Adventures in the District: Celebrating Independence in the Nation's Capital

Being a week overdue, I need to share with you how I celebrated the 4th of July in the District. (I also celebrated 'Merica's Birthday Week - as we all should celebrate birthdays - at my dad's in Michigan. Go over to Caffeine & Cocktails to read about that patriotic party. Or better yet, right click on the link, select open in new tab or window and read it when you're done with this post.)

To start off the weekend, I went to my first Nationals' game. Which happened to be a double-header. Which happened to have seats in the sun. I was so gross, no pictures of the day have survived.

Next up was a BBQ with some friends of friends where I celebrated 'Merica with fellow 'Mericans doing what 'Mericans do best: grilling and drinking. We're good at it. It's what we do. It's how we celebrate. Again, it was so hot and muggy, no pictures of the day survived.

For the big dance, we trekked down to the Mall to make a stake in the land to watch the fireworks. The Post suggested getting down there at 6pm (with the show starting at 9:10pm) so we headed out early. What we were not aware of was that the suggestion is more for people aiming to sit right under the display or to see the concert. We had plenty of space and could have walked up a little before 9pm and been fine.

I will say that the fireworks were amazing. We were over a mile away from where they were lighting them off, but they were thrilling to see as the height of the Washington Monument. If I had the patience of a saint, I might venture closer to the launch site just to see them up close and personal. And to be perpendicular to the wind because the smoke really took up a quarter of fireworks because it was so thick. Oh well. Live and learn.

And now for the video and visual portion of the post. Apologies for the iPhone pics and mix with the real camera, but you have to work with what you got.

First, a little video snippet of the 17 minute show.