Waterfront Fireworks

It's the 4th of July and the scene from Downtown San Diego is bumper to bumper traffic, all streets near the harbor and Seaport Village are closed off for pedestrians and people from all around come to enjoy the spectacular Big Bay Boom fireworks show. It's the biggest fireworks display west of Mississippi, and the best 4th of July event on the West coast. 

The city prepares 13,000 pounds of fireworks on 4 different barges around the San Diego Bay for a 21 minute show. People come from all over the United States and from different parts of the world to see the show that make your eyes glow with red, white, and blue lights. Best seen from Seaport Village, Harbor Island, the Broadway Pier, the Embarcadero, or Coronado, the show stretches across the waters of the bay to impress onlookers all around. 

Last year I had the once in a lifetime chance to see the show, in basically VIP seats from a gorgeous Yacht, anchored in the middle of the bay. A family friend generously offered my family and friends his yacht to cruise around the bay all day and into the night. So with about 20 people on board, plenty of delicious food and drinks to last us all day, we launched from a pier in Glorrietta Bay. We cruised all around the bay, then eventually set the anchor with views of Coronado on our left and the heart of Downtown San Diego on our right. I have never seen a more beautiful sight of our skyline than I did on that day. 

Once 9pm came around, the music started and so did the show. The pictures you see below don't compare to our actual view, althought a camera never perfectly captures the eyes view. The first firework went up in the air and exploded with a big boom. It was beautiful. You could physically feel each burst of firework. That's how close we were. And to see them we had to look strait above us. Not to mention that you could see the other fireworks shooting up in the air from the surrounding barges. It was a view like no other. I'll never forget the look on everyone's faces. Here we were, all adults and everyone stared in awe as though we were all kids for that moment, amazed with the lights and the overwhelming sound. 

Pictures from our Yacht taken by me.
           My personal favorite is this one

So for your next Fourth of July, if you are looking for something new and exciting to do, come so San Diego. For those of us who are so lucky to live here already, if up you have yet to do so, go see this amazing show. You will not be disappointed! 

Writers note: The top picture of this article/blog was a picture from Flickr of last nights show. The rest of the pictures were taken by me. Not the best of quality, but they were taken on my old iphone 4, with very minimal editing. All pics can be found on my Instagram: @jovi_casie . 

What happened to human interaction?

While at a Starbucks recently, I noticed something that made me instantly think that people really do need to put down their phones and maybe actually speak to the nice stranger that says hi. 

While sipping on my Venti Iced Passion Tea Lemonade and browsing on my ipad, I suddenly looked up and noticed my surroundings. There was a group of students at the table next to me discussing a book, I  overheard their conversation a little. They were having a really cool discussion, and I kind of wished I was part of this study group. The couple sitting in front of me were literally sitting in silence. Both on their phones, the guy looked around a few times as though he was bored. His girlfriend or wife didn't even notice because she was so 'busy' on Instagram. (When I walked by her to use the restroom I saw it on her iphone screen.) There was one person sitting at the bar area doing homework. One guy sitting behind me doing the same. And an elderly lady reading a book and sipping her coffee even further behind me. Randomly, there was a guy dozing off while listening to his headphones in the back corner. And not surprisingly everyone in line waiting for their drinks were looking at their phones until it was time to order. Not one person seemed to say hi to each other or even smile. As I looked all around me the only people who stood out the most was the group next to me. I was honestly fascinated that such discussions still take place. Why was I so fascinated at what seems like a common thing? Simply because it really isn't that common anymore. 

Why is it so hard for people to socialize in such a small area such as a coffee shop? I understand that some come alone to study, and I think there's nothing wrong with that. These couples or friends that come here to hang out but end up being on their phones the whole time, are just nuts. Yes, nuts! Because they can't interact with the person they came here to hangout with. 

So then something amazing happened as I was observing everyone. An elderly guy came in to enjoy his coffee. He ordered then walked by me looking for somewhere to sit. He found a single table in front of the group of students, so he was to my left but across from me. He must have noticed that I was observing. He smiled at me and I smiled back. A few minutes later, he walked over to me and politely said that he comes in to enjoy a small coffee everyday and that he likes to conversate with new people. Always being the cautious person I am, I was a little reluctant at first. He then asked if he could join me. I told him that I was writing but he could join me for a few minutes. He was really old, and he seemed like one of those nice old people that just wanna talk to someone because they're lonely. Turns out he was. 

He began to tell me about how he comes in everyday and he was widowed and used to come here with his wife when she was still alive. He said he still comes in for his coffee because he likes the company of others. I thought it was so sweet but sad about him loosing his wife. So then he asked me what I did and what I was writing about, so I told him I was a writer and blogger. He was so fascinated by it. I could go on and on about our cool conversation, but it would take a whole other story. The conversation lasted about a good half hour, and the guy was really nice and we had a genuine conversation.

I wish this kind of incident happened more often in life. Had I been one of those many other people too busy on their cell phones, I wouldn't have looked up, and I wouldn't have met a cool person and had that interesting conversation. My point is that we should put down our phones and tablets and iPads, and strike up a conversation.  As Einstein said, " I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."