There are perhaps a lot of things that I disagree with in regards to the attitude of our neighbours on the other side of the border, but one thing is for certain they know how to celebrate. Especially in a comparatively little town like Ketchikan, where it seems that everyone knows everyone.
We knew we were calling here on July 4th, so we were prepared for a great deal of red, white and blue – but I wasn’t prepared for just how much cheer was everywhere. Smiles were as big a decoration as the buntings and massive American flags.
And there was a parade…
Oh how I love parades…
I haven’t been to a city parade in years, in fact I don’t think I even really remember when the last time I made it downtown for the Victoria Day Parade was – there are reasons for that I suppose, but standing there in the beating warm sun (yup, sun, in Alaska, it was hot…so strange!) listening to the police sirens announce the start of the parade, none of those reasons really seemed quite right. Parades bring people together, and perhaps next year I will make a point of getting downtown for ours. There is something about the opening of parades – no matter where they are – that brings tears to my eyes. I am the most Canadian girl pretty much ever, I will bristle if anyone so much as even hints otherwise, but I am still a major sucker for patriotism, and when the bagpipes marched by playing the national anthem I will absolutely admit to tearing up. The other thing that brought tears of course was the dance schools…there’s always at least one in every parade, and the routines haven’t changed much since I was doing them myself. Some things are always going to bring tears of nostalgia.
Happily munching on candy from the parade (yeah, everyone deserves to ‘misbehave’ once in a while), we wandered through the bright summer sun to the local museum – which is a tiny little place that is none the less steeped in so much of interest. Especially photographs – there is something really beautiful about old photographs. Film is a lost art, though thankfully not lost completely. It has a life that digital simply does not have. And of course in every museum I go to I learn something, in this case the fact that the city has a tradition of having every guest who comes to their table sign their names on a tablecloth, after which the names are embroidered and the whole thing once it’s full gets hung on a wall somewhere. Such a cool tradition! If and when we end up on land, I suspect it’s one I may adopt.
Then off we went in search of ice cream and photo opportunities. And there are plenty of both on the 4th of July. Creek Street looks different in the sunshine, it takes on a whole new persona that seldom gets seen. It makes all the colours brighter.
And for the first time that I can ever remember, I got sunburn in Ketchikan!
Yup, this? This was definitely one of those awesome days.
It sounds like you had a nostalgic and fun day. I used to love being part of parades. There is always a good feeling from the crowd lining the streets and so much energy to feed on that it always felt electric. The tablecloth tradition is definitely sounds like a good idea. I laughed when I checked out the population of Ketchikan. To me, a small town is under 50 people. I’m such a country girl.