Today we took about an hour's drive up to Holland Michigan for the 75th Diamond Anniversary of the Tulip Time festival.
It's cloudy, cool, and a little "rainy". We pulled into town and I realized that this was pretty big judging by the people trying to park in an empty lot.
The first thing we did is head for 8th Street because all up and down the street - for a few blocks - were Klompen Dancers that danced for about 15-20 minutes. We were all waiting for some major medical emergency due to flying wooden shoes. Alas, no shoes flew. (Here's a quick 30 sec video of the start of the dancing.)
We noticed as we walked up and down 8th Street that everyone had come by much earlier and "staked-out" spots along the sidewalks and curbs with chairs and blankets.
We decided to grab some lunch at the New Holland Brewing Company. I wanted to take some pictures of the outside of the place and when I went outside, I realized I heard marching bands. Well, I guess, they were having the major festival parade in a bit and they were showcasing a few of the bands.
Well, I guess that explains why people were staking-out their territory. The grand finale of the festival, the Muziekparade, features nearly 50 marching bands from across the state as well as floats, giant helium balloons, horses, more Klompen Dancers and other typical small-town parade stuff.
Quite honestly, the parade was a blast. We saw just under half of it - we need to do this again and camp-out to actually get a good seat. It was actually fun.
We got back in the car and drove just a little but further north to the Veldheer Tulip Farm. Holy crap - seven acres of tulips. They have hundreds of different bulbs here on display, and you can actually order any one you want. Hell, I never knew there were that many available.
We found something very odd when we were there - us. We were actually in the minority of whites that were there - the vast majority of people there were Indian. I have no idea why - heavy population in the area or something with a tie to tulips. Everyone were taking extensive time trying to take pictures of themselves with the tulips. I don't get it. Anyway, took pictures, too - just to fit in.
After a quick stop at the garden shops and gift shops, it was a bit of a drive home and another great dinner cooked-up by Diane and Melinda.
2006- E.W. has C.O. as #1!
2005- Underpass Mary
2003- Sleep: what can you do?
2002- Amazing Race 2 - Episode 11
- TEUC