4th of July 2011

Fourth of July

Kona, Hawaii 2011

The weather could not have better for the annual 4th of July parade and fireworks celebrating Americas birthday. I took Luke, Josh and Cody down to Ali'i drive where we met up with their friend Derek and watched the as always dull and uninspired parade the town puts on each year. I don't know what it is about Hawaii Island, but no matter the occasion, Christmas, New Years or the 4th of July the parades they put on for any occasion never fail to disappoint with their drab array of people of little note waving from cars.

I remember now why I quit taking the kids to parades years ago, they and I were always bored stiff! I had my camera with me but saw little worth shooting a photo of. The walk down Ali'i Drive after the parade was much more fun than the parade itself, thousands of people walking and talking along Kona's main street while a beautiful sunset began.

The five of us had dinner at the Royal Kona whereafter Cody and Derek got a cell call from Teenage Central Control and ran off to join up with a herd of like aged members. Luke,  Josh and I headed our own way and found a great spot on the lava just a hundred yards away from the raft moored in Kailua Bay that the fireworks would bet fired from.

The fireworks show was a good one especially since we were so close to the launch point that we could feel the concussion of the projectiles as they launched. I stuck a super wide lens on my camera and tried my hand at shooting long exposure fireworks photos:

We headed home after the display and shot off our own load of pyrotechnics in the back yard like usual. The boys had fun, so did I and I hope you like the photos. 

Happy Birthday America!

Brian