...past the bottled water stand and towards the gate of the base.
From there it was a right turn onto Indian River Road to approach the route.
Ahead of us, unit 44, the Red Hat and Purple Dress Society, a social group for ladies over 50, began their line dancing routine to loud music from a gigunda boom box in the back of their red-hatted van, while their young videographer recorded it all. My wife commented that they'd better save it for the parade or they'd crash and burn before they finished. Little did I know I was in the presence of a prophet.
Sporting her own tiara, our "Queen of the MINIs" rode atop a cabrio as we moved down Indian River Road. The WWII-era Ryan PT-19 "Yellow Peril" training airplane from the Virginia Beach Airport circled in the air above us. Right on cue, the sun broke out for the parade.
And what is one of the prime jobs for beauty queens? Entertaining the troops!
I should mention that the angles for many of the pictures were provided by clever driving from my wife, Ruth.
Finally, we made the turn around the Munden Grocery...
... and entered the parade route.
At the end of our run, we passed the Coast Guard display. Go Coasties!
Right past the end of the parade area, the Red Hat ladies began to run out of steam and actually simply stopped, so that they could disband and enter the festival area. Unfortunately, that brought the whole parade to a screeching halt as well. Ahead, a parking lot attendant stopped the units leaving the parade route in order to allow folks entering and leaving the parking lot to use the road. Of course, the result was a traffic standstill on the parade route.
Eventually, after a little intervention from Jeff and Larry with the police, we were able to break free, exit the festival area, and make a break for our lunch destination. Along the way, we were treated to a nice country drive.
A little bit of body english creates the illusion that there is actually a hill in Virginia Beach...
With only one minor and temporary diversion, the gang was able to make our way to Malibu Mac's, our lunch destination, where we lined up in the parking lot...
...and made our way in to select from their interesting surf-flavored cuisine and crown a new Queen of the MINIs.
The figure in Cheryl's (Glassdarkly's wife) rear window fit the mood perfectly.
Afterwards it was back to the parking lot to pose for pics...
Here's the only shot of your reporter:
Larry (Glassdarkly) brought out the parade organizer's favor for us to see as well.
Images by Bob Womack (2nd MINI)
