Beaches Were Quiet, but It Was Lively Elsewhere

Cloudy skies and brisk offshore winds kept beach crowds down on the Fourth, but enthusiastic turnouts were reported at inland Orange County events.

Highway Patrol officials said there were no major traffic tie-ups on the freeways, although Balboa Boulevard was closed Friday afternoon by Newport Beach police between Pacific Coast Highway and 32nd Street to prevent congestion on the peninsula.

Police elsewhere in the county said that before midnight the most frequent complaints were calls about the discharge of illegal fireworks.

“We never got the beach crowd we anticipated,” said Mike Baumgartner, senior lifeguard at Huntington Beach. “It was relatively quiet,” with about 45,000 at the shore.

Police estimated that more than 100,000 attended Huntington Beach’s Fourth of July Parade.

“It was a real boring Fourth of July,” said Mike Starkweather, lifeguard supervisor at Huntington Beach State Park, where about 60,000 lined the sand.

“The weather kept quite a few of them away,” said Mitch White, division supervisor at Newport Beach. Still, he said, an estimated 85,000 people showed up.

Runs of 10 kilometers and under were scheduled in La Palma, Laguna Niguel and Newport Beach. Evening fireworks displays took place in half a dozen locations around the county, along with a musical celebration at Santa Ana Stadium.