What a Celebration!

My husband and I (along with our granddaughter, Princess) visited Cpl Devildog and Florida Girl at Jacksonville, NC for the 4th of July holiday. The five of us went to Wilmington, North Carolina to celebrate Independence Day. We all had a blast! What can be better than family, fun, and fireworks? The City of Wilmington threw a wonderful party. The city's historic area, right on the Cape Fear River, is beautiful. We wandered the riverfront, shopped in some of the stores, and generally had a relaxing afternoon. But the best part of the entire trip was the celebration. The North Carolina National Guard band played a concert most of the afternoon and into the evening. The unit (the 44oth Army Band) actually had three different "bands" who performed; a rock group, a jazz group, and their concert band. All of them were fantastic. The rock group performed twice, and played a lot of crowd favorites (some folks were dancing). The jazz group was superb, and entertained us all. But the highlight for me was the concert band, who played a selection of patriotic and marching songs. They got the entire crowd (it seemed like most of North Carolina was there) ready for the fireworks display. I do have to say that I've been to a number of fireworks displays, and this one topped them all by a long shot! The display was set to music and patriotic words, and lit up the sky over the battleship North Carolina (berthed on permanent display in the Cape Fear River). WOW! The good folks who put together this party really did it right. What a wonderful way to celebrate our nation's Independence. Thank you, Wilmington!