It Was A Good Day ~ It Was A Great Parade!

The Veteran's Day Parade has been organized in New York City since 1929. Over 20,000 people participate in the parade each year. I've read that this parade is the largest Veteran's Day Parade in the nation. And, happily, it still draws attention, as crowds lined the streets to applaud and cheer our Veteran's. The Veteran's Day Commemoration begins with a wreath laying ceremony at 10:00 A.M. at the Eternal Flame in Madison Square Park and with the parade beginning at 11:00 A.M.

This year the Navajo Code Talkers, whose code confounded the Japanese during World War II were represented for the first time. Thirteen of these Navajo Code Talkers participated in the New York City parade. I think their story is fascinating and if anyone is interested in learning more about them you can find information here.

Jayden and I started our day by taking the bus into Manhattan, we got into the city early because we were going to view the Intrepid and also The USS New York before the parade. I'll write more about the ships in another post.
But suffice it to say that Jayden's little legs did lots and lots of walking! We got off the bus on 48th Street and 6th Avenue, and we had to walk the long city blocks from there to 46th Street and 12th Avenue. Once we got there Jayden was very excited seeing the ships, and he wanted to run right onto the Intrepid, I told him we first had to purchase tickets, and when he saw the lines (that stretched for blocks and blocks) he decided he didn't want to wait!
That was fine with me because I wanted to get back across town to see the parade. When I told Jayden about the parade he had visions of Disney parades, I explained to him that there would be no Mickey Mouse in this parade and he said then that he just wanted to go home, but as we neared the parade area he got caught up in the revelry of the crowds and he got very excited at the sight of the Military vehicles, the soldiers parading by, and the marching bands. We walked along the parade route, stopping at each corner to join in the cheering.



As we were making our way down to Madison Square Park Ray called to say that he was on his way up to meet us, which made Jayden very happy (he got to ride on Grandpa's shoulders the rest of the way, before that he had asked me, "Umma, what do you want to do? Do you want to carry me, or put me on your shoulders? Or do you just want me to walk?" My answer, "I want you to walk.")! It was a little hard to meet up with Ray what with the crowds of people on every block, but after a few phone calls back and forth we spotted each other and made our way down to the park together. (Oh! And Jayden spotted Lord & Taylor's window displays which were already decorated for Christmas! They were beautiful and I'll post more about them along with other city sights next week.)


Jayden got to enjoy the playground in Madison Square Park ...


...and his Mom was even able to meet us for a little while on her lunch hour...


...and we got to see more of the parade too before heading to eat and then hopping the bus home!

These horses were so good waiting hours for their turn to march!

A lot of schools participated in the parade. Here marchers and bands practice before setting out.

I'm sorry that the batteries on the camera died because it really was a great parade and there was so much more that I would have liked to capture.
But, in spite of that, it really was a good day!