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senoritafish The 4th was fairly quiet. We live a block away from the parade route and therefore have no parking (unless we save a place with our own cars) and a lot of foot traffic through our neighborhood. We were cleaning up like mad people because John's cousin and two daughters were going to park at our house to see the parade. We saved a place for them, but we were really not ready to go when they arrived, so we told them we would meet up with them in an hour or so. I've lived on this street for most of my life, so I really don't need to go see the whole parade every year. It's mostly Shriners anyway.
They came back in about 45 minutes, saying they wanted to leave before the traffic started. I think the two teenagers must have just gotten bored; the parade went on for about two more hours after they left. I took the kids over for about an hour, but after Avalon fell asleep on my shoulder, I figured we might as well go home too. Luckily, it's a short walk. It wasn't over until 2pm. Tons of people in my neighborhood have BBQs on this holiday, and after the parade there is a very party atmosphere. You can hear music all over; some people have live bands. And usually there is a band down near the Pier a mile away that you can hear sometimes, too. John BBQed stuff himself, but we didn't have anyone over after John's cousins left.
Then about 5 pm, the crowd starts returning. People start parking on our streets and carrying lawn chairs toward the high school and sitting on the street and the lawns at the civic center. There is a big fireworks show in the high school stadium, but even if you don't buy tickets you can still see most of the fireworks. We took the stroller up and sat near the fountain in front of the police station. Since they banned fireworks and fireworks stands in this town there are more illegal bottle rockets, firecrackers and roman candles every year. We have a few ourselves, but living a block away from the police station, I'm always a bit nervous about shooting them off in the alley. I miss lighting our own fireworks - I'm such a pyro.
I didn't hear any horror stories about Huntington Beach police this year. Usually, they get a little out of hand and start arresting people for drinking beer in their own garages, and harassing anyone on a bike. Someone made T-shirts a few years ago about the 4th in HB.- "No Beer, No Bikes, No Fun- Do Not Pass Go, Do No Collect $500, Go Directly to Jail!" with the little logo from Monopoly of the cop taking the guy to jail. It was pretty funny, but I don't think the police department was too amused.
They came back in about 45 minutes, saying they wanted to leave before the traffic started. I think the two teenagers must have just gotten bored; the parade went on for about two more hours after they left. I took the kids over for about an hour, but after Avalon fell asleep on my shoulder, I figured we might as well go home too. Luckily, it's a short walk. It wasn't over until 2pm. Tons of people in my neighborhood have BBQs on this holiday, and after the parade there is a very party atmosphere. You can hear music all over; some people have live bands. And usually there is a band down near the Pier a mile away that you can hear sometimes, too. John BBQed stuff himself, but we didn't have anyone over after John's cousins left.
Then about 5 pm, the crowd starts returning. People start parking on our streets and carrying lawn chairs toward the high school and sitting on the street and the lawns at the civic center. There is a big fireworks show in the high school stadium, but even if you don't buy tickets you can still see most of the fireworks. We took the stroller up and sat near the fountain in front of the police station. Since they banned fireworks and fireworks stands in this town there are more illegal bottle rockets, firecrackers and roman candles every year. We have a few ourselves, but living a block away from the police station, I'm always a bit nervous about shooting them off in the alley. I miss lighting our own fireworks - I'm such a pyro.
I didn't hear any horror stories about Huntington Beach police this year. Usually, they get a little out of hand and start arresting people for drinking beer in their own garages, and harassing anyone on a bike. Someone made T-shirts a few years ago about the 4th in HB.- "No Beer, No Bikes, No Fun- Do Not Pass Go, Do No Collect $500, Go Directly to Jail!" with the little logo from Monopoly of the cop taking the guy to jail. It was pretty funny, but I don't think the police department was too amused.
