Previously, we enjoyed the Fourth of July fireworks (more often than not through blinding rain!) from the front porch of our house in Clayton. If you looked between the houses across the street, you had a clear view of the fireworks from downtown when they cleared the tree tops.
Our current location doesn’t seem to afford us the same clear view of the fireworks so we figured we’d take advantage of the official Fourth of July celebration staged by the Town of Garner at Lake Benson Park. Fortunately, the park is about a mile away from the house down Buffaloe Road so it’s pretty convenient and Nicholas sure enjoys playing there. So the plan was that the whole bunch (Grammy, the Ryans visiting from Columbus, and us) would pile in for a tailgate/picnic in the hours leading up to the fireworks at night. This would also be the first time the Ryans would see our new home in Garner so it’s always fun to show off the place! 🙂
It wasn’t long after we did the grand tour of the house that it was time to pack up the vehicles and head over to the park. We arrived there right about 1700 hours and getting a parking spot was pretty easy (even with the traffic backed all the way up Buffaloe from the other direction…in the future…approach from our side of the park!). Unfortunately, we were a ways away from our little campsite so we all pitched in to lug a bunch of chairs and blankets and coolers to the assembly area. Did I mention that it was a pretty hot day? Well, we certainly felt the heat doing all of the heavy lifting. After everything was in place, it was time to have a quick look round.
The first thing that was instantly apparent was a village of air-filled rides in the children’s entertainment area. These are the inflatable slides and jumping pits you’d normally see at the fair but without the requirement to spend a bunch of buck$ for tickets. I’d thank the Town of Garner for that but as a ratepayer, I’m sure it ends up in the yearly tax bill. But to be honest, Garner puts on a heck of an event so it’s all good. Nicholas rode down the big race car slide…and decided that was enough for him. No amount of coaxing was going to get him into the jumping pits! I’ll bet you next year we will have the opposite problem of trying to get him out of the rides so others may take a turn.
There was a concession area available but we had decided on getting some chicken from Bojangles so now it was my turn to head on out to get the bird. Gramps had given us this electric cooler that acts both as a cooler and a warmer and that kept the chicken quite toasty. Unfortunately, leaving halfway through meant that the parking wasn’t going to be anywhere near as close as before. Next year, we’ll bring the chicken with us in that warmer.
The next couple of hours involved chicken, lots of fluids, a fair amount of soccer, more fluids, and a lot of great music from the bands. With an hour to go before the fireworks, we were treated to the North Carolina Symphony and that was a special treat. By that point, Nicholas needed a nap so he snuggled into my arms and was out like a light. You know, you just can’t beat a wonderful day relaxing in the park with your son cuddling with you.
The fireworks woke him up soon enough and Garner sure didn’t go cheap with that display. That is one of the best fireworks displays that I have ever seen in my life (and when I’ve seen what Disney puts in the air, that’s saying something). The finale just had to be seen to be believed.
Of course, when thousands of people show up for fireworks and there is only one exit, you can imagine the traffic trying to get out of there after the show. So naturally, we hung out and played some more soccer for about an hour after the show. But finally we were on our way back to the house to put a bunch of kids to bed and get to playing some cards!
We definitely had a full house with nine of us staying overnight (owing to the late hour getting back home after the show) but it was nice to see that the house can handle quite a few guests comfortably.