Decisions, decisions - where to watch the rockets' red glare in Tallahassee and the surrounding area? Well, you've got options - lots of 'em. And there are even some festivities to help you get in a red, white and blue for Monday's big blow-out.
Satisfy your appetite for fun at the Blues & BBQ Festival with King Cotton, Pepper Drive and the Swingin' Harpoon Band from 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday (July 2) at Harry's Seafood Bar & Grill on Kleman Plaza. Call 222-3976 to find out more. The momentum builds at the Bayou Bash Freedom Festival Street Party with Eric Durrance & Tobacco Road and King Cotton from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. Sunday at Po' Boys Creole Cafe, 224 E. College Ave. It's free. Call 224-5400.
It all leads up to the big Celebrate America party hosted by the City of Tallahassee Monday at Tom Brown Park, 501 Easterwood Drive. It features a cavalcade of patriotic song, dance and other, including performances by Portia Sinoso, Part-Time Genius, The New 76'ers, Dayve Stewart & the Vibe, Johnny Fire, SoulCreek and more starting at 5:15 p.m. Admission is free, and there are shuttles available for those who chose the easy option of parking at the Koger Center on Capital Circle S.E.
If you venture to the beach, you'll find that just about every little community strung along the coast will be hosting a festivity brimming with small-town charm. And the coast is a great place to get more bang for your fireworks buck in terms of seeing spectacular pyrotechnic displays deployed over water.
Some years ago, I spent the Fourth of July on Dog Island. My friends and I hiked out to a perfect vantage point, and as darkness fell, the entire coast lit up with fireworks, each community seemingly synchronized with the next, so that as soon as one display fizzled out, another would fire up a few miles down the coast. We could see all the way to St. George Island, and once the land-locked fireworks faded, Dog Island itself erupted with fiery festivity.
It was magic, pure magic.
Kati SchardlKati Schardl is the Features Editor for the Tallahassee Democrat. She’s a true North Florida native – born in Panama City and raised in Marianna. She came to Tallahassee to attend FSU and earned a social work degree before yielding to the scruffy allure of journalism and joining the staff of the Florida Flambeau. Her cultural credentials include a stint as backup singer for legendary local band Cold Water Army (now, alas, defunct) and founding membership in the SPACE arts collective in Railroad Square Art Park. After more than a decade of serving as office manager and chief research assistant/go-fer for the St. Petersburg Times capital bureau, Kati joined the staff of the Democrat as music writer and theater critic. In 2006, she was awarded an NEA Fellowship that enabled her to spend 10 days in Los Angeles seeing plays and attending writing workshops hosted by the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. Kati lives in Midtown West and loves its eclectic funkitude and its proximity to her favorite cultural hotspots.
