What to do? Avoid the amateur drunks' holiday "festivities." Hit the am parade in Grayton or Seaside, then help clean up, eat some Q or hotdogs, avoid drinking all day and turning lobster-red, and avoid all incoming fireworks and explosions being launched by drunks with fire and gunpowder. Did I mention to avoid the drunks? Try to avoid them on the road, too. If you are going to drink alcohol, find a sober person in the group to drive, if you decide to wander too far from home-base.
Put it this way, if I lived in SoWal full time, I would pick July 4th (and Memorial Day and Labor Day) to take a brief vacation somewhere else.
As much as we all love the area, the major summer holidays are just too much.
I don't know if this is still done, but people in NOLA used to leave town during Mardi Gras to get away from the drunk tourists. There was a school holiday, so the kiddies didn't miss any school. Tulane even canceled classes the Friday before Mad Grass thru the Wednesday after it (hangover recuperation day).Put it this way, if I lived in SoWal full time, I would pick July 4th (and Memorial Day and Labor Day) to take a brief vacation somewhere else.
As much as we all love the area, the major summer holidays are just too much.
The best thing is to try to find a less crowded stretch of beach, take a picnic out around sunset, and watch the fireworks up and down the coast. You will be able to see the fireworks going of in Panama City, Panama City Beach, Seaside, Grayton, Sandestin, Destin, and tiny glimmers of Fort Walton's. It's so wonderful -- and if you have little kids it good to have the distance, they don't get freaked out by the noise.