The air show this weekend appears to have been a huge success. When we drove down to the lakefront yesterday, Veteran's Park and the surrounding grassy areas were overflowing with people. For a couple of miles, people were camped out everywhere to catch the show - along the street, up on hills, on the beach.
I went down there with my mom and my grandpa, and since my grandpa couldn't walk far, we ended up parking up near Lake Park and sitting on a bluff overlooking the lake. We weren't in the middle of everything like I had hoped, but there were still a lot of people around us and we had an awesome view of the lake and of the Blue Angels. It was HOT HOT HOT out and I was impressed that so many people still came out. Grandpa sat in the shade while mom and I caught some sun. We beat the heat by downing water and visiting the ice cream truck when he stopped by.
The Blue Angels were spectacular. We were waiting for awhile and then there they were, coming in from the distance over the lake in absolutely perfect alignment. It blows me away how all six of them can fly in such perfect unison, so close together, without one plane ever getting just a little bit ahead of or behind the others.
For 45 minutes or so, they flew together up and down the shoreline and over the city, sometimes in two's and three's, sometimes on their own, and sometimes all six together. I love it when a few are flying ahead of you and then another sneaks up on the crowd from behind, really low and really loud. I love when two of them come toward one another full-speed like they're going to crash and then they turn at the last possible second. I love everything they do. They do 360 degree turns that are so fluid; they fly so high that they disappear and then they reappear before you know it; they fly upside down; they are so loud and fast when they fly right past or above that the crowd can't help but clap and laugh with delight.
My back got pretty badly sunburned during the show, but I had a good time otherwise. I could tell the people around me were really enjoying themselves, too. I noticed that there were people there of absolutely every age, from a bunch of little kids and quite a few people my age to people my parents' age and quite a few pretty old people, too. I guess airplanes are one of the few things that can span just about every generation!
Today was my company's summer picnic and I stopped by that for awhile. I didn't do the waiter/waitress races at Bastille Days because my manager never gathered enough people to participate. I'm sure it would have been fun, though! I wonder who participated ... and who won?
Dave and I were going to go down to Bastille Days this afternoon but decided against it. Dave started a new job this week and has been working a lot and wanted to just relax, and after my busy weekend, I seconded that motion. We went and saw Wedding Crashers (SO FUNNY!) and now I'm layin low for the rest of the evening.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
What a lovely day! Great pics and descriptions as well. I've never been lucky enough to see the Blue Angels live, but I've been an air show freak for my whole life, and have seen Canada's Snowbirds more times than I care to count.
I wear a Blue Angels watch (hee!)
Popped in from Michele's tonight. Your blog is such a refreshing read!
Posted by: Carmi | July 17, 2005 at 10:35 PM
I am not here by Michele's order, but because I saw you comment to someone on Michele's. The name Erin is very special to me. I know a Sweet Girl with that name, but I'm not telling anymore....
I'll be back; I love Wisconsin and will want to read more.
Posted by: Blond Girl | July 17, 2005 at 11:03 PM
I agree..it sounds like it was a huge success. They were flying over my condo all weekend. I have a couple pics that I need to post yet. Glad you had a good weekend!
Posted by: Derek | July 18, 2005 at 08:09 AM
Here courtesy of Michele - greetings.
The Blue Angels thing sounds cool. I've never seen an air show and - unfortunately - the only time that they seem to enter my thoughts are the periodic horrible news items about mid-air crashes.
I went to see Wedding Crashers too, but it lost me after the first forty minutes and I left the theatre in search of something more filling...which led me to Crash.
Posted by: J-Roc | July 18, 2005 at 08:27 AM
I wasnt able to get to the lakefront to watch the Blue Angels, but I was happy when I was tailgating for the Brewers game and they came to show off over by Miller Park. Seeing what kind of show they were putting on for us, I could only imagine how great it was over the water. I will have to get front row seats next time!
Love the site Erin! I'll be back!
Posted by: Nicole | July 18, 2005 at 01:32 PM