I meant to put this up earlier, but life and working got in the way. Mrs. Ahab and I usually spend the 4th (or some time around it) at Connor Prairie’s Symphony on the Prairie. For more background on the event itself, click the links proceeding this sentence. It gives us a great opportunity to spend time with friends, enjoy music in a nice outdoor setting, consume some beverages, watch fireworks, and listen to artillery fire (more on that later).
That’s the bandshell where the actual playing is done. Indianapolis is one of few cities in the nation that has a full-time symphony orchestra. A lot of cities are “part-time” orchestras, but not ours. At each show, they usually have a gimmick, and this year it was an “Abe Lincoln” look-a-like. I took this photo from over 200 yards away with the zoom lens, so I’m actually pretty impressed that you can make out his features like this.
Of course, the whole point of Connor Prairie is that it’s a “living museum”, so you’ll see things there that don’t quite make sense from a historical standpoint, such as a Revolutionary War period Minuteman talking to a Civil War era soldier.
The reenactor groups also do the presentation of colors for the event, so you’ll see a platoon of Civil War soldiers marching in formation during the event as well as a recreation of the first “ranger” unit.
But what people really come to the event for are two things: the 1812 Overture, which is accompanied by 155mm howitzers courtesy of the Indiana National Guard, and the fireworks show. The rest of the pictures are what this event is all about, and are presented without commentary.
You know, when you’re sitting on a blanket with the wife of your youth, listening to a professional symphony play the theme from The Patriot, drinking American made beer named after airplanes; you can forget a lot of things that are going on right now, if just for a little while.
This entry was posted on July 9, 2009 at 07:25 and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
What beer is named after airplanes?
Warbird beer? I guess so, since it is a small company…