My brother, Jimmy Moxley, left, and my dad, James Moxley
For the second year in a row, we have celebrated my dad’s birthday aboard the Volunteer Princess watching the Boomsday fireworks. Let me tell you, folks, this is the best way to have a front-row seat for the show. But Dad, of course, thinks it’s all in his honor! We are going to let him keep thinking that.
Since parking at Boomsday is a huge issue, we decided to carpool on Sunday. Nine of us piled into my sister-in-law’s Dodge Durango for the trip down to Volunteer Landing where the Volunteer Princess docks. My brother, Jimmy, had the worst seat, which wasn’t really a seat at all.
Poor Jimmy volunteered to ride in rear.
Here’s who was at the party: my dad, James Moxley, and his girlfriend, Carol Eller, visiting from Salem, Alabama, near Phenix City; my brother, Jimmy Moxley, and his wife, Tess Richard, visiting from Gulf Shores, Alabama; our friends Dawn and Richard Ford and Susan Brown. Oh, and about 400,000 others!
From left: Alan Carmichael, me, Dawn and Richard, Susan, Tess, Jimmy, Dad and Carol
The staff of the Volunteer Princess, who are friends of ours because we have been on the boat so much, made a big fuss over Dad, which he loved.
Beverly LeMasurier, one of the owners of the Volunteer Princess, poses with Dad.
Sunday was a perfect day to be on the Tennessee River. And the turnout for Boomsday reflected that fact. The fun was palpable as we cast off for our two-hour cruise.
Party boats jammed the downtown water front.
WBIR-TV, Channel 10, had a large presence on a barge, giving them the perfect vantage point for their broadcast of the Boomsday events.
Volunteer Landing was chocked full of partiers, as well.
As dinner began, we proposed a toast to Dad in honor of his 78th birthday, which was actually on Sept. 6.
Cheers, Dad!
Dinner, catered by the incomparable Holly Hambright of EOS Catering, was delicious. The main course featured grilled lemon thyme chicken and grilled pork tenderloin with wild mushroom garlic cream sauce. Dessert? Roman candle chocolate torte with dark cherry compote and Chantilly cream.
Holly in the galley.
This course is called the Princess chop salad. It is crisp and refreshing.
Richard liked it!
We brought a candle and asked them to put it on Dad’s dessert.
Nikki LeMasurier delivers Dad's special dessert.
Music was provided by the Old City Buskers, a group we are used to seeing on a Market Square corner.
Old City Buskers
While strolling around the boat, we spotted some other friends of ours.
Barbara and former Knox County Commissioner Larry Clark were having a romantic Boomsday evening.
Jennie Campbell of Summit Medical Group, right, was on board with family and friends. From left are Alan Hitchcock, Jackie Kelly, Julie Loveday and Heather Campbell.
Here are a few more shots of our party taken as the boat turned around to head back to the dock. Even though the cruise was two hours as opposed to the normal 90 minutes, we didn’t make it as far down river because of the number of boats on the water. A Coast Guard boat led us back into the dock.
Dad and Carol
Susan and Jimmy
Dawn and Richard, Tess and Susan
It was almost dark as we neared downtown around 9.
The city lights are coming into view. It's almost time for the show!
Promptly at 9:30, boom!
The obligatory orange and white segment of the show.
The "waterfall" of fireworks off the Henley Street Bridge, which we probably won't be seeing next year due to bridge construction.
The last half of the show is usually very smoky.
Finale. Those little white fireworks are ear-splittingly loud!
As you can imagine, getting out of downtown after the show was quite an ordeal as 400,000 folks tried to leave at once. But the police and city officials have gotten quite good at improving traffic flow, so, with a little patience, it’s not too bad. We passed the time by cranking up the car stereo and dancing in our seats. We sure are looking forward to Dad’s birthday party again next year!
Dad not acting his age on the ride back to our downtown condo where he was staying.
Our whole crowd not acting our age in the Church Avenue parking lot across the street from the condo. Well, we had to do something to kill the time waiting for traffic to clear!
(Thanks so much to our friends Dawn, Richard and Susan, and all the great folks on the Volunteer Princess for helping make Dad’s birthday so special.)
Photo credit: Nikki LeMasurier took the photo of our whole party at the dinner table.
What a sweet celebration for your father. Thanks for sharing this through Blue Streak!
I wish I could have come! I can’t wait to come visit again. Great pictures Cynthia!
Thanks, Jenny and Tabatha. It was a ton of fun! And, most importantly, I think Dad had a good time, too.
Happy Happy Birthday to your dad!!! Thanks for sharing
Thanks, Doc!
Neat celebration!
It was a great pleasure to help celebrate James’ birthday. We were excited to be asked. Cynthia is right – the Volunteer Princess is the perfect seat for watching the fireworks!
Quick story about the obligatory orange and white segment of the show: Being a University of Florida alum, I’ve been teaching my 3-year-old nephew to be a fan. We’re not sure why, but during this point of the show, he pointed and shouted, “Look! Orange AND Blue! GATOR COLORS!” Everyone within earshot whipped their heads around to see who would say such a blasphemous thing. My sister wasn’t sure they’d make it out alive, but I guess the crowd took pity on such a little kid!
Glad your dad had a great birthday!
The cruise was wonderful – thanks for recommding it and enjoyed seeing you there.
Jennie: Glad you liked it! I think it’s the best way to see the fireworks in comfort! Lauren: You are going to get that kid killed!
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