It was a spur of the moment decision.  My friend Dan called me Friday about 5pm. I was just leaving work and heading to pick up some takeout at the Sticks Bar and Grill.

I had ordered the ribs and chicken from the Sticks for dinner and was looking forward to spending a quiet evening at home with my wife and enjoying some ribs. That all changed with Dan’s phone call. Dan and Cheri are very good friends and they were going to Watertown for dinner at Mavericks and then going to watch the fireworks. Both Roxie and I thought that was a great idea. I left work and picked up my takeout order at the Sticks and headed home. They picked us up at 5:30, a half hour after the phone call. 

Whenever we get together with them it seems like all we do is laugh the whole time. We enjoy going out to different places to eat in the area. Roxie and I had never been to Mavericks, which is located on main street in Watertown. We enjoyed our time there, great food and atmosphere. I didn’t order ribs, but had steak and shrimp. After dinner we made our way to where the fireworks were going to be.

I didn’t really know what to expect. I found out later that the Watertown Chamber of Commerce and Lew’s Fireworks along with other sponsors put on the show. It’s located at the softball/soccer complex. While driving to the location I couldn’t believe all the people parked along side the road and off the road in fields to watch the fireworks. Dan parked in a large parking lot by the soccer fields and we grabbed our lawn chairs and began looking for a place to sit and watch the fireworks. We found a spot over looking the soccer field. When we sat down, Roxie says to me “aren’t we kind of close?” There were thousands people gathered in the park where they were going to light the fireworks. I agreed with Roxie I’ve never been this close before.

We waited for about an hour for it to get dark. It was such a beautiful evening. No bugs, low humidity and no wind. By now the crowd was huge around us. Then it started. I was not ready for what I was about to witness. I looked at my watch because I like to time the fireworks. It was 10:08pm. Sitting in my lawn chair I had to tilt my head back because they were blowing up right above us. We were so close! The explosions and music were so loud I thought I was at a rock concert. For 28 minutes I was in awe! It was a beautiful display of fireworks. They did a lot of ground explosions. At one point the big white booms were going off on the ground and it was so loud that the vibration of the blast rippled through my body! The ending was spectacular! When it was over I was overwhelmed with what I witnessed.

It was the best and most intense fireworks display I’ve ever seen. They were amazing! I told Dan and Cheri we are coming back next year for sure and bringing more people with us.

We had a fun night with friends, and by the way, I did eat my ribs and chicken the next day for lunch.