While I was sitting and waiting for the 4th of July fireworks on Monday, I was thinking about what to fill my blog with before the actual move to AK rolls around. I came up with a VS. list. I'll find things that I love down here and then compare them to the things that are similar up there. How will they rate? Will Florida be better than Alaska? I think that I know, but I'm sort of scared to find out! What if the pizza up there is gross, or the churches just aren't up to the standards we've found here in the South? I'm sure that the Northern Lights will beat out the FL fireworks, but is that enough to make me love Alaska more than Florida?
I have to tell you though, that the fireworks we saw this past Monday night were AMAZING!!! We decided to go to the Fort Walton Beach show....if you are ever in the area, we totally recommend choosing this one!!!!
We found the perfect spot, right on the side of the bay....there was a little bit of an incline, so our heads were higher than our feet, about a small city block from the 2 barges full of fireworks floating in the middle of the bay, about 80 degrees in the shade, and a breeze blowing....PERFECT!
We got to the site around 5 pm, with our 2 Footlong Subway sandwiches, drinks and Doritos. We laid out our beach blanket, sat down, enjoyed the local musicians playing on the stage and ate our feast. After eating, I pulled out my trusty puzzle book and John took the kids up to explore all the different booths that the vendors had set up. I had only been enjoying the quiet for a few minutes when I got a text on my phone...the kids discovered that FWB had set up several bounce houses and they were free, so I was alone with my Figgerits for about a half hour. Not a bad way to fill the time until the fireworks went off at 9:00 pm.
Once they got back, the Frisbee was flying, and my head had only one near miss! The kids were excited about getting out their glow sticks that we had bought at the Dollar Tree, so at 7:45 I was persuaded to get those going...it was still too light to see most of the bright colors, but it filled in more time, which was helpful as there were more people arriving, filling up valuable play space. The crowd got really tight just before the fireworks were set to go off, and of course a certain little man had to go to the bathroom, all the way on the other side of the park! I was praying that he and Daddy would get back before the show, as we had waited ALL that time, and they did. They sat down and the lights dimmed....almost as if FWB was waiting for them!
Being so close to where the show was happening, it felt like we could reach out and touch the colors. We could feel the booms and the brightness of the fireworks had me shielding my eyes a time or two (I couldn't convince my brain to give up the pleasure of seeing them, so I kept peeking around my fingers).
After the show, the area cleared quickly, but the traffic was a huge snarl, of course. We drove over the bridge to Okaloosa Island and did a quick water break, and then drove down to the Boardwalk. We were going to walk on the beach for a bit, to let the traffic jam break up, but we had 2 sleepy kids by then, so we hopped back in the car and joined the brake lights. We were home by 11 pm, and we were all very glad that we were able to be a part of the celebration of the US's Birthday!
The Northern Lights are going to have to be one amazing show to beat out the FL fireworks on my list. I'm sure they will, as they last a whole lot longer than 45 minutes once a year, but this show will remain one of my favorites for a long long time!
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