(no subject)

[drewbear]

Well, my Independence Day celebrations were both good and bad.

First the good: I went over to Kev & Fernando's house to meet up with them and Lora to ride together over to our chosen fireworks viewing spot on the Trinity River over in Fort Worth. No big problem aside from the expected traffic, and we managed to get both a decent parking spot and a decent spot for our blankets. The nice thing about the spot we chose is that we could see 4 different fireworks shows with different start times, so we essentially turned to face the for compass points about every 10 minutes.

I just love fireworks! All the different colors and styles! The flash-bangs, the weeping-willows, the rings, the globes, the rocket-screamers, the daisy-puffs, the saturn-bursts, the nested spheres, the glitter rains, all of it! And every year the pyrotechnicians seem to have a new color or design. Last year I saw a new color, a kind of purpleish pink, as well as a new style, a globe that's split down the middle color-wise. This year, we spotted what looked like some bursts in the shapes of hearts!

Now the bad: The shows, especially the official City of Ft. Worth show, didn't last very long. Where they usually lasted about 25-30 minutes apiece, this year each only lasted about 10-12 minutes. Still very very pretty, but kind of disappointing. Also, on the walk back to the car, I stepped into what appeared to be a solid piece of ground but turned out to be a foot-deep hole with long grass growing in it. I got a good scrape on the back of my left ankle and some road grit in my palms, but no permanent damage. It's just that the scrape came from the broken, rusty piece of metal cover that was supposed to be covering the hole, so I need to go get a tetanus booster on Tuesday just to be on the safe side. Plus I'm gonna have some bruises come morning.

Still, the evening was enjoyable, and now I need to go sleep.

Happy Independence Day to you all, and have a good night!

Comments

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

I believe it's Heritage Park. You can see the shows at the Botanical Gardens, the official FW one held at CATS field, and a couple of others. I'm not sure where they were being fired from, but I think one was out of Marine Park or the Stockyards area.

It's a very good spot, but you need to get there early (~7:30-8:00) if you want to make sure you get a spot on the ridge next to the water. IMO, that's unquestionably the best spot.

[furrbear.livejournal.com]

OK, Yeah a good spot is the ridge on the SE corner of the confluence to the West & Clear forks -- just past the Atletic Center. We always stayed away from there because it was a PITA to get in & out.

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

Exactly. That spot is almost exactly where we were 2 years ago. The fireworks reflecting off the water is beautiful, isn't it? And I totally agree with the parking PITA, which is why I now refuse to park in the in-park lot; it always takes at least 10 minutes just to get to the exit. But, like I said, we managed to get a decent parking spot behind a dead/abandoned Whataburger across the street from the park's entrance. Ya just gotta watch out for the deceptive landscaping. ;)