Annual Independence Day parade brings water-soaked fun

The sun was beating down on Anna Maria Island as visitors and residents lined the streets for the Privateers’ annual Independence Day Parade.

For 11-year-old Jackson Gray and his 6-year-old sister, Delaney, the parade was like nothing they had ever seen before at home in Alabama.

“I thought it was awesome,” Delaney exclaimed shouting, “especially when I got soaked.”

The siblings were vacationing on Anna Maria Island with their parents before their family’s move to Fort Bragg, N.C., the girl explained.

“I don’t think I could get more beads in like 20 Fourth of July’s,” her brother interjected.

Traffic onto the island nearly halted from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday as the parade wound its way up the island along Gulf Drive from the south entrance of Coquina Beach all the way to the Anna Maria City Pier. .

Temperatures quickly climbed into the low 90s as the parade got underway, so children and adults alike, enjoyed getting doused with water from participants atop the pirate ships on the parade.

“I’ve never left a parade so wet in my life,” Tina Taylor said. “That was fun.”

It was a parade like no other and one that she’ll likely never forget, the Cincinnati native added.

Taylor, her husband and friends also enjoyed seeing the soldiers featured in the parade.

“We always come down here for the parade,” Jim Glass said, “because it’s the best parade for our country.”

Glass splits his time between his home in Cincinnati and in the city of Anna Maria. His wife was all smiles as he commented that she “got all the beads.”

“It’s really long, across the whole island, so I don’t know how they do it,” Glass said.

Many residents and visitors drove golf carts, many decorated with flags, to get to the parade.

Sisters Susan Schlueter and Michelle Johnson, visiting from Minnesota’s Twin Cities, enjoyed the parade as much as Schlueter’s nearly 3-year-old twin boys.

The sisters were also pleasantly surprised, never haven been soaked at a parade by water guns or water balloons, they said.

“We’ve also never seen flamingos or dolphins on top of cars before,” Johnson said.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Annual Independence Day parade brings water-soaked fun."