I didn’t drink much all day; the sun and wind and bike riding would’ve made that a grotesque misadventure. But being on a bike was actually a great way to see the parade. I rode down toward Bay to Bay at one point and, like you, noticed the crowds were much thinner there. But nowhere were the crowds all that bad.
Being on a bike I could ride up the parade route with the parade, and I did. The worst viewing was from the area around the Davis Islands bridges over Bayshore; people were crammed in there and had set up whole party pads complete with thumping speakers in the backs of pickup trucks. No need to go there. You could watch from the bridges themselves, but this didn’t seem to be that popular.

I rode my bike through the gate around One Bayshore and up the parking garage. There was a security guard there with the thickest neck I’ve ever seen on a human; I’ve found, however, that if you like you belong there, everyone assumes you do. This is true whether you’re swimming in a hotel pool or sneaking past security in a private condo.
From the second and fourth floors of the parking garage I had a terrific view of the parade, although nobody threw any beads my way.
Later I rode into downtown and saw more of the parade, but had more fun riding some of the cheap carnival rides and eating funnel cakes. Incidentally, there was a “Pennsylvania Dutch Funnel Cake” stand. Has anyone ever heard of this? How exactly would the Amish make funnel cakes? A wood fired stove and a metal funnel? I mean, really. I didn’t try them. I will next year.