CHICAGO — The kids screamed when the giant pink Care Bear floated down State Street and turned down Randolph Street.
It was a common reaction to the decorative floats and talented marching bands that rolled through the city's shopping district in the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Here, you would have caught a number of sights, from the animated marching band of Aberdeen High School to the smiley Texas State Strutters to a towering float of the bespectacled PBS favorite Arthur.
"It's amazing," said Adi Lavi, who recently moved to Chicago from her native Israel.
She pushed her 2-year-old daughter Lia in a stroller along State to see the giant balloons and hear the booming orchestral tunes.
After a patch of rain swept downtown and doused parade goers, Lavi ducked beneath the Metra Station at State and Lake to dry off.
Minutes later, they were off again.
"I'm going to take her to see some more," Lavi said.
Standing across the street from the Chicago Theatre sign, three generations of the Gambrel watched the parade, thinking the a week's worth of shopping they plan to do.
The family traveled all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio to button up holiday shopping along the Magnificent Mile.
"We're here for this tradition — and the American Girl Doll store," said Gina Gambrel, who brought her mother, Arlene and her 9-year-old daughter, Megan.
The little girl said she enjoyed the giant, fluffy turkey float. But her favorite?
"Probably when they were riding the horses," Megan said.
Throngs of Chicago Police officers on horseback, on foot and in vehicles were on hand to intervene in case of any trouble — particularly potential protests continuing to shake up the city since the release of footage of Laquan McDonald's shooting death — but there was little action but picture-taking and laughter.
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