The fireworks show would carry on for between 30 and 45 minutes. Wow!, one might think. How could a tiny speck of a town afford to host such a spectacular? Well, it couldn't. So instead, one bright burst of light would be sent into the sky every 3 to 5 minutes....sometimes more sporadically. After a good while there would be a pause, longer than 5 minutes, before several rockets were ignited to close the show with a 30-second finale (I'm being generous). We learned to wait and wait some more just in case there were multiple finales, which occurred a handful of times.
I like fireworks just as much as the next person, especially the sound of them. Fireworks command attention. They are loud. They are bright. They must be watched.
Hilton Hawaiian Village is just a couple of blocks from our condo in Honolulu. The area of town we lived in wasn't at all on the square system where roads run parallel to each other. This is important information because we could hear the Friday night fireworks show from our condo. We could even see light reflecting off many of the tall buildings near us; we just couldn't see them from our lanai. Thankfully, one of the best places to be a spectator is at Ala Moana Beach Park, also a short walk from our place. Here, families, couples, and fisherman all gather for the weekly fireworks show at 7:45pm. Jeff and I loved to be in the crowd as often as we could.
Jeff and I made it a priority to attend on our final Friday in the islands, this time with his parents as guests. We got right up to the shore and found a good spot in the grass. Jeff always pointed out the colors reflecting on the boats in the harbor, on the water, and on the hotels nearby. There were so many sights to take in for the 5, quick minutes of the show.
Talk about a far cry from the show I grew up watching in Fowlerville. There were no breaks in the action. Reds, whites, blues, greens, such an array of colors. I hold fond memories of nibbling on breadsticks and sitting on the hood of the car to watch the fireworks show in Fowlerville but, nothing compares to seeing the lights above the water.
The crowd, including Jeff and I, were silently mesmerized by the show; no oohing or aahing could be heard. At the conclusion, the crowd broke out into applause as smoke drifted over the hotels and condo buildings. Car alarms could be heard from the harbor's parking lot. By 8:00, the dark, black park would be nearly emptied out.
Jeff and I always strolled out slowly, hand in hand, taking in and savoring the moments.
