Freedom Fest and the 4th of July

On a recent trip to Evansville our family attended the annual "Thunder on the Ohio"; which is a part of the Evansville Freedom Fest. Military families will want to travel the two hours to Evansville to participate in this fun and free event for veterans and their families. The festival is not crowded, offers lots to do, and is very inexpensive. People in Evansville are so friendly and nice it is worth the trip just for that reason!

Evansville is a city on the Ohio and is very similar to Louisville; which is also located on the Ohio River. There is something about rivers that people like, and the Ohio is one of this areas best and most important rivers.

Thunder on the Ohio is an air and boat show on the river-the Ohio River of course. Some really cool aircraft we were treated to were: F16s, the stealth bomber, an acrobatic airplane, and helicopters. The boats participating in the races were hydroplaning boats. I don't even know how the pilot of the boat fits in the boat because the profile looks like it is about two feet high. (See how low it is in the first picture?) If you are into car races, you might really like the boat races. Occasionally they even have crashes! None while we were there, but a barge did come through and absconded with all of the buoys marking the course. Needless to say, the races were delayed until the buoys could be secured and repositioned for the races. This was a major setback for the event, but a funny one that no one seemed to mind.

Evansville's riverfront is an awesome place to go and just hang out. There are multiple memorials to veterans of all wars. I know it sounds like this post should be more of a Memorial Day post, but the Hoosiers living in the Evansville area celebrate all veterans, both living and deceased, by celebrating freedom in honor of Independence Day. Hence, the Freedom Fest and Thunder of Ohio, sponsored by Vectren, the major electrical company in Indiana, and several other businesses in Indiana.

In addition to several veteran memorials, there is a memorial to the 50 states. I snapped this picture of Maine's marker, as I knew my family and friends reading in Maine would get a kick out of it. Each state has its own marker around the tall pillars you see in the background. The date represents the date the state officially became a state. Upon researching Maine's date, I found several dates annotated. March 15th is a good as any because all of the dates I found were in the month of March in 1820.

I am not going to post a picture of the stealth bomber due to my sensitivities of being in the military. I am not sure if it is authorized. I have a feeling it is, but to be on the safe side I will refrain. That picture was VERY hard to take. You had to lead the aircraft (and boats) and hope you caught it just right. Not fun pictures to take at all. I like photographing flowers much better (not on windy days though). I will end with a picture of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. My father and uncle are Vietnam veterans, so this picture is in honor of them.

Jimmy had a super great time at the festival. There was a motion rider he rode, the bull shown in the video above, and a bungee trampoline jump. He loved the bungee trampoline the best and could easily have stayed on it the whole day. You can find further information about the Evansville Freedom Fest and Thunder on the Ohio here.

in the garden....enjoying freedom on the Ohio River.