July 4th

Happy Birthday America!  Happy July 4th!

We had a lazy morning around the house, playing games, watching TV.  We had planned to head to Redondo Beach around noon, but we didn't get out till about 5:00.  We've been told it will be mobbed, and it was.  First order of business:  Find a place to park.  The first couple of lots were full, but we eventually found on with a short line waiting so we got in line.  Lou walked up to ask and found they were letting about 20 cars in at a time as people left.  Within about 15 minutes, we were in.  There were actually quite a few spaces in the garage - it seems like they could have let in a lot more people.


The boys wanted to hit the water while Lou went to check on the boat.  We're scheduled for n 8:30 boat ride to be near the fireworks dock.  The boat usually gives short sightseeing rides and longer whale watching rides into the Pacific.  Follow the link for a description.

So Lou went off while the remaining 5 of us looked for open beach.  We had to walk through the dock and pier areas to find this:

View of the beach from the strand

It was really mobbed and chaotic.  I waited on the strand while the 4 of 'em went down to the water, picking their way through bodies, blankets and beach umbrellas.  You can't see it here, but the water was blocked off with "Hazardous Material" tape because (Jo later learned) the reported levels of bacteria were over the limit.

The strand, just south of the pier

View of the pier from the same spot

Some time was spent finding and changing in bathrooms, while Lou settled into the line for the boat.  She wanted to be the first to get on.  The rest of us wandered around and "spelled" Lou occasionally.  They got a few hand-seafood platters like popcorn shrimp, fried shrimp, fried clams and fries (sensing a theme?).

Jo, AJ and Zach found the pedal boats.

From this picture, looking across a short span of water at the boat shake selling tickets.  You can see the line of people waiting to buy tickets.  Lou was behind them, first in line to board.  If you play "Where's Waldo" you can see Lou with Jim (arms crossed) waiting.  Click on the picture to get a larger version.

Jo and the boys, about to board the pedal boats

  

A bit before 8:00 we all congregated back with Lou at the front of the line.  We had picked a spot at the back of the boat and got there as the crowd of about 150 surged on.

A rare picture including Jay

From the boat towards the pier.  Just a little crowded.

We motored out a short way past the barge the city was using to launch fireworks.  We passed close enough that people were talking to the workers on the barge.  Another interesting point - once we got underway we could quickly smell marijuana.  The captain came on and warned that it was illegal to smoke marijuana on federal waters, even if you hold "a card".  He had to give us the warning a few times.

We docked about 1 hundred yards off the barge, blocking the view of several smaller boats, who all swarmed around.  Police boats patrolled the area, keeping boats back from the barge.  As we sat there, sea lions swam around the boat, watching us as we watched them.  Sadly those pictures didn't have enough light to see anything.  

At 9:00  the fireworks started.  The boat played a local radio station that had music timed to the show.  One thing unique about this display, the shapes displayed were pretty cool and clear.  We saw "U" then "S" then "A" a few times and smiley faces.  It was a nice show with the lights reflecting off the water, the city in the background and the beatiful temperature.  Lou thought it sitting in our seats on the boat, with a small crowd around us felt a lot more private and personal then sitting in a large field.  The only negative was a man on a date right next to us who kept yelling pointlessly. 

After the first show, the boat motored south for a few minutes and caught another show just north of Palos Verdes, then returned to port.  By the time we got back, the traffic had mostly cleared, and our ride home wasn't too bad.

Here's a map of the area we were in:
A - Where they had the fireworks barge.  We were docked to a small floating pier about 100 yards north west of there
B - I took pictures of the beach, strand and pier from B
C - Where the tour boat docked.  We (mostly Lou) spent 2 hours in line just north of the round building
D - Where Jo, Zach and AJ picked up the pedal boats


Interestingly, this was all right next to the apartment where we stayed for a few months before we bought our house.  The apartment was immediately east of the "D" location, just north of the pool.