The Sarah Palin Rally in the Villages of Lady Lake, Florida was awesome! My daughter,Sarah and I arrived around 10:00 am knowing that in a short time thousands would also be arriving. We drove up Hwy 441 and came in the backway of the Marketsquare, found the parking area in a field near the Waterfront and took a bus where the rally was to be held. I have never been to the Marketsquare but it is very nice. We walked towards the square, scoping out where the entrance would be to get in for the rally & found there was already a short line, so we joined it.
We joined the line probably around 10:30 or so. We talked to people around us and people-watched....a lot of people watching. There was entertainment, a country band that played the whole time, jugglers, other musicians, and patriotic stilt walkers.
(Hey, campaign workers have to eat too)
About 12:30, they started letting the crowd into the barricaded rally area which you needed a ticket which I had gotten at a Republican office in Altamonte Springs on Saturday morning. First to go in were the campaign volunteers with the VIP badges, then the others (meaning us) were allowed to go in.
We had to go thru security & the metal detector and made our way to the front of the stage. We were about 6 people deep from the podium...not bad until you've been standing there in the sun with thousands of others.
(See the person in front leaning over the railing above...we were about 5 people right behind her. Notice the pink shirt someone is holding up behind her, look at the next photo..see the pink shirt, that's how close we were)
We talked to others around us, had 2 icees, water, water and more water that staff were handing out. Especially after people started passing out! Sarah almost gave up but she hung in there and I believe she was glad, in the end, that she did.
Not sure who this guy was but he was obviously the "guy in charge". He walked around giving directions and "talking in his sleeve" alot.
We and our rally neighbors got a kick out of this one woman that was making her way from the back, chatting it up with others, all the time eyeing where she was heading next. Next being closer to the podium! Her friend was behind us and my rally neighbors made sure she didn't move in the same direction. The lady eventually moved left of us but was still about 4 people from the front of the podium.
Eventually, several speakers made their way to the stage, giving short speeches. One was Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General. Country singer, Aaron Tippin sang about 4 songs. We watched a plane pulling a banner that said "The South is Palin Country".
About 3:15 (yes, I did say 3:15) Sarah Palin was about to come out. About this time, I really started paying closer attention to how I was feeling inside and realizing the sun & heat was starting to take it's toll. If I didn't want to go down & get a visit from the folks in blue, I needed to get in the shade. People were looking up at the big screens on the side of the stage, yelling & clapping, and I knew they saw her. So, I told Sarah that I was not feeling well, and had to go to the back and she said she was staying. So glad she did!
I stood in the shade behind over a thousand or so people, next to the bar stand, sipping orange juice & ginger ale, that the bartender made for me. He already had seen 3 people pass out in front of him so he knew what I was going thru. I did get some photos and enjoyed the excitement of it all.
Now, inside the barracaded area were thousands, I don't know how many. when I made my way to the back, I looked at the other side of the barracade in the back towards the streets and the crowd was HUGE, every way you looked were people. It was amazing!
(To the left of the people above was a barricade which is where we were on the other side. Now, when I went to the back (towards this crowd), I took these next 2 photos of the massive crowd above, just from a different angle.)
Sarah eventually was able to move closer to the barricade and was able to see Willow, Piper, Todd and Trig. Piper talked about her trip to Walt Disney World and how much she enjoyed it. The baby eventually was taken out of the sun but everyone got to see him and how cute he is. When Todd was introduced, many in the crowd started shouting, "Dude, Dude, Dude...".
Now after about 10 minutes, still feeling "not well", I knew in a short while all these people would be leaving, heading to the buses and trying to leave the parking lot. So Sarah and I started making our way out thru the masses and able to get out on the road about 30 minutes later. Not bad! Other than being hot and tired, we were glad we went to see the next Vice-President!
(Other media photos....yes they were there in mass....)
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