It's a nationwide trend
Galveston goes low key in its Fourth of July fireworks show & maybe that's morethan all right
Galveston's fireworks show still had some impressive moments, like this one froma previous year's show.
Galveston's no The Freedom Over Texas — and it probably shouldn't strive to besuch.
Galveston still has the beach.Photo by William Hunt
The crowd lined up against the seawall dispersed like a cannon shot at the last firework's boom. There was more than a little muttering from the slower-exiting, beach-watchers below, something of a "That was it?" feeling.
"The fireworks seemed to be a lot better in the past," Melissa Sanders said, as she tried to guide three kids and a husband to the stairs.
It's not that Galveston's annual Fourth of July fireworks show Sunday night disappointed as much as it underwhelmed. To say, it was no Freedom Over Texas is putting it mildly. Growing up in Michigan as a kid, I had a next-door neighbor whose dad (Mr. Lane) put on an annual, high-tech, slightly-illegal backyard show that surely only seems like it could have rivaled Galveston's event. That's not even getting into how much more impressive shows seen in tiny New Jersey towns like Montclair and Long Branch over the years were in comparison.
"It's like they did half the fireworks this year," another guy who said he was a long-time Galveston fireworks watcher told me. "Or at least, they had half the power."
You know what? Maybe, there's nothing wrong with that.
It's a different world now. In many ways, Galveston is still recovering from Hurricane Ike, as any drive around town that strays from the beach easily illustrates. Many other communities around the country scraped their annual fireworks shows entirely — including some of the Jersey Shore beach towns I loved — due to budget concerns.
Galveston still had its show. And if it didn't make anyone think of Macy's Fourth of July celebration, so what? If you didn't like the city's show, you still could have caught one of the several fireworks displays Moody Gardens put on over the weekend.
Sure, my already-somewhat-fireworks-jaded 4-year-old (he's seen some monster shows) barely looked up at Galveston's more modest display, preferring the thrill of digging in the beach sand in the dark instead. But he still had fun.
Galveston still has the beach, the breeze and the water. Maybe, that's enough. It's not like the show was all sparklers or something.
