If you are planning to go to see the Fourth of July fireworks in Gas Works Park, 3:00 PM is a good time to arrive. You should still be able to find plenty of spots to stake out on the grass. By 5:00 PM you would have to squeeze in between other people and/or accept a less-than-ideal view. By 7:00 PM, it’s a challenge to walk through the park and the food lines are ridiculously long. By 9:00 PM it’s standing room only – literally – people are lining the paths, which makes it nearly impossible to move.

Hopefully this tip will help someone. All I could find was “arrive early”, and I didn’t know how early “early” was. (We went too early!)