We decided that since one is never sure when life will take you to new places that we had better take advantage of being in DC for 4th of July and brave the crowds to see how the Nation's capital compares with Delta for my favorite holiday, Independence Day. Growing up 4th of July was always a very fun and traditional holiday with my Dad being born on that day. I have only missed going to Delta for the 4th about 5 times in my entire life and my sister said that was the only day she was homesick on her mission, not even on Christmas but on 4th of July. So we invited my brother and his family to come join us so maybe I wouldn't be so homesick for Delta's festivities, having family around always helps. We headed into DC on Sunday to visit some museums while they were here and get an idea of how things would be for the 4th. After a crazy day and some very tired kiddies we postponed going into DC Monday morning until the afternoon and headed to our local town for their parade in the morning.
We arrived about 20 minutes before the parade began and the streets were fairly empty, no problem finding a place to sit unlike Delta where you put your car out two nights before the parade begins. The parade was fun though not nearly the candy but the kiddies did get some. About 50% of the participants in the parade were politicians which was different but they did have a John Deere tractor so that reminded me of home.
Afterward we prepared for our trip into the city to watch the "best" fireworks in the nation. With plenty of snacks and water aboard we drove to catch the metro which was surprisingly sparse. Our stop was also sparse as we started walking to the Capitol building on the National Mall.
As we approached it was then we were directed to four blocks down where we would need to enter a security checkpoint to reach the Capitol grounds. While carrying all of our snacks, water, blanket, camera, and tugging along 6 children, my sister-in-law and I finally made it through the crowds and security to find the lawn pretty full, at least we thought it was. We did find a spot where we could see the Washington Monument where the fireworks were to be displayed. The kiddies had devoured our water on the walk to the Capitol and the heat and humidity were draining all our energy so we sat in the shade and tried to entertain them with cards, climbing trees and some snacks.
As the lawn continued to fill up it became more difficult to keep the kiddies on our blanket and not stepping on other people around us. Luckily our husbands came as reinforcements and some dinner so we were ready for a few more hours of waiting. I had read some tips on taking pictures of fireworks and had carried my tripod to try them all out so I set it all up ready to enjoy the fireworks and hopefully get some cool pictures. At this time the concert was starting and the lawn was completely covered with people and blankets. The concert was fantastic with Josh Grobin being the highlight though Steve Martin playing banjo with a bluegrass band and Little Richard stirred the crowd up. The fireworks began at 9:15 in the middle of a song and everyone stood up to see them. Well I was all set up to take the pictures with everyone sitting down so was scrambling to get things set up to try to get pictures over their heads. They also had lights on that I thought they would turn off for the fireworks but no, a bright light was shining right on us so again not ideal.
Amazing fireworks though, unlike Delta, they would light off 4-5 at once and one right after another, not a single break waiting for a firework to burst. There is one problem with this however, the smoke from the fireworks did not clear away because they were shooting off new ones all the time. While the fireworks were big, bright and beautiful we also saw a lot of smoke that really took away from the enjoyment. The fireworks lasted about 15 minutes and then we gathered our stuff to work our way through the crowds and metro to luckily a hotel instead of having to drive home. The walk, metro, shuttle and waiting with the crowds only took us about 45 minutes to get to our waiting hotel room which was reasonable considering I had heard to plan on 2 hours.
Needless to say I did miss Delta's small town celebration of Independence Day. There is nothing like; a parade where you know most of the people in it and they throw you a bucket full of candy, going to a city park that is packed with people you grew up with and you can visit with and hearing music from local bands, (I doubt Josh Grobin would ever make it there but Dyer Highway is just as entertaining) a demolition derby, neighbors with fireworks that are as amazing as the city's and the added fun with wondering if they are going to burn down the school or houses around them, taking fireworks up to the cemetery to light a few off for my dad, the city's fireworks that last 15-20 minutes with no smoke and you can get a seat about 30 minutes before they start and most important just spending time with lots of family, playing games, eating good food and making memories.
Ultimately though 4th of July is about celebrating our freedom and remembering all the men and women who died to give us that freedom. Being in the Nation's capital on the same ground where many of those founding fathers walked and lived and fought for those freedoms was very humbling. So while it wasn't Delta, it was the 4th of July and still my favorite holiday where I truly remember how blessed and lucky I am.
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