Courtney and I went to the Thanksgiving parade in downtown Chicago. It was a really nice day - warm and sunny with no wind (very unusual for Chicago in November).
The parade was sponsored by McDonalds, so there were lots of different floats with the McDonalds characters riding on it. Ronald wasn't on the fire truck with Grimace and the Hamburgler; he actually rode at the head of the parade in a giant shoe.
There were lots of giant balloon characters in the parade. It kind of reminded me of the New York Macy's parade, though I've only seen that parade on TV. It takes a lot of people on the ground to hold the ropes and maneuver one of these balloons through the streets. If you're not paying attention (which several rope holders weren't), the character will start to tip over. The lady holding onto the rope attached to Mr Potato Head's arm kept pulling on it so it looked like he was waving. I bet her muscles are sore today.
There were a few floats pulled by horses like this one sponsored by Well's Fargo. You would think this type of float would be really glamorous, but not if you were the group marching along behind. We always saw a group of Santa's "elves" walking directly behind the horses carrying red and green pooper-scoopers. I wouldn't want that job.
