One Massive Fireworks Display- Good Times Out on the Chain

Last night, we had one of the best fireworks displays ever out on the Chain of Lakes here in the northeastern part of Illinois. This was billed as the second biggest in the state and I wouldn't doubt it. They were going off three and four at a time with a big halfway display, and then the end covered the whole sky for a good five minutes. You couldn't have counted the explosions if you had wanted to do so.

Of course the several thousand boats and their anchor lights was quite a sight as well.

The day started for me at 10 AM with what probably was the Village of Fox Lake's longest-ever parade that went on for a little over an hour. This was part of the Celebrate Fox Lake party in honor of the centennial of incorporation.

I lost count of all the firetrucks at the beginning of it and their sirens and air horns were deafening, causing little kids to cover their ears and great discomfort among the dogs. I was surprised to see that the old Mineola Hotel, our answer to the Grand Hotel in Mackinac, Mi, had two old fire engines itself dating back to the era before Fox Lake was incorporated one hundred years ago.

The kids were very disappointed at first as it is the tradition around here to throw candy from the cars and floats. No one was throwing anything. However, after about twenty minutes they were able to start loading up their candy bags.

After about 30 minutes, there was a break in the parade, so I walked over to the vendor/food area and talked with some friends at the American Legion booth and had an excellent bratwurst from Freddie's, a favorite lakeside tavern of mine where I like to play NTN.

Drove over to Woodstock to visit with my mother-in-law Frances and enjoy that great old square and farmer's market.

I came home and then Liz and I went over to Baja Benny's on Fox Lake and enjoyed an oldies band playing on the deck overlooking the water. Then it was on to Rick's, where we keep our boat on a channel. Matt had spent quite a bit on fireworks and they were setting them off. We then went to Rick's Turkey Bar (he is known as the Turkey Man because he caters a lot of parties with his deep-fried turkey) on the channel and listened to the Michael Lescher Band playing several doors down the channel at Kevan's. Later, Rick brought out two deep-fried turkeys. Now, that is some good eatin'.

Last stop was over at the Kellehers where we enjoyed the fireworks. They have a place right on Fox Lake. It was almost deja vu at the start. One group of fireworks went up and about two minutes later, another group. Then, we had nothing for twenty minutes. However, the numerous parties along the shore had their own fireworks shows going on, and some were almost as impressive as some small towns. They must have spent large amounts of money on them.

Two years ago, we had the infamous L-O-N-G fireworks display that went on for four hours, a little at a time. That was the most boring one I've ever seen. (The company had a computer glitch, but put on a free one later in August to make up for it.) We were just packing to laeve, when the show went on. I guess we should've gotten ready to leave sooner. It was worth the wait.

We also found a reasonably fast way to get home as all the cars leave at the end. Last year, I spend about an hour going absolutely nowhere on Grand Avenue as they were letting all the Mineola peple go through first. There were hundreds of boats line up going under Beer Can Bridge and the other US Route 12 bridge. That was quite an impressive sight.

Today, we went back over to the Kellehers for the Day After Party I. We had planned to have Ribfest I, but it was too hot (temps in middle 90s). We were forced to make do with roast beef sandwiches. Well, some people just have to make sacrifices sometimes.

Finally Finished with Fourth of July Celebrations. --RoadDog