The Rose Parade is a California staple. For as long as I can remember, my family and I have gotten up on New Years Day, made breakfast and hunkered down to watch the Rose Parade. When we moved to the East Coast, we made sure to watch the California broadcasts with Bob and Stephanie (the east coast people cut out too much of the parade, have too many interviews, and just overall don’t know what they are talking about). So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that we were moving to Glendale – a short drive to Pasadena: Home of the Rose Parade.
Since we have mini-man, I went ahead and got stadium seating so we wouldn’t have to get up early and wait for the parade in the cold. Totally worth it – we arrived in plenty of time to park and find our seats. However, there were a few things I didn’t realize:
- Long wait: we had to arrive early before they closed the gates. But that’s usually before the parade itself starts. And we were 90 minutes from the start of the parade – which meant we wait for a long time.
- Unusual pre-show: People know that you are waiting there. So they march in the street yelling all sorts of things. I think I was told I’d be going to be damned numerous times by a variety of groups. Definitely something you don’t see on TV.
- It’s quiet: you watch the parade on tv and you hear music and commentary. In person, you don’t hear commentary and barely hear the music.
All-in-all, I was very disappointed seeing the parade. I’m glad I got to experience the parade but next year, I’m staying home where it’s warm and I can see the parade better.
Heartswell Adventures 