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Notes -
What is the most fun you've had with fireworks?
My fondest memory of a fireworks show was in Maryland, it was just local people along a river inlet. They went a bit crazy trying to out do each other. We were basically right under the fireworks along the river bank, while they were launched from a barge about 50 feet out in the water. The explosions were close enough to smell and feel.
Nothing compares to the fun and joy of being a kid let loose with small explosives. We'd blow up various toys, make battlefields in our sandbox where we blew up the sand (the smoking craters were a cool effect). Smokebombs were always super fun, especially when the smoke was partially unleashed into hollow dark areas (like rotten logs, or snake holes). We unleashed so many bottle rocks.
Best fireworks show was when I was down in florida for 4th of july. We had been at disney world to see the fireworks, but the rain kept delaying the start. We eventually gave up and were driving home. But the rain cleared while we were on the highways, and we pulled over as there was a clear view for miles around us as the various parks in the area all unleashed their fireworks at the same time.
Favorite fireworks video was a flyover of LA on july 4th 2020. Felt like the whole city had pent up energy from covid and just decided to unleash it all. Maybe it looks like that normally, I wouldn't know. But it felt great seeing that at the time.
Oddly, both of my best fireworks memories also happened in Maryland.
For the first, I was at a lacrosse camp on the eastern shore, and a couple was having a wedding at the same location. They were celebrating with a fireworks display, and they were generous enough to let us kids watch as well. The thing was, they didn't want us mixing with the wedding party, so they placed us directly under the display. I think we might have been thirty feet from the mortars, at most. The experience is completely different at that range. The detonations are tangible.
For the second, a couple of friends and I slipped away from home on New Year's Eve and went to the inner harbor in Baltimore. I sat on the water's edge watching fireworks reflect on the bay, with a pretty girl curled up against me for warmth. It was one of the first times in my life when I realized that I could get away from everything at home and things could be better.
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