July 4 - fireworks? good parade? (Seattle, Bellevue: 2013, to move, ferry)

[Kalex]

ok...first July 4 for us and we're trying to figure out what to do with 2 kiddos ages 8 and 16. Where are the good fireworks and places to watch them from? Are there any good parades around? We don't mind driving wherever, would love to avoid sitting in a sea of a zillion people for fireworks if it's possible
please, please please tell me it's better than Seattle's St Patrick's Day!!! or if not, at least I can plan accordingly

[tobester]

I think good fireworks displays and avoiding sitting in a sea of people are mutually exclusive desires. Lake Union is the place in Seattle.

[amaiunmei]

Scroll down to King County:

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/docs/fireworks/fireshow.pdf

Bellevue and Kirkland are popular places to see fireworks on the Eastside, and are likely more family oriented. Those places are not as popular as Seattle, though, which may suit you.

[Kalex]

that's fine - we're assuming there are crowds everywhere, but a lot of times you can find random spots to watch the same fireworks that are outside of the main crowd areas. that's just kind of a nice-to-have, not a deal breaker. parades = crowded and that's expected.

[JonasW]

You can avoid most of the fireworks crowd at SLU by staying on the city side of Mercer Ave. There's a parking lot there you can stand in that last year was empty. The crowds were in the park by the trolley station. But from there you can see the fireworks fine.

As to parades, the Pride parade Sunday will probably be the most interesting.

[benleis]

The bright side of having the fireworks over Lake Union is that there are viewing points from almost every side of the lake and most of the side ones are not too crowded. The bigger issue is getting yourself out when they're done. If you can stay away from the main access points to I-5 from gasworks / SLU park you're much better off.

Ben

[Hemlock140]

Bainbridge Island, Burien and Bothel have parades. Other cities have some small kids/pets parades. One of the most fun is at Carnation, with fireworks at night but alot of other events during the day.

[prosin]

Kingston has a true small-town celebration:

Parade (noonish--lasts about one hour)
Ball Race
Tiny Town
Farmer's Market
Fun Run (8 a.m., may be a little early for non-residents)
Music
Fireworks at 10:30 p.m. over the cove. Best place to view it may actually be on the 11:00 ferry.

http://www.kingston4thofjuly.com/

[BellevueNative]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Bainbridge Island, Burien and Bothel have parades. Other cities have some small kids/pets parades. One of the most fun is at Carnation, with fireworks at night but alot of other events during the day.

Bothell has always had a great community parade. It goes down Main Street and turns onto Bothell-Everett Hwy. It used to include the Sea-Fair Pirates...not sure if it still does. But it's the kind of parade where the local residents put their chairs out along the parade route the day before, leaves them, and no one even tries to move or steal them.

[JasR30]

I know that Everett is a bit of a drive but I always had fun having the 4th of July there.They have a parade in the afternoon and free shuttles that take everybody to the waterfront for the fireworks. There is always lots of fun stuff for the kids as well.

4th of July 2013 in Everett