Tag Archives: Fireworks

San Diego Big Bay Boom 2018

The San Diego Big Bay Boom 4th of July celebration was unlike anything we’ve seen before. We love fireworks, we’ve been to a lot of fireworks shows across the world, we actively seek out fireworks shows, and we’re really happy we had a chance to experience the San Diego Big Bay Boom.

We were extremely, extremely, fortunate to get help from a stranger; we came across an individual willing to share their amazing and unobstructed view of San Diego Bay just so we could see the incredible fireworks show in all of the show’s glory. Had we not received help from the stranger I’m sure our experience would have been severely diminished. 

The fireworks show is large, four barges fire off fireworks for 18min across the bay and are synchronized with music. We were close enough to the fireworks to feel the ‘thud’ and hear the ricochet of explosions around the bay. There was an immense amount of fireworks used on the four barges during 18 minutes show and it was a visual delight. The backdrop of the San Diego skyline and the reflections on the water made the show all that much better. The Big Bay Boom is probably the best fireworks show we’ve ever been seen.

This fireworks show is up there with our incredible, yet random, fireworks experience in Quebec City and Happy Valley Racetrack in Hong Kong. For the Quebec firework show our Airbnb host asked us if we wanted to ‘see some fireworks’ and brought us to a cliffside overlook of one barge in the St. Lawrence Seaway firing fireworks for 25 minutes. To date, that firework show was the longest show we’ve even been to and had some beautiful displays during the 25 minutes. The second incredible fireworks experience occurred at a horse race track in Happy Valley Hong Kong. With tall buildings looming around the track we were surprised to witness a fireworks show in between races. We were standing near the horse track and it seemed like the fireworks were exploding right next to us. While nowhere near as long as the Big Bay Boom or the Quebec City fireworks show, the experience was amazing simply because it was so close.

The Big Bay Boom was truly astonishing. We’re so happy we had a chance to see the show unadulterated from a perfect viewpoint.

Enjoy the photos 🙂

Chris W.

Summer in Minnesota 2017

It’s no secret I dislike Minnesota. In fact, I generally tell anyone who will listen how much I would enjoy living elsewhere. While Minnesota has a lot of great attributes like: innovative job market, STEM opportunities, foods from around the world, pragmatic state and local leadership, and a fairly good standard of living; the weather is awful and the state is flatter than Kansas. Being cooped up indoors six months out of the year is tough and having no where good to hike is worse. My wife doesn’t seem to really care but she grew up here so I don’t really trust her opinion on the matter.

So, I’ve been trying to make the best of it since the world trip as it’s apparent we’ll be living here for the indefinite future.

This summer has been the best summer of all the summers we’ve lived in Minnesota. We’ve made it a point to go hiking at nearby parks, we’ve gone to a ton of cultural events like Little Mekong Night Market, Polish Fest, and Latino Fest, the Capitol Building Grand Re-oepning, we’ve found ways to spend time outdoors in our yard, and we’ve managed to start growing a lot of beautiful flowers. We are lucky we have events where the locals feel compelled to launch fireworks and we’ve had some spectacular shows to watch. Our little town we live in is great, and we have tried to make it to all the local events – including the water treatment plant facility open house!

As it turns out, summer isn’t so bad in Minnesota. Maybe my dislike of Minnesota is unfounded but I am still grateful we have a major international airport nearby :).

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

4th of July 2016

Happy 4th of July!!

It’s been about one year since we returned to the US and we are very happy to be home!

During our travels we became appreciative of the life and opportunities available in the US. As a stark example: last year at this time we were celebrating the 4th with expat Americans in Athens, Greece. The topic of conversation was the nationwide bank shutdown and financial controls. It was a very uncertain time and a crazy experience. Whatever hardship we had paled in comparison to the locals – we knew we were just tourists and we could leave any time. We had many situations like this in our 13 months of travel, experiences that made us understand how lucky we were to win the ovarian lottery.

It’s been fun to pick up where we left off, reconnect with friends and family, restart our careers, and settle in to the places we used to know. July 4th has a more special meaning to me now and it’s been great to celebrate the holiday in the US! Last week I brought in homemade USA themed treats every day for my coworkers and at the end of the week we had a lunch grill-out in the parking lot with beers. I couldn’t think of a better way to cap off the work week 🙂. This weekend we spent time with Jacquelyn’s side of the family and enjoyed great food, great company, and shockingly close fireworks displays.

We learned many things on the trip and the best lesson was learning I love being an American.

‘Murica.

Enjoy the photos :).

Chris

Athens 4th of July! – 2015

We had a really fun 4th of July in Athens! Who would have guessed we would have found a party to go to!? It was a lot of fun to eat some true American food (hotdogs & hamburgers FTW!) with Americans.

We are pretty isolated from the current economic issues so things have been fine for us; we are really enjoying our time in Greece. The Greeks aren’t so lucky.

And, of course, no photo collection of Athens is complete without protest photos. I think the real winners of the protests are the flag and sign makers.

Happy 4th!

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

Quebec City 2014

Our first visit to a foreign country was to Canada and our first city was Quebec City. We made a lot of mistakes – like forgetting to convert currency but we still did alright. We didn’t have any hard times crossing the borders between the US and Canada even though we had a fully packed car! The wait time into Canada was pretty long, about an hour, getting back into the US was a lot easier.

Overall, Quebec City and Quebec seemed a lot like the USA. There were similar brands and scenery but everyone spoke French and things were more expensive in Canada compared to the US. We stayed in Levis and took the ferry to Quebec City. Overall, that was a great idea because it was significantly cheaper for us and it was easy for us to arrive / leave the Quebec City area.

I really liked the citadel and the city walls. Of all the cities I’ve ever visited, it seems like Quebec City would be the most prepared for a zombie attack since the city walls are still there and they are in great shape.

The best part were the fireworks we saw – totally awesome! The fireworks lasted 25min and were set to music. Our gracious host was the one who informed us of the fireworks and brought us to the great location. In the summer, Quebec City has fireworks twice a week as part of an international competition. Who knew? I didn’t think to bring the Nikon so the

Enjoy the pictures!

Chris W.