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Recapping the Fourth …

It was our last three day weekend for two months, since August has absolutely NO holidays in it. So, the countdown to Labor Day has begun.

It seems like every Fourth of July for a few years now, I’ve done something different. I’m a guy without a tradition. Like, most people have a picnic or go to a certain spot … not me. I’m all over the place. This year, the town Wifey™ and I live in shoot off fireworks over the large lake in the center of town. It’s within walking distance of our apartment and provides the usual “explosive” entertainment factor. What more could you ask for. No driving and big explosions. I brought my camcorder and made a feeble attempt at taping the fireworks, because you all know that watching them on tape is just as exciting as seeing them in person. Sort of like the “yule log” on TV every year. Ah … I can almost feel the warmth of the video fire now.

Anyhow, perhaps I’ll splice together that mini film and upload it. Or maybe not.

Regardless, the rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. So, to make this entry longer than one paragraph, I thought I’d take you down memory lane and attempt to remember some of my other Fourth of July adventures.

Quite a few years ago, the Fourth of July came and I had absolutely nothing planned. Sucks not to have friends that care about asking you if you’d like to join them. Anyhow, I decided that I’d drive to the Golden Gate Bridge, walk to the center and see if I could see anything. Here’s a tip: if you plan on going out to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge at night, wear a VERY thick jacket … like for snow. I nearly got hypothermia up there, but did manage to catch the firework shows for three different cities — San Francisco, Oakland and Marin. It was actually pretty awesome and made me realize how lucky I am. I mean, not everyone can stand on the national landmark on the Fourth of July. Pretty amazing. And then to top it off, a couple standing beside me were also watching the fireworks, when suddenly the guy drops on one knee and proposes to his girlfriend. Right there in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Fourth of July.

Growing up, most childhood Fourth of July’s were spent either at home or at a local fireworks display. At home, when it was actually legal to do our own fireworks in the street, we’d hold sparklers and do the usual fireworks that come in those packages. It was neat, in the way that you could look up the street and see most of the neighbors also putting on their own private shows. Of course, these days it’s not allowed and probably more work than it’s worth anyhow. The one problem I have now, is that it’s harder to find places that have shows that aren’t crowded. I think that if a city is going to ban personal fireworks, they should offer an alternative … like hosting their own show locally. There’s nothing worse than having to drive into The City to watch a fifteen minute fireworks show.

Which brings me to two experiences of fireworks in San Francisco. The first was more of a whim on the part of myself and my friend. We hadn’t really planned out watching fireworks and at the last minute decided to jump on the subway and head into the city for the fireworks display at the wharf. Of course, the subway stop is about three or four long blocks from the wharf and by the time we arrived, within minutes the show began. We didn’t even have time to find a good place to stand and basically stood in the middle of some street looking up. The fireworks were nice, but nothing I hadn’t seen before at other shows. And after it was over, what looked like tens of millions of people made their attempts to leave. Ugh. I hate crowds.

The second experience was with the same friend and his girlfriend, at the time. Every year they would tell me about going to this old lady’s house that they knew and would stand on her roof watching the fireworks. They described the house as being right next to the fireworks and that from the roof you could see the bridge. Okay, sold. I’ll go and check this out. It’s free and their won’t be crowds. So, I arrived about an hour or so early and about the time that the show was going to start we headed up to the roof. It’s a four story building and VERY high up from the street at the roof. But the view is pretty good … on the roof. So the fireworks start up and they aren’t quite what I was imagining. They look to be about a mile away. I can barely hear them, except for the really BIG ones. Not exactly “right next to the fireworks”. It was interesting, but far from what I’d envisioned from their descriptions year after year. I don’t know, I like to be almost under them. I like to hear the loud booms and see them up close. That’s the fun.

Last year, Wifey™, my mom and I drove to a movie theater parking lot that happens to sit on the water and got a great spot along the water to watch the fireworks. We ended up getting out of the car and walked to an area where a few other people had gathered and watched them from the trail. Again, we should have brought a blanket or thicker jackets, but the show was nice. Of course, the hour and a half it took us to get out of the parking lot wasn’t as nice.

As you can tell, I probably haven’t spent the Fourth in the same place two years in a row. Like I said, every year it’s something different. Someday, I’ll develop a tradition … or maybe it’s my tradition to find a new spot every year.

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