Hey, New York isn't the only one with a Thanksgiving Day parade. Chicago puts on its own pretty great turkey day spectacular, thank you very much, and has done so since 1934. The State Street Thanksgiving Parade is attended by over 400,000 spectators and features over 100 participating "units", including marching bands, floats, horses, drill teams, circus performers, and more.
The parade also features huge character balloons, some topping out at 50 feet tall. This year's cast of balloon characters includes Elmo, the Pink Panther, the Cookie Monster, Popeye, Kermit the Frog, Bear in the Big Blue House, Strawberry Shortcake, Tom Turkey, Rudolph, The Nutcracker, Big Bird, Animal and Billy Blazes. Trust me that the people holding on to the long ropes tethering the balloons hope that the Windy City does not live up to its name on that day...
So if you're fretting being in Chicago instead of NYC on Thanksgiving, head on down to the State Street Thanksgiving Parade, stand in front of the Macy's, and you'll never know the difference.
