Update from Savannah

We couldn't resist the hype tonight, and at the last minute we decided to go out and see the Christmas parade. Our expectations were suitably low, so we were surprised by how much we enjoyed it.

Part of the parade included a school of about a hundred baton twirlers, one of whom was really good. The rest...well. But they were funny, especially the little kids just out of diapers who didn't appear to be skilled enough to be entrusted with batons yet. They just wore their sparkly outfits and held hands while they sashayed past. We were near the end of the route, so a number of moms--who were not in sparkly outfits--had joined the parade to carry their twirlers to the end.

There were also a number of Miss whatevers, sitting in thin dresses and waving from their perches on the trunks of convertibles. Two of the Christmas Beauties were six or younger, yet they still had that wave down pat. I guess that's what got them where they are today.

But the best part of the whole parade was the distribution of free paper towels. You know, some parade floats throw candy, some throw beads. In Savannah, they throw Mardi Gras brand paper towels. We got three rolls (though we gave one away to another boater who was not fortunate enough to have attended the parade). Here I was, complaining the whole way down the southern coast that I did NOT want to have to smell their paper mills anymore, never knowing what bounty (pun intended) awaited us in Savannah.

Another highlight of the parade came toward the end. A trolley full of people was rolling by, and the people inside pointed to us excitedly and waved and said, "Hey, it's the sailors! Merry Christmas, sailors!" Dean and I sort of waved back halfheartedly, then we looked at one another and wondered, "How do they know?" For a moment, I felt like a minor celebrity, until I chanced to look behind us. Walking right by were two REAL sailors in Navy uniform. So I guess this blog just doesn't seem to have caught on in the South yet. We'll give it some time.