We went to and saw the Anchorage 4th of July Parade. We were smart (only took how many years?) and took chairs.
The parade seemed a bit shorter than recent years. Still plenty of entries and organizations, and marching, music, and vehicles. No extremely loud motorcycles at the end. :-( There were bikes, but about 2/3 of the way through and -relatively- quiet. EKA was waving a LOT, and happy for the whole time.
The Youth Military Academy looked sharp, as did Service High ROTC. Lots of veterans organizations (Thank You). Beauty pageant winners in Corvette convertibles. Mustangs and lots of other classic cars and military vehicles. A dance/baton group, but no tumbling. Karate kids, including an about 8 year old boy that we agreed should get a ‘intimidation belt’ just for the look on his face. And a whole passel of really happy looking dogs from Anchorage Animal Care and Control (and their volunteer handlers).
But even with the rain it was amazingly well attended. We expected far fewer people than the last several years (all sunny and warm days) and I think that there were more people on the blocks we could see than the last two years, even with the rain. That was probably the coolest part to see. Other than lots of people saying ‘Happy Birthday!’
Afterwards we walked around the Park Strip and enjoyed a reindeer dog and funnel cake. EKA got to walk quite a bit and had a great time seeing all sorts of new things. Plus she got a red ballon from MyLords Floral.
