Fireworks

I love fireworks and I love fireworks tents. Ever since I was a little boy, I'd venture out with my parents and we would explore the different tents, find out about the different fireworks and — of course! — get some really great ones to shoot off. Over the years, I've acquired a list of particular fireworks I really want to see each year and favorite places to get them. Regular asisaid readers will recall I've posted fireworks reviews many years highlighting some of my favorites.

Sure you can just go to the first tent you run into and get plenty of beautifully explosive things to light on the Fourth of July. But, if you are shopping for fireworks for this Independence Day and you live in St. Charles County, let me mention my two favorite stands: Powder Monkey Fireworks and Red Dragon Fireworks.

I was at both of them tonight and it was like seeing old friends again. Both have wonderful personal touches and enthusiasm for the fireworks. You can tell these people actually love shooting off fireworks, not necessarily a given at every tent, and have seen the fireworks they are selling. They also both carry a very good selection of fountains and other affordable yet satisfying choices.

Powder Monkey is the newer (to me, at least) of my two favorites. I first ran across them two years ago. Virtually every item in the tent has a detailed description of what it does and they have lots of really affordable choices that they recommend highly. The owner, Chris, his family and friends are always extremely knowledgable. You can tell that the tent is filled with people who love fireworks. I cannot help but appreciate that even the prices are fitting, such as 17.76 for some of the patriotic sounding ones or 7.77 for a Vegas themed one. As an added bonus, this year they are shooting off some of their favorite fireworks every night at 9:11 p.m. It was helpful getting to see a few of their recommendations tonight. You can find them right off of Hwy. 94, near Hwy. 40/I-64.

Red Dragon has been a regular stop of mine for quite a few years now — I cannot remember quite how long, but probably close to a decade. Besides having a great name, Tim, the stand's owner, is also a really nice guy and has always been helpful. Their selection is helpfully organized with fun, festive signs such as “Wall of Doom” for the artillery shells. One of my perennial favorites, Just 2 Cool, is always available at this stand (and it is often hard to find elsewhere). The tent is located just off of Mid Rivers Mall Dr., as you can see on this Google Map.

Both tents are relatively close together, so you may want to check out both of them. Both will do an excellent job of guiding you to excellent choices for your holiday display, whether you are looking to spend just a few dollars or you want to give the municipal shows a run for their money. I have visited most of the tents in St. Charles over the years and really believe Red Dragon and Powder Monkey are unbeatable.

Need some recommendations on fireworks? My posts on my favorite fireworks from years past are at your finger tips: 2003, 2005, 2007 (my first mention of Red Dragon shows up in the last one). Surprisingly, I have not written much on fireworks in the last couple of years. I may need to provide an updated list of my favorites.