Port Neches has Christmas cheer

Blue glass, tiny vintage forks, church light fixtures and holiday flair – Does this look like your shopping list? If you didn’t think you needed an Elvis lunch box, you might re-think after shopping vintage shops in downtown Port Neches. The Neches Brewing Company, shopping and welcoming benches make Port Neches a holiday hotspot. “The holiday cheer has definitely begun on the avenue,” Debbie Plaia, executive director of the Port Neches Chamber of Commerce, said.

Holiday dates in Port Neches:

• Christmas on the Avenue, Saturday, Nov. 19, will feature shops offering Christmas cheer. Jill SuZanne will have an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a visit from Santa from 1 to 3 p.m.
• The Port Neches Christmas parade will be on Port Neches Avenue at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.
• Christmas Cards & Trees in the Park will be on display at the Port Neches River Front Park from Monday, Nov. 28, to Sunday, Jan. 1.

Avenue renovations include tall lamp posts, benches and large planters. “It’s very inviting and we would love to have you come out and sit for a bit to just soak up the view in between shopping at the shops or eating your ice cream from Mike’s Old Fashioned Soda Fountain or grabbing a cold one at the Neches Brewery,” Plaia said. “So if you are looking for things to do please visit us on the Avenues, Port Neches & Magnolia. We promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Shop the past at two Port Neches flea markets, two antique shops and a vintage and collectibles shop. Marion’s Treasures is the vintage and collectible spot.

“We’re building up in Port Neches,” Marion Latil, said. “I could have named my shop memory lane, because when people come in they tell me they’re going down memory lane,” Latil said.

Neches Brewing Company in downtown Port Neches joined Tyler Blount and David Pool in the microbrewery business. Craft beers and live music is a draw, as is sidewalk chalk for the children. Families are welcome, Blount said. The men want to present “a whole new realm of what beer can be,” Blount said, offering a stout with coffee and chocolate hints as an example.

“We want to prove a point. There’s better beer out there,” Blount said.