Today, Thursday, October 29, general-public tickets go on sale for Rancho Voices, the annual holiday program at Rancho Los Alamitos. The event itself runs on December 4 and 5. Rancho members could already buy tickets during a three-day advance window from October 26 to 28, so the general sale starts with that head start already used.
The December events get the attention, but the dates that decide who gets in fall in the next four weeks. They are sales openings and planting windows at the two nearest places that still look like old California ranch land: the historic rancho on Bixby Hill and El Dorado Nature Center on Spring Street.
| Date | What opens or happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 29 | Rancho Voices tickets go on sale to the general public | Rancho Los Alamitos |
| Sun, Nov 1 | Holiday Wreath Workshop tickets go on sale | Rancho Los Alamitos |
| Thu, Nov 5 | California Native Plant Sale begins | El Dorado Nature Center |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Weaving Workshop for Kids | Rancho Los Alamitos |
| Sun, Nov 15 | Morning Bird Walk, pre-registration required | El Dorado Nature Center |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Tellabration storytelling night | El Dorado Nature Center |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Last day of the native plant sale | El Dorado Nature Center |
| Fri–Sat, Dec 4–5 | Rancho Voices: Holiday Program | Rancho Los Alamitos |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Holiday Wreath Workshop | Rancho Los Alamitos |
The Original Rancho, Through a Gate on Palo Verde
The connection here goes deeper than the name. The LA Conservancy describes Rancho Estates as a 700-house tract finished in 1953 and 1954. Ross Cortese developed it, and Cliff May designed it with his architect partner Chris Choate. In its biography of Cliff May, the Conservancy notes that his ancestors were Californios who owned ranchos and that he spent summers on an original Mexican ranch. The Eichler Network's feature on the Long Beach tract says his houses recalled early California ranches, and that his family owned a historic adobe.
Rancho Los Alamitos is the real thing those houses were drawing on. It sits at 6400 E. Bixby Hill Road, inside the gated Bixby Hill neighborhood just east of Cal State Long Beach. According to the Rancho's visitor FAQ, visitors drive to the residential security gate at East Anaheim Road and Palo Verde Avenue and tell the attendant they are going to the Rancho. The attendant waves them through, and the Rancho is at the top of the hill. No special permission is needed during public hours.
Those hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m., and the entrance gate closes at 4:30 p.m. General admission and parking are free. The Rancho says hours can change for special events or site operations, so check the visit page before driving up. An ordinary weekday afternoon costs nothing and needs no ticket. The seasonal programs work differently, and that's where the calendar gets tight.
Rancho Voices Gets Bigger This Year
Rancho Voices runs from 4 to 8 p.m. on both Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5. The Rancho House is decorated for a holiday party, and live performances are staged across the grounds. There's a hands-on craft table and a treat. New this year is a holiday market with more than 25 vendors, plus the decorated Museum Store.
The market is the part to plan around. In past years Rancho Voices was a tour and a performance. With the vendor booths, the evening now doubles as holiday shopping inside a historic ranch setting, over two evenings and eight hours in total. All the details and the ticket link are on the Rancho's public programs page.
The wreath workshop follows the same pattern three days later. Tickets for the Holiday Wreath Workshop go on sale to the general public on Sunday, November 1. The workshop itself is Saturday, December 19, from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants tour the Rancho's gardens for ideas, then build a wreath from a mix of plants, with all materials provided.
The November programs show how fast these spots go:
- Weaving Workshop for Kids, Saturday, November 14, 10 to 11:15 a.m. The cost is $20 for a child and guardian, $15 for members, and $10 for each additional child. Each child makes a coaster on their own loom, inspired by the woven pieces in the Rancho's historic kitchen. It's recommended for ages 7 to 14, and space is limited.
- Storytime on the Barn's Lawn, Tuesday, November 17, 10 to 11 a.m. This one is free, for children ages 2 to 5 and their caregivers. The Rancho lists it as at capacity, with a waitlist only.
Storytime was already full three weeks out.
The Planting Window on Spring Street
The other ranch landscape near the Ranchos runs on a different calendar but follows the same rule. El Dorado Nature Center, at 7550 E. Spring St., holds its California Native Plant Sale on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from November 5 to 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Nature Center's fall events listing promises "hundreds of beautiful and beneficial California native plants" for gardens, patios and balconies. It also adds "while supplies last."
Count the dates and the sale comes to nine mornings of three hours each: November 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22 and 24. The last two fall in the week of Thanksgiving. Because stock is limited, the best selection is likely in the first week.
The sale is timed to the planting season. The California Native Plant Society says fall is widely considered the best time to plant California natives, because cooler weather and the coming winter rains help them grow and help seeds germinate. A Cliff May house is built around patios and garden views, so the sale lands right when that planting would do the most good.
The Nature Center's other November events fit around the sale:
- Morning Bird Walk, Sunday, November 15, 8 to 10 a.m. It's free, parking is $8, and you have to pre-register by calling 562-570-1745. It ends two hours before that Sunday's plant sale opens.
- Tellabration, Saturday, November 21, 6 to 8 p.m. An evening of stories from the Long Beach Storytellers. It's for ages 12 and up, and costs $5 per person.
The bird walk works like the Rancho programs. You have to register to get in, and the phone call needs to happen well before the 8 a.m. start.
Once the Windows Close, December Is Open to Everyone
After the ticketed and limited events are booked, the rest of the season is mostly open to anyone who shows up. Those events also overlap with the Rancho dates in ways worth knowing before December gets busy.
On Saturday, November 14, the kids' weaving workshop wraps up at 11:15 a.m. That evening, Cal State Long Beach's Bob Cole Conservatory stages Opera Scenes at Daniel Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. A second performance follows on Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m. The university notes on its music events calendar that the schedule can change.
The bigger overlap is Saturday, December 5. That night's Rancho Voices runs from 4 to 8 p.m., and the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade runs from 6 to 9 p.m. along East Second Street, from Quincy Avenue east to Bayshore Avenue. Anyone who wants both will need to plan. One option is the Friday session of Rancho Voices, which leaves Saturday night free for the parade. Another is an early Saturday arrival at the Rancho, leaving in time to reach Second Street.
For dinner afterward, Brodard Vietnamese Cuisine opened on October 1 at 6480 E. Pacific Coast Highway, No. 100, in the former Tocaya space at 2nd & PCH, according to the Press-Telegram. The same report says Sugar 'n Spice, a frozen-banana and ice-cream-bar shop, plans to open at 5269 E. Second St. during the first week of December, the same week as the parade.
Here's the order of the deadlines. Rancho Voices tickets are on sale today. Wreath workshop tickets open Sunday. The first native plant sale morning is Thursday, November 5, at 10 a.m. on Spring Street.
At Better Living SoCal, we pay attention to the history around Cliff May Ranchos, from the rancho on Bixby Hill to the 1950s tract that borrowed its name. If you're thinking about how your own ranch house and garden fit that story, Talk with a Local Agent who knows these streets and their history.
