We have found the best place to watch 4th of July fireworks in Austin!
After a wonderful dinner of brisket, dirty mashed potatos, and green beans at the O'Reilly home, we all went down to Town Lake for the fireworks show. Stepan and I took Logan and Homer in our car and headed down at about 8:15p. We debated the whole way down whether we should take the 15th St exit to avoid the traffic or the 5th/1st St. exits. We ended up on Cesar Chavez and found a perfect place to park by jumping the curb and parking beneath the pedestrian footbridge that is just east of Lamar. Turns out the pedestrian bridge is the best place for viewing the fireworks. It's situated smack dab between the two fireworks shows - one at Zilker Park and one at Auditorium Shores. The Zilker display started a little after 9:30p and the Auditorium Shores display started up as soon as the Zilker display was done. Since we were on the bridge, above Town Lake, we got to enjoy a very nice breeze and very few bugs.
The O'Reilly kids were enraptured. Nolan, who was on my lap, talked pretty much non-stop, commenting on each and every explosion. Logan just seemed awe-struck...I'm not sure he blinked once in the 30-45 minutes we were watching the fireworks. Unfortunately, Samantha (one of the O'Reilly dogs) did not enjoy the fireworks and loudly proclaimed her displeasure to one and all. Michael had to walk her back to the car...she apparently calmed down once confined.
Since Gracy (the other O'Reilly dog) doesn't get around very well, our perfect plan was to give her a ride to the O'Reilly car while Meredith walked there with the kids (Michael was already there with Samantha). Unfortunately, Stepan's car decided not to start. This was a problem he had a couple of weeks ago, but he did manage to get the car started and it has worked fine since then. No such luck this time. The O'Reillies drove to our car to pick up their dog. They tried to give us a jump start, but, again, no luck. They ended up taking Homer home with them and we ended up calling AAA for a tow truck. The 2-hour wait wouldn't have been terrible if I had access to a bathroom. It finally got so desparate that I had to find a bush and answer Nature's call actually in nature...I don't remember the last time I did that! or if I ever have! One thing I did learn was to pay close attention to the slope of the ground you micturate on. I didn't actually mark my own foot, but it was a close thing! Now Stepan's car is in the shop and will get a new starter and a new clutch.
Posted by jfer at July 5, 2004 9:28 PMIt seems you enjoyed a much better fireworks show than we did. I found out the next day the reason why there wasn't a finale. Evidently when they (persons responsible for set-up)hooked up the fuses to the computer along with music, the program had a glitch in it. That is what they and we get for trying to get too fancy. The entire display only last 20 minutes! I will have to think long and hard about fighting traffic next year to see it again.
Sorry to hear about Stepan's car woes. There never is a convenient time for a vehicle to break down. I can't believe you've never had the opportunity to answer nature's call in the wild, such as it is. I can think of numerous times I've had to go without a toilet nearby. Two come to mind right now...on camping trips and outdoor drinking parties.
Posted by: Theresa on July 6, 2004 6:51 AMI saw the fireworks of the East River with a stunning Red, White and Blue Empire State Building in the foreground. It was beautiful.
Posted by: Mermu on July 7, 2004 4:56 PM