Moore Better World: Happy 4th!

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. It's full of pride, togetherness, and of course, celebrating our freedom as a nation. Not to mention the enjoyment of food, friends, day-drinking and fireworks. We had a sociable 4th of July celebration, boat-hopping throughout the day in anticipation of watching the St. Petersburg's fireworks on the water.

We grilled aboard our neighbor's boat with s/v Sanibel with traditional American fare, hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, potato salad, my homemade guacamole, veggies and chips. And what 4th of July wouldn't be complete without beer and little shots of tequila in mini red solo cups. I'm in love with these lil' solo cups. Even better, there is a song honoring their very existence! Thanks Lori for introducing this song to me!

No my hand isn't giant, it's a shot size solo cup!

We made our next stop onto s/v Adagio for a quick visit with new friends, including Rufus the weinerdog! Here is where the night got interesting! As with any outdoor event, weather is typically a concern and usually strikes at the most opportune time. Sometimes I think Mother Nature and Murphy's Law have a strong working relationship and they roll out their plans at just the right moment. And with a celebration such as this, boat owners dust off their vessels and make their way into the bay to view the spectacle. About one hour before the start of the fireworks show, the winds picked up to 25kts, white caps emerged from below and Mother Nature gave us a fireworks display of her own. Flashing red & blue police lights bobbed on the water's surface monitoring the safety of boats. We didn't witness the incident, but a boat washed up onto the nearby beach, likely due to a very short anchor scope in very strong waves. Hope they made it out unscathed. Poor local cops!

Thankfully, the winds and rain moved north of us so our night continued on. We made our way across the mooring field to our final destination aboard s/v Jingle to watch the delayed, but much-anticipated fireworks show! We were roughly 200 yards from the main event. Anchor lights (aka kitty lights) dangled like bright stars on the horizon and thousands of spectators lined the seawall eagerly awaiting the colorful display reminiscent of childhood summers. Smoke in my nose, debris falling onto the boat and onto my skin made the 4th of July celebration a true experience to remember. Thanks to all of our boat friends for your hospitality, entertainment, food and good times!

My fireworks photos didn't quite do justice, but they are still fun to share.