July 4, 2010

We followed our tradition for the 4th of July by heading up to Pickens for the festival and fireworks.  The crowd didn't seem as large this year.  Maybe because the holiday fell on a Sunday.  The event itself also felt scaled back.  In past years, two stages were positioned on Main St.  This year only the main stage was up and running. We also sought the funnel cake vendor only to find no such vendor.  Is there such thing as a summer festival without funnel cake?

Even with this slightly smaller event there was still a lot of people visiting Pickens.  We had a good time walking around checking out the rides that I would never in a million years put myself onto.  Such as this one...

Look at that!  There are people strapped to that circle!  They are being spun around at a rapid speed and then as the speed picks up, they tilt one end into the air.  You'll never find me on one of those things.

We ended up on the side of a grassy hill to wait for the fireworks.  We were directly across the street from where they would launch, the closest we have viewed the show from.

I set up my camera and snapped shots throughout the show. Sitting back on the blanket we had spread on the ground I randomly hit the shutter.  While the earlier part of the festival may have felt scaled down, the fireworks didn't have that feel.  The show was awesome and ended with a fantastic finale.  Sitting so close to the launch area was great.  The sound of each explosion was intense.  We decided this hill will be our new viewing area for future years.

So how did Brenna do?  Every time she heard one she would announce to us, "Pop!"  She seemed to enjoy it at first and watched the colors in the air.  As the frequency of the explosions increased, she became nervous.  Sitting in Cari's lap, she started to close her eyes.  Amazingly, she was able to fall asleep during the show.

Next year on the 4th of July, we'll be heading back up to Pickens for a great festival and fireworks.  Also next year, I will again avoid the spinning, crazy carnival ride.