Celebrating in the Southland ~ July 4th in Orange County, CA

It was a sunny warm day, and great day to celebrate America's 232^ndbirthday in SoCal.

My day began early at our BreaCounty Fair on Brea Blvd. It's held annually at our City Hall Park, I've written on this special place previously. The country fair is typical of other home town celebrations complete with entertainment, games, food booths and swimming in Brea's famous plunge. The antique car collection seems fitting with the ears of this great place.

From there I moved on met friends and fellow Rainer Marlene Bridgesat the beach. We headed to one of my favorite SoCal places, "Surf City USA" aka Huntington Beach CA for a day of biking and fun at the beach. It's always a favorites, and Independence Day was no exception. We wound our way on bikes through the crowds to head to the Huntington Beach Parade and Pier Festival 2008 on (of course) Main Street. Obviously we weren't alone; bikes seemed to be the mode of transportation for the day. I can't ever remember seeing so many bikes in Huntington and Newport Beach.

The parade was such a wonderful event, it was full of local personalities and most importantly it was a real salute of those in the service of our great country. This year's theme was "United We Stand" and indeed that did happen in Huntington Beach on the 4th.

Seeing the crowds respond to our military was especially heartwarming. The curbside audience would rise as another rolled or walked by.

One group in particular receiving a standing ovation as they approached was a group of WWII ~ Pearl Harbor Survivors. As you can imagine these were folks now in their 80's survived the battle fought decades ago for our freedom. The same freedom so man take for granted, yet these men and women paid the price. It was a very touching moment as spectators on the curb would reach out just to shake their hands and say thank you.

Not far behind was a group of WWII Submarine Veterans and their wives. In addition we view units in historical WWII uniforms.

As usual any parade would not be worth seeing without the marching bands, riders on horses, community groups and of course clowns. This was a fun parade by any measure.

After the parade we biked to lunch on Main Street and then headed to the heart of town, Pacific Coast Highway I (aka PCH, CA Route One) or Coast Hwy. and Main Street at the world famous Huntington Beach Pier and the Pier Plaza. As a note, the Pier Celebration continues though the week-end with more fun and entertainmen at the plaza next to the historic Hungtington Beach Pier.

From there we biked along the beach trail. After a short ride we passed this young couple sporting big signs and big smiles. The signs read, "HELP FUND OUR HONEYMOON BUY COLD WATER". With that we had to turn our bikes around and pay them a visit. What we found out was that Kira and Ben a young couple currently living nearby in Huntington Beach was raising money for their soon-to-be-honeymoon in November. They took an enterprising approach on a sunny day at the beach filled with visitors to sell ice cold bottled water and sodas out of their cooler. We decided what the heck; we could all use a cold bottle of water, right? So after a friendly chat about where they may honeymoon we decided it was time to say good-bye and move on.

Not much further down the beach trail we came across another young man with a cooler and a sign reading "Cold Water, $1" Marlene spoke up and said "You gotta get a pretty girl to help sales..." he just looked at her and smiled as we rode on.

From Huntington we headed further south to Newport Beach biking the really crowded beach path for a few miles. We stopped at a friend's home on the beach to sit a while and watch the other "parade" of locals and visitors stroll by in various conditions. By then it was late afternoon and many had more than their share of shall I say libation for the day? It was an interesting view pointe, much different from the young couple Ben and Kira selling bottle water just hours ago. And I somehow wished these young folks could have experienced the feeling of pride earlier in the day in honoring our military. Maybe then, who knows the spirit of the day might have meant more to them...well at least I can dream, right?

By dark we had dinner and were at the cul-de-sac block party in the neighborhood. It was a great day! Biking at the beach or around town is something we do on a regular basis, usually twelve months a year. So Cal is such a great place to live and enjoy the outdoors year round!