Wow!

Going to see fireworks on the 4th of July at the city celebration seemed like such a great idea…until after the show was over.

Oh, I kid. Actually, the fireworks show itself was spectacular! It was almost as good as a show at Disney World. And we got to spend some quality time chatting with a friend who came with us.

The conversation time was significantly longer than it would otherwise have been since we ended up spending 45 minutes in the car just trying to get out of the parking lot we had parked in.

Since city celebrations do not typically take place in, say, an auditorium or a sporting arena where traffic flow patterns have been planned and routed for thousands of visitors exiting at one time, the mass exit after the fireworks show can only be described as horrific.

After some contemplation, I came to the conclusion that the city did absolutely everything they could to help move traffic along as best they could: cones to direct traffic, police officers at almost every intersection, providing extra public transportation (which I assume was also having a time trying to move through all the traffic). It was just the nature of city roads and shopping center parking lots not accustomed to hosting thousands upon thousands of vehicles all at one time.

I also thought of solutions should we decide to attempt this celebration in the future: park in a neighborhood a few miles away and walk, or finally get ourselves some bicycles and try to ride across town.

In any case, the city’s Fourth of July spectacular was apparently a huge success judging by the extreme crowd.

For us, waiting in traffic with a friend to talk with wasn’t at all a bad time.

(And maybe all those people and tremendous traffic makes it just a little bit more like an actual Disney World fireworks show!)

I guess I’m spoiled by remembering all the fireworks shows from my childhood. We were always on vacation visiting relatives on the 4th. At one set of grandparents’ we drove all of ten minutes to sit out on blankets in the middle of a field to watch the fireworks. At the other set of grandparents’ we went over a few blocks in the neighborhood to see the fireworks from the neighboring amusement park.

Maybe less crowded, but not quite as fantastic. There are trade-offs, I guess.

I hope your Fourth of July celebration was just as good, whether crowded and loud or quiet and relaxing.