I didn’t stick around for the entire Popcorn Fest parade, but what I saw…as with most regional parades, unsatisfying. A bunch of people in matching grey shirts and jeans holding a banner just isn’t what parading should be.
Maybe I’m spoiled by my time in New Orleans. And after sweating through Chicago’s great Pride Parade.
Hundreds of people line the streets to cheer on something they’re pretty much gonna see on any given day. I could literally walk out onto the street, join the parade and wave to people and no one would be the wiser. “Cause that’s basically all you see in these things. Yea, yea, the kids like it. They get candy and shit (well, not literally shit, I don’t think) and police and fire engines wail their sirens. Whoopee.
There was this guy.
The Valparaiso University mascot. The Popcorn Crusader. The band was there too. Where the hell were the cheerleaders?
Ah, they may have been at an away game. And look behind Popcorn Crusader. A politician. What was parade rule I made awhile back? Politicians can’t be in parades unless they were clown outfits or some other gaudy get-up.
At least we had the Popcorn Fest nightcap in the form of the Franklin House beer garden.
The night was a blur
I’ll never knock this, one of the last beer garden nights of the season. Out of all the beer gardens, this one draws the finest looking women around. And it’s the one beer fest where I usually find a few drink tickets lying on the ground. Well done me.
The band was Chris & Lou. Not bad, a decent mix of music. Honestly I wasn’t paying that much attention because it was all on some tall pint of a girl wearing black knee-hi boots and a short skirt. But yea, they seemed OK.
I just realized for all my talk about fine gals at this soiree I didn’t seem to locate them in the pics. Trust me, they were there. I did, unknowingly, get that Bret Michaels lookin’ dude in the pic (lower right hand corner). I think his gf was checking me out.
Suspiciously, the outdoor party ended at 10 p.m., with cops kicking everyone out. Most of these things run ’til 11 or midnight, at least. Hmmm…could other local bar owners be involved???
Cheers
The Dodgy 