It has been 10 years or so that I have been down to the lake to watch the fireworks. Can anyone suggest the best place to sit to get the best view of the fire works?

quote:

It has been 10 years or so that I have been down to the lake to watch the fireworks. Can anyone suggest the best place to sit to get the best view of the fire works?

Yes, there is a home on Glen Ellyn Place that is having free eats and booze for all that stop by...u can see them from there.

2 years ago we put down blankets around 7 am...went back to find them rudely moved to a really crummy spot...back to our secret spot well away from lake ellyn!

Never understood the appeal of fireworks at Lake Ellyn. Grew up in the Oak Park / River Forest area, and the fireworks display at OPRF HS was always packed for blocks around. Our first year in GE the fireworks were at COD. Oceans of parking lots, not crowded, great sight lines - just wonderful. Come to find out that Lake Ellyn was drained for some maintenance, and COD was a one-time-only thing.

We dont go SOR. Unless its to the Arboretum.

quote:

Never understood the appeal of fireworks at Lake Ellyn.

Tend to agree, poor parking and lots of mosquitoes.

quote:

Originally posted by Yossarian:

quote:

Never understood the appeal of fireworks at Lake Ellyn.

Tend to agree, poor parking and lots of mosquitoes.

Quit nibbling on the peyote buttons, Yoss. That's just crazy talk. Or have you already begun slurping that booze slush? Although...after watching you dance around in my driveway yesterday, I can understand why mosquitos are a concern. You appear to be a target.

What are you doing home? Shouldn't you be at a party?

My obligation appears to be over. Perhaps I'll stop by. Most likely I will not....it seems to be nearly my bed time.

Thanks everyone that was very helpful...not. I could give a crap about parking issues or bugs or where a better place to have the fireworks. And as for the usual regulars who post on here can you hijack someone elses thread? I don't really care if Clam is home or where the Fan is or any of the other banter that is only relevant to you. Can't you guys just call each other or text or something better than stealing threads?

quote:

We dont go SOR. Unless its to the Arboretum.

Thank-you.

quote:

Originally posted by LostInForest:
Thanks everyone that was very helpful...not. I could give a crap about parking issues or bugs or where a better place to have the fireworks. And as for the usual regulars who post on here can you hijack someone elses thread? I don't really care if Clam is home or where the Fan is or any of the other banter that is only relevant to you. Can't you guys just call each other or text or something better than stealing threads?

Here is the absolute answer....the secret that I have been holding back for years. And years. Almost as many years as you have been absent from the fireworks. Bring your little folding chairs down to the GBW parking lot and set them up in one of the aisles. Now you're saying to yourself, "That doesn't seem to 4th of Julyey to me," but I can assure you that the time you save watching them from that vantage point will be well worth it. The show is overhead, after all. Not by the lake. The lake is an absolute madhouse on the 4th...filled with the kind of people that you probably don't want to hang around. I hope you enjoy your evening.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not gently correct your usage of "I could give a crap." If you think about it, it means that you actually could give a crap. The correct usage would be, "I couldn't give a crap/****/damn/etc.,"...or, of course, "I could not care less."

Have a fun 4th!!!

Thanks Clam - good advice. Have a good 4th too!

It is nothing personal but I could not care less where you are at any given time.

quote:

It is nothing personal but I could not care less where you are at any g

Clam - LostinForest - you guys at work?

I care about my fellow residents.

A happy 4th to everyone.

I love you nonetheless, LIF.

One word of warning as it would be reckless of me to not point this out...I think they occasionally have some ground-based displays. These are not that easy to see from my suggested locale. BUT....there is patriotic music playing throughout the festivities. And if you think hearing Ethel Merman signing "God Bless America" for the 15th year in a row gets tiresome, well you'd be wrong.

They set them off on the field between the stadium and the lake. So the "classic" position is to get to the far end of the lake, and see them go off over the lake with the HS in the background. Of course, several thousand of your closest friends will have the same idea, and trees limit the number of spaces that really give good views of all or most of the show. The trees around the lake have grown considerably over the past decade, greatly reducing the number of locations from which you can see the ground displays.

I second Clam's suggestion for the area around the HS - the parking lot and the stadium. You will find it can take 10 minutes or more just to get from one end of the park to the other. Heck, I've found I can satisfy my fireworks fix from a couple of blocks away. But I'm not big on crowds.