"If our Founding Fathers wanted us to care about the rest of the world,
they wouldn’t have declared their independence from it."
~Stephen Colbert
"You have to love a nation that celebrates its Independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle,
but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy,
and the flies die from happiness.
You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck
The Hadfields - July 4, 2018
In recent years, Bonnie & I have gone to the mountains to celebrate the 4th of July and watch the fireworks. That's what we did this year, driving up to Big Bear on Tuesday, July 3rd, staying at the Cabin, and driving back to Monrovia on the 5th. The fireworks are always set off from a barge floating out in the lake. A number of years ago I rented a pontoon boat two different years and we spent the day on the lake, ate lunch while out on the water, then watched the fireworks from the boat. We had the family along on these trips and it was a lot of fun, except trying to get back into the marina after the fireworks were over. In 1989 and 1990 we took the the girls and their boyfriends to Lake Powell and watched the fireworks on the 4th from the houseboat we had rented. For the next few years we purchased tickets from the local Big Bear Rotary Club and ate dinner and watched the fireworks from tents set up along the edge of the lake. We had a number of family members with us most of the times we did this. In recent years, Bonnie and I have had an early dinner at Paoli's Italian Restaurant in the Village at Big Bear, then walked down to Veteran's Park to watch the show. Several of the kids, and their friends, have joined us on a few of these occasions.
According to the Grizzly, Big Bear's local newspaper, the "Big Bear Lake Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular" is the busiest tourist day of the year. We've had our cabin in Big Bear for over 40 years and I think that's a true statement. The traffic after the fireworks in past years reminds me of what you see at the Rose Parade on New Year's Day in Pasadena. This year, Dale & Pam joined us to see the fireworks and we went to town about 5:00 pm, even though the fireworks wouldn't begin until 9:00 pm, just to get a parking spot. We had an early dinner at Paoli's, an Italian restaurant in the Big Bear Village.
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After dinner we walked from Paoli's down Knickerbocker Road to Veteran's Park to watch the show. Dale and I had taken a blanket and chairs to the Park in the morning so we would have a spot. Many people had done the same thing and I was glad we did it because it was very crowded when we got there after dinner. Veterans Park is located between Big Bear Boulevard and the Lake shore. On the wall shown in the 3rd photo below it says, "Fallen Warriors of Big Bear Valley" with individual name plates below for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. The engraved stone plaque says, "Big Bear’s Veteran’s Park is dedicated to the memory of those men and women who have served their country. With patriotism, loyalty and self-sacrifice serving our great nation. In appreciation to the dependents and survivors of all those who have served." The last photo is a view from the wall looking back towards the grassy area where we sat to watch the fireworks.
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The photos below were taken prior to the beginning of the fireworks show. As the sun went down it got quite chilly and Dale had to cover those beautiful legs.
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Photos never duplicate the feeling of seeing and hearing an exciting fireworks show. However, I took a few photos anyway. Big Bear always puts on a great show and we really enjoyed it. It was fun to have Dale & Pam with us this year and I hope they'll join us again in the future.
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The photos below were taken in prior years.
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