Mission Accomplished

Well, it's back to the land of the land of the living tomorrow.  Tragic.  I did this on purpose though - I doubt many others will be silly enough to work the day after the 4th and since I only have to work 2 days - it shouldn't hurt too much.  I hope.

Today was a better day - but still a lazy day.  It ended on a great note though - with fireworks!  YAY!  I finally saw my first fireworks in Charlotte.  They were pretty fantastic.  It was a really great night to sit outside which was surprising.  It's been over 100 degrees here for a week or so and today was in the mid 90s.  I was expecting to sit outside and sweat all night, but lo and behold, it was actually pretty nice.  There was a nice breeze blowing, we had our frozen yogurt (and chocolate chip cookies) and were ready to roll!

I put some thought into a good location to go see fireworks this year.  There were a few criteria that had to be met to make the location acceptable:

1.  Small crowds - no shoulder to shoulder proximity - I'm a crowd o-phobic.
2.  Near a yogurt/ice cream place. (or a Good Humor man!)
3.  Must be near green space for proper blanket placement.
4.  Close to home without having to go into Uptown  (That's what they call downtown here in CLT.)
5.  Most importantly, great view, but down wind of the smoke etc... from the fireworks.

View of the city from the Greenway
- Fireworks were in the other direction.

We found the perfect location that met most of the criteria - it just had a bit of an obstructed view.  I was ok with that actually.   It was a new park in the Dilworth area, called The Greenway I believe, about 6-7 blocks from where they shot off the fireworks.  It actually worked out really well, some of the lower fireworks were a bit cut off though.  No worries - lots of folks moved to get a better view and it just meant fewer people and more breezes for us.  I'd say we found the perfect spot!  Mission accomplished!

Like I said, it was a really great way to end my lazy week!  I hope everyone here in the US had a wonderful 4th and I hope all of my non-US readers are having a great week too!

I can't believe I have to wait another year for my fireworks!  I think I'll spend the time doing some scouting for alternate locations in case the Greenway gets too crowded next year.  It's never too early to plan  you know.  :o)

Have a great Thursday Ya'll!

Bomb Pops and Fireworks

I enjoyed a somewhat lazy day - after a crazy morning.  This week coming up is going to be a real humdinger.  It's going to be loaded with lots of activity, both at work and at home and then I'm looking forward to a whole week off from work.  Now that doesn't happen often.  I'm really looking forward to an old fashioned Fourth of July.  I hope you have fun plans too!  I'm going to make homemade ice cream, we'll go see fireworks and maybe (if the weather allows) we'll go see a silly parade! 

I love the idea of homemade ice cream and fireworks - not sure why - but it really reminds me of being a kid.  Not that we had homemade ice cream a lot growing up - but we sure did go to fireworks.  I remember going to Bel Air High School early in the evening and putting out our blanket and chairs and camping out until dark.  We'd wait for the Good Humor man to show up and then line up for a Strawberry Shortcake, a Fudgecicle or a Bomb Pop.  (Bomb Pops always lasted the longest!)  Then we'd wait with the fireflies and mosquitoes and hundreds of other people and then lie back and ooh and ahh through the show.  They never disappointed.  Afterwards, you had to fight your way back through the crowds and the traffic to get home again, but it sure was fun while it lasted! 

I don't know why, but for the last ten years, I haven't seen fireworks on the Fourth of July!  So weird.  I don't think I really knew where to go see them in CLT.  Hopefully we'll find a great spot this year!  I want to go watch them in the humid air, laying on my blanket and do some people watching on the side. 

I think I might try strawberry ice cream in the old 'maker' this year.  What traditions do you have for the 4th?  Do you like fireworks or do you hate the noise?  Our Bubbies don't care about them all that much...noise doesn't really bother them like that luckily.  We wouldn't take them with us though...Paxton's Prozac doesn't really cover fireworks or crowds very well.

Now I just need to get more corn on the cob, make potato salad and bake something silly - maybe something with a flag on it...

In the meantime, I hope you have a great week!  Happy Sunday Ya'll!