Saturday, February 15th – I love a parade!!

Well, it is not all fun and games in Southwest Florida. This morning we took time to tidy up around the condo in preparation for a visit from our friends, Jim and Barb. It seemed like there was always something else we’d rather be doing so we put this task off for several days.

 

Late afternoon, we drove into old Fort Myers. Since we already had our tickets for Grand Parade we weren’t concerned about finding a place to view it. However, I was anxious about finding a place to park the car. Events were occurring all day and the parade started at 7:00 p.m. We were blessed to find a Baptist Church that was selling places in their parking lot and it was an easy walk from there to our assigned seats. On our way to our seats we saw some interesting signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never realized what a big deal this Festival of Lights is. There are a variety of activities for the entire month leading up to this night parade. There was a stage set up in the park directly behind our seats, so we were able to see and hear some of the groups that were performing. I couldn’t count the number of booths that were set up in the park. Lots of food, crafts and just about everything you could think of were being sold—even granite counter tops.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two hours before parade time, there was a 5K run that began and ended near our vantage point. It was nice to see children running with their parents. Immediately before the parade began, there was a really nice fireworks display. Seeing the various colors over and behind the royal palms was truly beautiful.

 

 

 

 

The parade was two hours long and had 13 marching bands. There were lots of lights on everything—the floats, the cars, the animals and people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I have seen the Budweiser Clydesdale horses many times on television, but seeing them pass within 20’ of us was something I will never forget!

 

 

 

 

 

We had a really easy time getting out of town after the parade ended, thanks to Cordell deciding to stay off the main roads. This was so much easier than going to parades in D.C.