So, last night was the traditional drink and blow stuff up night. What was your experience like?
We live in a small community but a fairly well off one, so they put on a good show. There is a big festival which we visited earlier in the day. It is capped off with a big fireworks show. The only problem is the huge amount of people trying to get in and out of the area all at the same time.
A few years ago they made a major upgrade to a main thoroughfare which included “elevated roundabouts.” Kind of a bean shaped overpass with the main roadway running under, and a nice grassy area and walkways on top. The first year they were built, I realized that the one closest to our house was right on the street where the fireworks were set off. We packed a wagon with some chairs, a cooler and a blanket and sat in the grassy area in the middle. There were about a dozen of us the first year. This year there were over 100 easily. Great show, and we left our house 20 minutes before the show and were back home 10 minutes after.
The kids were all out doing other things so for the first time in years we didn’t do any fireworks of our own. I may hit one of the stores today though and see if they have any good sales and set some off tonight.
I went to bed a bit after 9. I heard some booms from some local community shows and a few pops from neighborhood fireworks, but by 10, all was silent. I had a blissfully peaceful night’s sleep.
My wife and I went downtown to watch the city’s fireworks display. They shoot them off near the river and there are plenty of places to sit/stand and watch. We stood on one of the bridges and watched. Not a bad show for a college town. Of course we had the obligatory obnoxious drunk guy behind us yelling “YeeeeaaaaAAAHHH! Whooooo!” after each one that was shot off, and that got old real quick.
About 5 miles from our house, outside the city limits, there is a large field next to a fireworks vendors where people go to shoot fireworks. Expensive fireworks - some of these things cost $100+ a pop - and this went on for over 4 hours. My daughter sat on the top of the cab while Mom and I listened to 80s-90s era hip hop. DJ Jazzy Jeff! Tone Loc! Rob Base! Kid 'n Play!
At the end of the night, noticed a family who got their station wagon (oh, it’s called a “crossover vehicle”, but we really know what it is. ) stuck in the mud. I assisted in getting them unstuck, but ruined all the clothes I was wearing. No big deal, as I was wearing some of my “work around the house” clothes (i.e., clothes I don’t worry about getting paint or bleach or whatever on them.) It took about 20 or so minutes to get them out.
I watched The Sopranos and tried to keep my stressed out dog from having a nervous breakdown. The assorted booms and bangs finally stopped after 1am, so that’s when we went to bed. Man, I hate the Fourth.
I fired up the barbie and grilled a couple of excellent rib-eye steaks. Should’ve had baked potatoes, but we had corn and baked beans instead. I made ice cream for the first time; zabaglione gelato. The gelato was tasty, but the SO said she’d never tasted so much alcohol in ice cream. I thought it could’ve done without the rum, and I thought there was too much vanilla. Well, it was my first attempt. It won’t go to waste.
It doesn’t get dark until about 10:00 at night. People had been launching mortars and rockets all day, but it really got going when it got dark enough to actually see them. The SO hung out on the patio, getting the occasional glance of a mortar burst through the trees. I put my shoes on and walked down the hill to the beach. As expected, the whole shore was lit up.
It boggles my mind how much money exploded. It always does. I bought a mortar a couple/three years ago, and the six charges cost over $30. A lot of people had bought aerial displays, and many or most of them had enough to last for hours. Mortars, rockets, ‘safe and sane’ ground displays, things that whistled, things that shrieked… It was, as always, a noisy time. I watched for about half an hour or so and then went home. The last hurrah was at about ten minutes to midnight. After midnight it quieted down except for just a few late boomers. We went to bed about 0100.
) stuck in the mud. I assisted in getting them unstuck, but ruined all the clothes I was wearing. No big deal, as I was wearing some of my “work around the house” clothes (i.e., clothes I don’t worry about getting paint or bleach or whatever on them.) It took about 20 or so minutes to get them out.