Fun at the Parade

This past Friday evening we attended the Duluth "City of the North Parade." It reminds me of the Minneapolis Aquatennial Torchlight Parade - an evening parade with lights and sounds - except for the cold part. For some reason Duluthians thought it would be a good tradition to start a Holiday parade the Friday night before Thanksgiving and it has stuck all of these years. Regardless of the cold, hundreds of Duluthians lined the streets in the 20-degree (and falling) temperatures between Lake Ave and 5th Ave W downtown to see the 80-unit parade, complete with marching bands, lighted floats, dance lines, fire trucks, and other fun entries. We didn't make it through the entire parade, but we saw enough for a good time. Here's a photo to prove we were there - on the sidelines and bundled up:


And here's a couple of photos of the parade units:


Our favorite entry (and the talk of the parade) was a float built by float-maker and local business owner, who designed a lit-up steam engine train, cars full of oversized toys, and a fog that was released from the train funnel on top of the engine that smelled like peppermint. The float maker had apparently experimented with scented floats before, but the peppermint was a first. It was quite a hit, and the float was pretty cool, too.