The color guard sets out at a brisk march. The Round Top Brass Band strikes up a patriotic tune as their float begins to roll. It's a small town. Some folks wear a lot of hats. Antique cars and homemade floats roll by.
Children scramble as candy flies through the air.
Politicians, trying to look re-electable, and fresh from short, fiery speeches made from the gazebo on the town square, stand and wave from the back seats of shiny new cars. Thousands cheer and wave the tiny American flags distributed free by the Round Top Chamber of Commerce. You feel like you've walked through a time warp and ended up in the 1950's. Round Top, Texas was first settled by Anglo-Americans in the 1830's. Local citizens played a significant part in Texas' War of Independence.