Getting to the beach at Hammonasset Beach State Park was the Independence Day mission for thousands of people, and how much they enjoyed it depended on their timing.
"Ten minutes is all it took at 10 o'clock," said Evelyn Barnes, who drove from Waterbury.
That's where a party of 20 people came from at 2 p.m., after a long wait at the fee tepees, then a long walk after parking.
"Spend some state money for us!" said Sammy Thouadra. "We got the season here that's only a couple of months. We deserve to have a bigger place."
Nicole Dutkanowicz of Shelton couldn't find a fidelity when she got to the park at 9 a.m. So she drove to Walmart and bought a charcoal grill.
"Forty-five minutes it took to get in," she said. "The line was crazy."
There was room on the sand depending on how far along the three miles of beach people were willing to walk. There was room in the 70-degree water too.
"It's very cold," said Elise Santiago, from Naugatuck, "but it feels good after you're there for a while. You have to rush in, just go, without thinking about it."
