a Kiwi in cognito on the 4th of July

Today is 4 July, 2012. 

As you probably know, aside from being our friend Robyn's birthday, the 4th of July is also American Independence Day. The day people across the US celebrate breaking away from us. Today was my first time being in the USA (behind enemy lines, as it were) for the occasion. And it was fun!

Saint Michaels is a tiny little colonial town, so when I heard that they were having a 4th of July "parade", I sure wasn't expecting towering floats like in Gion Festival in Kyoto or anything like that. What they had was pretty much exactly what I expected: a small, community-based celebration more about having fun and getting together as a community than about pomp and show. 

We left the house not long before it was set to start and walked down to the main street. It wasn't long before traffic was (more-or-less) stopped and the parade started. First came an old fire engine, followed by various groups such as the boy scouts, bikers, swim team, Little Miss Miles River Yacht Club, and so on, each waving at the small crowd of people lining the street to cheer them on. There were many small children riding their bikes or walking along with the parade as well, many of them throwing candy or bead necklaces at the on-lookers.   

 

After the parade, we headed to St Mary's Square, where there were some food and activity stalls, and so on. We got corn dogs. It was my first ever real American corn dog. It tasted just like an "American Dog" at Lawson (Japanese convenience store), which means it was pretty bloody awesome!

 

 It's hard to see clearly in this photo, but that's actually a long line for ice cream. It has been pretty warm here for a while now, and clearly ice cream was a more popular option than corn dogs... but I'd choose corn dogs over ice cream any day.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Basically, from what I've seen today, the 4th of July here in St Michaels means lots of American flags, some silly patriotic hats, face painting, laughter, relaxation and people just enjoying a day off. Pretty nice indeed.