Before the Parade Passes By

I got a LOT done today. Started off a lovely day in late fall with a walk to the bank. The sky was blue. The air was chilly, but not bitter cold. It was windy, but the houses blocked the worst of it. I deposited my very large check in the bank, then headed home.

My original plan was to go to the Acme first, then rake the side path. I decided when I got back that I really wanted to get the side path done. I'm glad I changed my mind. I think there were even more leaves on the side path than in the front yard, thanks to the wind between the neighbors' house and ours. It only took about 20 minutes, but there was still a lot of struggling.

Collected my pay from Miss Ellie next. Poor darling! She sounded terrible. Apparently, she had a bad cold. I saw her nephew later - he said he was going to spend the day with her.

Next on my list was grocery shopping. Had to restock the fruit today - I picked up grapefruit, bananas, apples, and the pears that were on sale. Had a coupon for toothpaste and for Teriyaki sauce, and flour is on a really big sale for the holidays. They finally had the Nestle Dark Chocolate and Mint Chips bags again, too. I intend to use the first bag to make cookies for a friend, but I bought two more bags for myself for after the holidays. I love mint anything.

Rose had called right before I left. Kelsey the dog was ok - she'd gotten some medicine for her leg at the vet's that morning. We were on for the West Cape May Christmas Parade! She picked me up around 2. I spent the time before that having leftover meatloaf for lunch and sweeping the porch.

Rose and I drove down there with Khai, stopping at WaWa for hot drinks. We met Mom, Dad, Anny, and Skylar at Mom and Dad's house. (Keefe had already gone on ahead to West Cape May - he's in Lower Cape May Regional High School's marching band in the drum section.) We chatted there for a bit while Dad and Sky played Mario Galaxy 2 and Rose fed Khai and got him dressed in warmer clothes.

We finally headed for Cape May around quarter after 4. It might have been better to leave earlier. We hit traffic at least a mile before the West Cape May Bridge. We ended up going over the Cape May Bridge instead...and we still hit traffic near the Lobster House on Schellinger's Landing. We finally went down Texas Avenue and up to the beachfront instead.

(And a sad note - it would appear they finally demolished the old Cape May Convention Center. I know the place wasn't in great shape even when we were kids, but so many events used to happen there. We used to go roller skating there on weekend afternoons in the winter and spring. We went to birthday parties there. The summer parades were judged there. They held craft fairs there. Lots of fond memories. I wonder what's going to replace it? Another convention center, or maybe a new restaurant or a group of shops?)

We parked on Grant Street in West Cape May and walked down to Broadway, where the Parade passes through. It was well past 5 by the time we finally found Anny, Sky, and Anny's friend Jeff in front of the 7-11 on Broadway, across from the park where the Lima Bean Festival is held every fall. We got very lucky. The parade was almost a half-hour late. It started just ten minutes after we arrived. Mom and Dad joined us 20 minutes later after doing some shopping at the Washington Street Mall.

The West Cape May Christmas Parade is a huge deal. Towns as far away as the Philly area compete for cash prizes. Every town in Cape May County, some of them barely large enough for one fire truck, submits at least one fire-fighting apparatus. There's beauty queens. There's dance groups. We got to see one, JoAnne Regan's, do a number to "All I Want For Christmas Is You" dressed in sparkling white-and-silver flapper costumes. There's floats for churches and local businesses. There's Mummers, which they never had when I was a kid. (I saw the same farmer group who were in the Collingswood Parade, complete with cow and very yellow chicken.) There's string bands.

Skylar was having the time of his life, chasing candy and blowing on the long blue plastic horn his mother bought him. Khai just seemed dazed, even after Rose gave him a juice bottle. It was very cold and cloudy by then, too, though the park blocked the worst of the wind. Needless to say, we didn't stay for the whole parade. I don't think we were even there for an hour. That's ok. Khai's still little. There will be other years, and I did get to see the full Collingswood Parade. I'm just glad we were able to get down there at all.

We stopped at the big WaWa in the Villas to use the bathroom and get warm drinks and snacks, then head home. This time, we only hit traffic by the Deptford Mall. We spent the ride home talking about Christmas presents and the parade and our family while Khai slept the whole way home.