bridge City. (Chris Moore/The News)
Judice’s Cajun Café is located at 2045 Texas Ave. in Bridge City. (Chris Moore/The News)
High Tides plans to keep growing the menu and list of activities in the coming months. (Chris Moore/The News)
Barbequed crab from Judice’s Cajun Café . (Chris Moore/The News)
The seating by the bayou overlooks the volleyball courts and will have more of a sandbar vibe as more sand is added. (Chris Moore/The News)
Judice’s Cajun Café offers an assortment of seafood dishes. (Chris Moore/The News)
High Tides offers multiple seating options. (Chris Moore/The News)
The restaurant sits along Cow Bayou. (Chris Moore/The News)
BRIDGE CITY — Two Orange County businessmen are bringing back a classic Bridge City tradition from the late 90s and early 2000s.
Christmas on the Bayou will be held Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. with a boat parade down Cow Bayou.
High Tides and Judice’s Cajun Café are sponsoring the event.
“I was actually in Mexico and they were doing a little parade with about 200 boats,” High Tides owner Wesley Dishon said. “It was weird because Al Judice had called me and sent a voicemail and talked about bringing back the boat parade… It was very strange. I told him that I would be back in town in a couple of weeks and we should sit down and hash it out.”
The parade route starts and ends at High Tides in Bridge City, going along the Cow Bayou shoreline.
“We will take off towards Orangefield and then go towards Spooky Bayou, which is a long cut and circle back towards the main waterway and come back under the Bridge City Bridge,” Dishon said. “We will meet back at High Tides and have some live music and some food and drink specials.”
This route should take approximately two hours.
Boats that are appropriately decorated may participate and no sign up is required. Those wanting to participate must have their boats in the water and in line by 6 p.m.
Spectators are encouraged to watch from the High Tides dock or upstairs patio to enjoy the show.
Judice said the pandemic probably played a large role in the parade’s comeback.
“Since COVID, you are seeing more people do more old-school family stuff. Since COVID, a lot of people couldn’t really go anywhere so people bought boats. For a while, there were hardly any boats on Cow Bayou and now there is back to being tons of boats.”
Both businessmen hope the large number of boats equals a big turnout.
“We’ve already got about 50 boats participating, and we’re looking to sign up more,” Dishon said. “We have also been told with the word spreading fast around town, that the number of boats is growing daily.”
The Twenty Twos will be playing live music on the downstairs patio at High Tides from 7-11 p.m., and an awards ceremony will follow.
For questions about the event, call High Tides during business hours — Wednesday-Sunday at 409-792-5001.
High Tides is located at 3109 Texas Avenue in Bridge City.
