July 4, 2009

We started out Friday night in Allegan for the July 3 Jubilee. The downtown merchants put this on for the community. The evening began with a parade (that is so short it goes around twice) and after the parade there are 2 different stages set up along our riverfront - 1 for music - 1 for performances, they had an area set up behind the library with a bunch of bouncy castle stuff. Of course, they have all sorts of food vendors too. It's all free to attend - except for food and the rides. Most people come down for the parade and stay through the fireworks. We missed fireworks this year. Jeremy and I listened to them after Jacob went to sleep.

Saturday, we rose at the butt crack of dawn (great idea, Gail!) to head to my sister's in Manistee for their parade and to partake in the Manistee National Forest Festival and some of the traditional stuff from when I was a kid. We made it in time for the parade of fire trucks.

Jacob had asked me about seeing a train (the entire 3 hour drive, he asked me) and I promised that the 40 et 8 would have their train in the parade. And they did. I neglected to tell him that their train has a really loud cannon - that they fire. And before they do, the man yells, "Fire in the hole!" Now, Jacob yells that too. This was taken after they fired.

We played at Lighthouse Park. It's a community project built for the kids. Can you tell?

And we toured the Yankee Lady. The Yankee Lady is a B17-G Bomber. Jeremy's Grandpa Harper flew in one of these in WWII. He was a radio operator/waist gunner on the Mary Lou. Mary Lou was loaned out and she belly landed in Ireland and that was the end of Mary Lou. His crew borrowed a B-17 named Sherry's Cherries and they flew her on their last mission. Sherry's Cherries was shot down over Germany on November 2, 1944 and Grandpa was a POW until the end of the war.

We had a great time with Aunt Karen, Uncle Mike, Chris, Jill and Grandma Dor. Of course, we had Big Al's and Dairy Queen too. And there are more, more, more pics on Flickr.