mandan over the fourth is nuts. but here’s the thing. as awesome as it is seeing fireworks all over the horizon and hearing popping firecrackers for 5 hours straight, i would much rather sit underneath a huge display of fireworks. there is something about seeing the explosions right over your head that makes it that much more awesome. that’s why i liked the st. joe fireworks so much – you could sit on the sidewalk across the street from where they launched the fireworks and the explosions of light would be so huge that it was hard to take in, you were so close. my favorite firework of the night in mandan was the one we set off because it WAS right over our heads. it was dinky, but it was right there. i don’t know if maybe i need to drive down to the city fireworks next year or just buy more big fireworks, but i’d like to be closer to the real deal.