A few observations:
- Police officers graciously took questions from the floods of people directed through this metro station as the Smithsonian metro stop was closed until after the fireworks
- The American obesity epidemic dressed in red, white, and blue and on the move
- Chattering and commotion in a wide variety of languages - there were especially lots of Japanese and Chinese tourists
- One of my favorite scenes: cute little old people holding hands
- A rather wonderful saxophone player riffing off some of our patriotic songs
- Tons of adorable small children wearing their best happy faces that I'm sure unfortunately faded rather quickly in the 100 degree sun.
After a couple of texts and phone calls to finally meet up, Kate and I hugged and I shook hands with her new beau. Unfortunately none of their other friends nor my roommates were able to come with us, but it was a fun day. Fun, hot day. 100 and sunny. All day. Thankfully we chose the correct side of Constitution Ave. so we didn't have to squint into the sun and we were able to clap, point, and marvel at the acts and floats coming through the parade. I don't think I'd go again, it was a parade, but it was a cool experience to do once and definitely to be in DC for the 4th of July! Some photos (more on Picasa):
The thing I thought was really cool and that I was pleasantly surprised by was the representation of different cultures in our country's independence day parade. It was really amazing that internationally controversial groups such as the Falun Dafa (aka Falun Gong) and Hare Krishna as well as groups of Bolivian Americans and Vietnamese Americans etc embracing their cultural richness and history in a celebration basically marking a group of white immigrants' victory over the white colonial power. The unfortunate thing was that these groups seemed a little out of place in the parade, but it's good our country is at least appearing to be receptive to multiculturalism as a part of our national celebration.
Following the parade, Kate, Charles, and I headed in the direction of the Capitol. We slowly wandered in the heat, stopping for shade breaks, free Indian food from the Hare Krishna tent, and bathroom breaks before entering the Capitol grounds to find territory on the hill for our campsite. The Capitol Fourth concert was slated to start at 8, but in order to get a decent spot, we headed there at about 3:30 - this was only a half hour after gates opened and there were already tons of people braving the heat and sun on the Capitol lawn! It became an afternoon of laying out on my picnic blanket, sweating while not moving, munching on juicy cherries, and taking turns running on bathroom and shade breaks as well as ice cream and snack runs.
I learned that apparently Minnesotans are disproportionately represented in DC - apparently there are an uncanny number of us running around! We had ended up plopping down on the hill to stake out our spot in front of a woman who was reserving a space for her family, and Kate and I recognized a very heavy Minnesotan accent! We all got to talking, took turns taking photos for each other, and enjoyed the Capitol Fourth concert. The only people in the huge sea of the masses that we talked to ended up being from our humble state.
As for the acts, Gladys Knight in her 60s is still an incredible performer with an amazing voice. I had of course heard of David Archuletta from American Idol but I had never heard him sing, but his voice during the national anthem especially just melted everybody! And with Jimmy Smits commentating the nationally broadcasted event, I had jokingly sent my dad a text message to keep an eye out for me in the throngs of people on the Capitol hill in case they pictured the crowd. Only a few minutes after he inquired as to what I was wearing so as to improve the search, I received a message that said "I see you!" I should remember to wear my gray pageboy hat more often when I want to be recognized as a fuzzy blob on TV. We along with the crowd sang along to songs, enjoyed the concert, shifted with the crowds to better see the fireworks behind the Washington Monument a few miles from us, and made a mad dash for the metro to avoid at least some of the crowd as the fireworks ended. Too bad our rush got us squeezed into a metro car that didn't have air conditioning! But at least we all got home a little faster even though we shared some sweat with our neighbors in the metro... Boy did a cold shower feel great.
