Day 82 - Santa Cruz (USA) - Fourth of July Baby!!

THINGS THAT GO BOOOOOOOOM!!! What can I say except the photos can't do it justice. Santa Cruz in California is just one of those places that has to be on your travel list for the 4th of July. The entire stock of illegal Mexican fireworks must get purchased and brought here each year, the result - beautiful mayhem (there are no official fireworks, it is only members of the public going nuts)! I set off my family pack of legal fireworks (i.e. none that actually launch) and then just sat back and watched the spectacle. We were on the beach, just down a bit from the famous Santa Cruz pier (the one in Lost Boys!!!)... and the place was crowded with people. You can tell those who are regulars to this awesome spectacle because they turn up in the morning to reserve their favourite piece of beach, set up tents, tables, BBQs and drop off firewood. After drinking and eating all day, they pack everything up and drag it in little carts back to their cars then come back, set up bonfires (with lots of squirts of BBQ fuel) and then settle in. As the sun was setting, a guy passed us and said "Now things will get exciting", and he continued on his way with what looked like a tent bag... now we know it was a tent bag full of fireworks and other mayhem. He was soon to my favourite pyro and often had me in fits of laughter. He must have been ex-army because he would light his rockets with a butane torch... and I do mean he would light the rocket because he would just skip the fuse (it was a waste of time)... and to be "safe" he would turn to the side to avoid the mass of sparks as it shot up. The end result (since you multiply this by several hundred thousand people along the beaches) was a skyworks that put any professional arrangement to shame! Best of all you get to be amongst the chaos and bangs and get to just shake your head as you wonder how the rocket which explodes 10 metres after take off instead of 100 doesn't hurt anyone! There are also boats going past in a channel which soon become targets, as well as kids playing jokes on other kids with cherry bombs thrown nearby. The beautiful spectacle continues to about 10pm at which point (apparently, since we left at 9.45pm to avoid the traffic jams) firemen and police wander the beaches putting out fires and stopping any more launches... from sundown to 10pm it's basically 3 hours of sanctioned chaos by the authorities... and I loved it! If we're ever in town again for 4th of July, we are going to rent a hotel room down there so we can watch it all to it's triumphant conclusion (and perhaps take a side trip to Mexico beforehand to get some "sparklers").
LESSON FOR THE DAY: Research where to buy "the good stuff" or else just sit back and watch everyone else risk their lives to bring a little happiness into your life.