Parading Through Chicago

One of the great Thanksgiving Day traditions is a big-city parade, and thanks to the folks at Chrysler, we at Web2Carz now know what it’s like to actually be a part of the parade.

That’s right, while you were at home prepping your meal and watching the parade, we had the chance to see it from the other side. As one might expect, it’s a unique experience.

Harlem Globetrotter Bull Bullard puts on a show.

We drove a Jeep Wrangler with two Harlem Globetrotters—Bull Bullard and Flip Atkins—moving forward slowly as they hopped out of the Jeep to entertain the crowd at every opportunity. Our tour of Chicago’s State Street occurred at 2.5 miles per hour, with frequent stops, but it was still over far too quickly.

It’s hard to describe what the experience is like, but that’s what we get paid for, so we’ll try. Essentially, it’s like being in a fish bowl—but the attention is on the other fish. We’re thankful for that, since the Globetrotters were the show, not us. But we still got the pleasure of watching the crowd’s enjoyment at the Globetrotter’s from a front row seat.

And the Globetrotters do put on a show. There was no game to be played against the Washington Generals, just a show to put on. Twirling basketballs, back flips, you name it. And the crowd seemed to eat it up. Or maybe they were just cheering for the free Globetrotters wristbands.

Our ride for the day.

It was hard to tell, since our attention was on the driving. One would think that crawling along at less than five miles per hour on a straight road would be easy, but it’s not. The first—and really, only—rule is don’t hit anyone in front of you. That’s a pretty easy rule to obey, but the trick is that you don’t know in advance when you’ll be stopping, so you must keep your eyes up. And when you’re rolling, you don’t want to go so fast that you leave the Globetrotters behind or rush their performance, but parade organizers do encourage you to keep moving. It is a parade, after all.

After what seemed like hours of waiting, the parade flew by in just minutes. When we pulled off the route and said our goodbyes, the feelings were predictably bittersweet. We’d had a good time, and like all good times, the end came too soon.