Fireworks in the big city
This past weekend was the Fouth of July, and we are getting a new appreciation for staying at home. Everywhere we go, traffic, crowds, and delays make us question our ideas of fun activities. We recently decided to check out the beaches on the lake. We were prepared for crowds on the beach, but we had not considered the auxiliary stuff. Traffic was brutal trying to get down there. Finding a place to park was crazy, and there were people everywhere. The beach was crowded, with vollyball players and sunbathers. Pik-nikers were spread out all over the banks in the shade of the Locust trees. Small grills smoked their simple fare as families of all nationalities tossed balls, threw frisbees, and chased their kids.
We finally got to the sandy beach after walking along the bank. There was a fenced beach just for dog owners to throw things into the water and have their pets bound off and fetch it back in a splashing frenzy. Looking beyond the froth of woofs and waves, we could see the rest of the beach was filled with people. Oddly, nobody was in the water. The beach was too crowded for it not to spill into the water. We later heard that the water had failed bacterial testing, so swimming was not allowed.
Traffic was just as bad driving away as it was on the way in. Once we broke away from the confines of blocks and traffic lights for the expressway to the ‘burbs, we were ready to get home and just hang out on our own. It sounds like fun to go to glamorous places like the beach on the edge of the city, but it turns into quite another thing when you are circling like buzzards waiting for a parking spot to open up. Don’t get me wrong, we still love it here, but we have a newly found appreciation for the suburban life.