"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." We all remember this rhyme from school, but each year, Italian-American community in New York City shows their pride for their "hometown hero" Christopher Columbus with one of the largest annual parades. 

October 12th is the official anniversary of Columbus' arrival to American shores, but in the United States, the holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October. While the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Thanksgiving Day Parade draw tremendous crowds and make it tough to get around the parade, the Columbus Day Parade has all the great features of an NYC parade without the need for intense planning or dealing with lots of crowds and chaos.