The Great Circus Parade, Milwuakee, WI

So here it is: "The Great Circus Parade!" Wow, it really was the circus... it reminded me of a book my mom read to me when I was little... "Come and see the circus! Dogs that Dance, Horses that Prance..." There were elephant rides, camel rides, clowns everywhere, circus music, organ grinders, cotton candy, big tents with shows, Ferris wheels, you know, the WORKS. We went to a show that had all the "people flying through the air" stuff, magic tricks, elephant riders, and so on. It was quite the experience.

During the days prior to the parade, they had all of the circus wagons out on display, but on the parade day, all were hitched to horses, just as they would have been in their heyday. That means that the lion wagons carried real lions! There were tigers, snakes and snake charmers, giraffes, baboons, etc... all loaded up in their wagons.

Yes, this guy is hanging from the pole with only one foot through a rope. He did hand-stands on the top of it too. He said his dad premiered this act on the Ed Sullivan show in the fifties or sixties. He shimmied up the pole and slid down head first at the end of the act... pretty crazy if you ask me!

All right, so the entire contraption he is standing on swings all the way around in circles. He would run on the outside of it as it went around! He also jump-roped while the contraption was spinning from the ground up to the sky!!! This one was a bit sickening to watch... especially when it appeared he was losing his balance...

This is the end of an elephant. We considered riding one ourselves; however, the line to ride was quite significant... another time perhaps?

This is the brothers taking the horses for a walk the evening before the big parade...

This is the dress rehearsal... I am not sure that's what they call it in the horse world, but in a musician's terms, this would be accurate.

It felt like we were by the ocean because Lake Michigan(?) is huge! It was lovely with the harbor(?) with all the ships coming in and about. Notice the lovely skyline as well...