I had the honor of spending my Fourth of July in the beautiful town of Southport, riding in the parade! We began our morning by driving into town and finding our assigned spot. Once parked, we began to decorate our yellow Jeep Wrangler that was generously provided by Neuwirth Motors. After having fun with the decorating, we discovered a stand on our street with fresh, cold lemonade. The kids in charge of it were so adorable (and SO sweet)!!
As we were waiting for the parade to start, I realized that the newly crowned Miss NC and Miss NC’s Outstanding Teen were both on our street – as well as a few other friends that I knew! It was nice to have the opportunity to catch up will all of them as we waited for our turn in the parade.
One of my favorite parts of the parade were the groups of older gentlemen that drove around in tiny little cars. They drove around in different patterns as they went through the streets, and it was really neat to watch! I was completely overwhelmed at how welcoming the crowds were as we drove past…it made me feel like part of their town!
After the parade, my mom and I took time to walk around the street fair. There were lots of neat booths set up with all kinds of wonderful things for sale. But what I enjoyed the most, was talking to the precious people I met. Most of them knew about Wilmington and the Azalea Festival, and I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with them about it.
I have not had the opportunity to experience the true beauty of this town and its people before. I am so glad that I was a part of the Southport Fourth of July parade…it was definitely a great way to celebrate our nation’s birthday!!
