General Discussion

We went downtown early to stake out a good seat for the fireworks. Being from LA, we figured we'd have to get there by 4. We forgot that this time of year it doesn't get dark-enough for fireworks until after 9. So instead of just sitting there, we walked along the downtown, got some snacks and beverages, and went back to sitting for several hours. The crowds started showing up around 8:30, saw the fireworks, and left. Interestingly-enough, all fireworks were gone from the Safeway and Costco by the next morning, and someone in the neighborhood was visited by the constabulary when they found out that home fireworks become illegal after 12:01am July 5.

Now, about five-to-six weeks later, Astoria has its annual Regatta Week, which includes a fireworks display on the Saturday night. Having learned our lesson, we didn't go down to the River until around 7:30. We got good seats by the park behind the Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, the typical weather (especially along the Columbia River) was overcast, so the fireworks were fired into a solid cloud bank. We saw the bottom half of what sounded to be a really good fireworks show that year.