Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day — clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid-80’s — so after enjoying being able to sleep in on a day off of work, I caught a bus over to Gas Works Park to go play in the sun and watch the fireworks.
I got to the park about 5:30pm or so, and walked in just behind the big hill that is apparently one of the prime kite-flying spots in Seattle. The downwind side of the hill was filled with kids and adults flying kites. Amusingly, the kids homemade paper kites often seemed to be far more successful than the fancy store-bought kites that the adults were trying to fly!
I wandered around for a while peoplewatching (and oh, the people that were there to be watched — have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy summertime in Seattle?) and snapping pictures. Earlier in the day I’d talked to Rick on the phone, and he’d told me that he’d probably find me at the park. At the time I laughed, as there tend to be thousands of people wandering around, but suddenly he popped up beside me, with a simple “Told ya so!” for a hello.
How does he do that?
Anyway, I joined Rick and Heather at the spot they’d picked out, and just kicked back with them for the rest of the evening. We were sitting right by the water, and as things got later and later, we had a blast listening to the police boats try to keep all the private boats from cruising through the restricted area of the lake. Apparently the huge floating orange sign alerting boat owners of the closed off area of the lake wasn’t working too well, as the police boats were constantly having to chase people down and shoo them back to the north end of Lake Union (“No! Not that north! Your other north!”).
The sun eventually went down, and as the sky got darker and darker, more and more people stopped their games and found places to sit and watch the show. Round about 10pm the festivities got started. We were treated to the usual über-schmaltzy rendition of the national anthem, a performance by a brass band of some sort (we weren’t in the right area to actually see what was going on, and I don’t remember exactly what the announcer said they were). Then, after a couple moments of quiet, the explosions started.
I’ve heard from a couple people that this is one of the better fireworks displays in the northwest, and having seen it from the park twice now, I’d certainly believe it! All the fireworks are launched off of a barge in the middle of the lake, and by watching from the park, you’re actually close enough to feel the concussion from the explosions. Absolutely huge bursts of color and light filling the sky, and the echoes of the explosions rebounding throughout the natural amphitheater around the lake — it’s quite an experience!
Once the show was done Rick, Heather and I worked our way out of the park. I was going to catch a ride with them, but then noticed that I was right next to a bus stop as the bus I needed to catch was coming down the street, so I said my goodbyes and let them head on their way. Jumped on the bus just in time, too — the stop I was at only had about fifteen people at it, but the next stop had enough to fill the bus to capacity and necessitate leaving a good-sized group behind! Traffic, of course, made the ride home take forever, but I made it eventually, and fell into bed.
All in all, a good 4^th^ of July day. Many more pictures of the day are posted in my photo gallery — enjoy!