Parade of Light

Fort Myers was the winter home of both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who were good buddies. To celebrate this claim to fame, Fort Myers puts on an annual “Parade of Light” – because Edison invented the electric light bulb, see? It is a nighttime parade which attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators. I decided that this was the year to witness this popular spectacle.

I was underwhelmed.

Yes, there were a few floats that were nicely lit with colorful LEDs. But mostly it was just your run-of-the-mill parade, but in the dark. Bands went by carrying unreadable banners. Politicians went by, sitting up on the rear seat of an open convertible as politicians are wont to do, but were totally unrecognizable in the dark. Could have been Charles Manson or Greta Garbo. I couldn’t tell what the clowns were doing. All but two of the photos I took were unusable.

Lesson: don’t have a parade in the dark.