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Enjoying Fireworks and Avoiding Traffic
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2685 Reads
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I wanted to see fireworks last night. I love looking at fireworks, but I hate dealing with the traffic brouhahas that result afterwards. For years, my favorite spot to view fireworks was from the top of the Angeles Crest Highway, until other people thought of the same thing, and now getting down ACH takes hours.
I recently acquired a bicycle and have been exploring LA's vast bike path system (large PDF file.) It occurred to me that we could bicycle down the Class 1 Ballona Creek Bike Path and it would take us to the south side of the Marina del Rey channel, where we'd have a perfect view of the Marina del Rey fireworks without getting stuck in traffic. The bike path follows Ballona Creek to the ocean before crossing a bike/pedestrian-only bridge over Ballona Creek and connecting with the South Bay Bike Path ...
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As we pedaled down the path, we passed under the Marina Freeway, which was clogged with cars going to Marina del Rey to view fireworks. All bicyclists were on the congestion-free south side of the channel, and since there weren't that many of us, we had plenty of places to sit down. I looked across the channel to the North side, where all the car drivers had congregated en masse at the end of Via Marina and it was standing-room only.
Before the show started, boaters and kayakers went out into the channel and dropped anchor and waited for the show to start. We could see fireworks in the distance from Malibu, Hollywood, El Segundo, and Santa Monica. The sunset turned the sky into beautiful shades of lavender and apricot, which reflected on the water. Pelicans, sea gulls, ibises, and great blue herons flew out to catch the evening bugs or fish, and I saw some bats fluttering about. It was very peaceful. Finally, the Marina del Rey show started, and we oohed and aahed for about 45 minutes - my favorite fireworks were the ones that came down looking like a glittering rain shower that lasted for ten to fifteen seconds, and the ones that shot off white trails that branched off, and those branches branched off of each other.
When it was over, we prepared to pedal back, but an unexploded round somehow landed on the bike path, so police held bike traffic back until it was safely removed, and then we continued our merry way home, passing underneath the car-clogged Marina Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard. We made it home long before any of the car-bound people did, and it was a magical night - balmy, a half-moon, and fireworks going off in the distance.
Holidays are best when they are stress-free. Who needs that crap?
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| Posted by: Kathryn_Hill on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 06:50 PM
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