On July 4th, 1776, 13 colonies became independent with her declaration and so founded the United States of America. Since then every year the nation celebrates this day as the USA’s birthday. Of course we also celebrate this event in Naples, the Paradise in Southwest Florida.
The first event of the day was the big Parade with so many of groups and organizations participating and celebrating the great nation. The parade started on 3rd Street South and then headed along 5th Ave S ending on 8th Street South, passing a huge (I mean huge) crowd of spectators along the course. Everybody had a lot of fun, not only the kids collecting candy but also the adults pledging to the huge US flag carried by Kiwanis and the “Flintstones” driving their fancy cars.
All day long there were restaurants providing special dining, families spending a day off at the beach and also some events at the park for everybody. This all ending up with the big fireworks at the pier in the night. As the usual thunderstorm took place in the early afternoon and whether seemed to be perfect the crowd started to gather on the beach. Bringing chairs, drinks, snacks and a lot of good mood everyone was expecting the fireworks. Scheduled for 9 pm, due to the thunderstorm of the afternoon they started with a 45-minute delay but it was more than worth waiting.
Introduced by the national anthem played on WAVV 101.1 a spectacular show took place, rounded up by a tremendous final and leaving an impressed and stunning crowd. As soon as the gorgeous show was over people started to move, some earlier some later. Everything went smooth and there was no rush. Walking the streets pedestrians were faster than cars but everyone was calm and the police did a great job keeping everything running smooth.
Finally this was a very special day in the cleanest, safest and most beautiful (personal opinion) city in the USA, where paradise meets culture and every day is a vacation, no matter if in a rental place, a second home or a year-round residence.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc1QwF7p-Gk&feature=youtu.be” /]