Proudly Parading
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I haven't been to the Miss America parade since it was previously in Atlantic City nine years ago. This is a very exciting time for my aunt and me. We love pageants and go to them as often as we can. My step-mother swears that I should be my aunt's daughter because of how much we are alike and how opposite she and I are. Sometimes, I can totally see where she is coming from. This parade is expected to be packed. So many people are expected to be there, I am sure parking is going to be horrendous.
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I could tell my step-mother was trying so hard to put on a front and act like she was excited to be there. The only reason I think she is going is so that my aunt and I do not have to be alone it Atlantic City. We aren't the best people to throw in a huge crowd. I am horrible with directions and she can get overwhelmed and disoriented. Of course, the entire way there, my aunt and I are expressing how excited we were. We were talking about the preliminary winners and who we think is expected to win. My step-mother kind of just sat there, with a look on her face that was getting more and more annoyed as the conversation went on. And then, she flipped.
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Having the ocean by my side, I always seemed to see The positives in people Until they yell at me Their voice can get loud Rough, dark, and gray Just like the ocean does On a very stormy day. |
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After the fiasco of a car ride, we finally park at Caesar's Casino. We get down to the boardwalk and are immediately swarmed by people. I was uncomfortable. I couldn't even see what was in front of me. I felt like I was in the middle of TImes Square on New Year's Eve. I never knew this many people were so enthused about the pageant.
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After we walked for what seemed like miles, we finally stationed. My step-mother was still bitter and hardly looking at my aunt or me. We kind of just let her go. We didn't want her to ruin our time, since she already had ruined her own. I could tell by the way people we sitting that they had been here for a while. The parade started at five... from the other end of the boardwalk. We had a bit of a wait ahead of us.
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The security was tight. At least ten on a block. It felt great to feel safe, but it was too much. Unfortunately after the tragic events of September 11, I can't help to think tragic things. If there were this many people in uniform on any given day, something would definitely be wrong. I understand that this is because there are a lot of celebrities here, but a thought like that is just hard to shake.
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This might possibly be the largest parade I have ever been to. When I say that people are everywhere, I mean everywhere. I thought that the projected attendance was supposed to be around five thousand. I heard over the loud speakers on the boardwalk that there are four thousand people just participating in the parade. I am so curious as to how many people are here watching, not to mention the parade is for the first time being televised.
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The people watching the parade next to us, were not speaking English. I am usually good at guessing what language is being spoke back and forth, or at least get a jist of it. I could not even get the slightest bit of idea what these people were speaking. They looked like me. I had no idea they we not natives until they began to speak. Across the way, a woman in a turban with her family were watching the parade, too. I was astonished with the amount of cultures all coming together to watch the parade.
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Finally, after an hour and a half of finding our way around the boardwalk, the parade gets to us. I look at my aunt, and she is just as wide-eyed and excited as I am. I feel like a child on Christmas morning with nothing but excitement. It made it ten times better than my aunt was feeling the same exact way!
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This is the famous "Show Me Your Shoes" parade. I couldn't tell you how it exactly started, but I can tell you that I find it very original. The crowd gets so involved, it makes it so much more fun. The shoes that the contestants had on, had to do with their state! Florida's shoes were The Gators, Georgia's was a peach, New York was an apple, so on and so forth.
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Pageants are filled with glitz. I love glitz. Therefore, I love pageants.
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Miss Kansas is an active military service woman. She was not in a costume, like all of the other contestants. She was in her camouflage and her shoe was a combat boot. I have never seen this before. This may be the first time that happened, at least to my knowledge. The crowd went wild when she went by. You could just sense how proud the audience was.
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Not only were the contestants in all sorts of sparkles, there were dance teams, marching bands, fancy, BEAUTIFUL cars, clowns, city and state officials, charities, radio stations and everything else you can think of that would be in a parade. Everyone was in a show costume.
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Half way through the parade, I was tired of screaming this, so I let the other audience members do it for me. Taking everything in, made me realize how great of a time I was having. My aunt was up in the front with me. She was just as into it as I was. My step-mother, on the other hand, had on her fakest smile. I could tell she was doing everything she could to try and enjoy what was going on. I was hoping just seeing me so happy would make her at least smile.
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Each contestant has a person (man or woman) in uniform escorting them while in the parade. The serviceman/woman was walking along side of the car. The military branches varied as the states went by. It took me a little bit to notice them, and for that, I felt guilty.
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The whole night, I was so exited to see how my state was going to be dressed. Obviously Jersey is the garden state so I was thinking that her shoes would have something to do with a garden. We'll see..
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To my surprise, she was a mermaid! My favorite fairytale (debatable) creature of all time. She had a net behind her saying how Jersey was "Stronger than the Storm". This brought tears to my eyes. I always get a little emotional when the topic of discussion is Hurricane Sandy. Though I was fortunate enough to not be directly effected, I know that many others were, and are still feeling from the damage done.
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The parade has come to an end. The contestants must be freaking out that less than twenty four hours away, a new Miss America will be crowned. My aunt and I are still so excited that we are actually going to be there! I know I am hardly going to get any sleep tonight.
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I can't believe I'm actually here AT Miss America! The atmosphere is incredible, everyone is just so excited. My aunt and I have been waiting for this day for months now and it is finally here. As we are being escorted to our seats, I see all of the families of the contestants with their signs, and people cheering out their state. There are celebrities in the house which makes me even more excited. This is such a big night!
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America has the ability to add a contestant to the top 15 that would not have made it based on the judges' scores. Miss Kansas happened to win this. She was the contestant who is currently enrolled in the military. She also had a tattoo of the Serenity Prayer that she boldly decided not to cover up when she took place in the swimsuit portion of the competition. This brought on a lot of attention, and I was not surprised when I heard her name announced as America's Choice.
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Over the past week, so many people we here to support the Miss America Organization. The competition is over and the new Miss America has been crowned, but the support will continue through out the year. Money will be raised for scholarships, and Miss America will travel our country promoting her platform, the Children's Miracle Network.
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