We spent July 4th in Portland, Maine, listening to the Portland Symphony and watching fireworks from the Eastern Promenade.
But on July 3rd, we were in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for the annual Fishtown Horribles Parade. According to the repository of all true facts, parades of horribles were common Independence Day celebrations in the 19th century and continue to be so in some towns in New England. Well, that’s definitely true in Gloucester. There were not too many “horribles” (my father did capture this one), but people put together some interesting floats (often sponsored by a local business), some businesses had their own floats, and some people seemed to put something together and march simply for the joy of being in the parade. Everybody watching seemed to know everybody marching and vice-versa. Karen remarked that it had the homey (not “homie” — more on that below) feel of a small town, even though Gloucester’s not that small.
The waterfront was bedecked with flags. If you look closely you can see the Man at the Wheel in the center:
Plenty of small boats, some being towed and some self-propelled:
This girl really got into the spirit:
The Gorton’s fisherman put in an appearance:
And there was a small mermaid. Maybe next year she’ll come to Coney Island!
And finally, Homie the seagull, GoodMorningGloucester‘s mascot:
Followed by Joey, the man behind Homie (literally) and the driving force behind GoodMorningGloucester:
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Like, why does that lady have my boat? That’s, like, so totally unfair!
Not only can you fish for lobsters from it, you can use it to mow the lawn!