In the hour and a half between when we left the street festival and midnight, we didn’t do anything particularly interesting. Mostly, we just sat and chatted, played with Cristina’s adorable dog, and watched New York’s New Year’s Eve celebrations on TV.
At 11:50, the champagne, blowers, tiaras, and hats came out, and people started going outside. For many, this didn’t last too long, because it was a chilly 38 degrees outside, complemented by a stiff wind. I had to remove my hat and glasses and leave them inside for fear of watching my $10 blow off the side of the Marriott and into the Rivercenter below.
What a sight there was from our balcony. Well before midnight, when we looked into the distance into the suburbs, we could see fireworks going off everywhere. Apparently everyone in the greater San Antonio area had acquired illegal mortar shells and were firing them off like there was no tomorrow. The entire horizon was lit up in white, blue, pink, and green explosions. It was absolutely spectacular, and was definitely the largest firework display that I have ever seen. After 10 minutes, by the time the New Year actually rolled around, the horizon was thick with haze.
We couldn’t quite have an official countdown to the New Year, since everyone had a different time on their watch, so we just waited until the crowd began to roar before we began shouting “Happy New Year”, blowing on our airhorns, and hugging and kissing everyone in sight. The moment that the crowd began to roar was the moment that the lit up elevator in the Tower of the Americas reached the top, turning the giant “2006” on the Tower into a “2007” and setting off the beginning of an amazing fireworks spectacle. For nearly 20 minutes, fireworks shot up from behind the Tower and out from the Tower itself while the people in San Antonio continued their pyromaniac tendencies and lit up the sky behind. The finale was awesome, with multiple mortar shells exploding over the Tower as it spewed yellow in every direction.
As soon as the Tower finished its display, most of my family and all of Cristina’s family rushed back inside, attempting to warm their chilled limbs. I stayed outside for a little longer, rapt. The fireworks on the horizon had slowed, but were still very obviously there, and I couldn’t get over the sheer number of them.
The only downer of the night was that I couldn’t get a hold of James before the New Year began, since my phone card couldn’t handle the volume of calls going through. However, I eventually got a hold of him and let him listen to the din, which had changed from airhorns and fireworks to the honking of car horns, as everyone in the traffic jam below showed everyone just how happy they were by deafening them.
All in all, it was the perfect way to bring in the New Year. I was surrounded by my loving family (minus one, who had celebrated the New Year 16 hours before me) and friends, with a glass of champagne in one hand and a camera in the other to capture the festivities, watching the best fireworks display I’ve ever seen. San Antonio does New Year’s right—much better than a dinky fireworks display over the bay—so it’s no wonder that 250,000 other people spent the evening in downtown. I think that, at least while I’m in America, this way of spending New Year’s Eve might have to become a tradition.