The Fourth of July

A long time ago, I promised someone I would blog about the Fourth of July in Washington DC... Well, I'm keeping my promise. Independence Day in the Nation's Capitol was incredible! It was especially fun because Bette Jo, Carl, Kevin, Melissa, and Scott came to visit! Holidays spent with family are always the best. I spent pretty much the whole day on the Mall (which meant I only had to wait in the crazy-long security line once). We started the day across from the National Archives and watched a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence.

We had snagged great spots for the reading, and that meant that we had great seats for the parade, too!

We spent the rest of the day at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, learning about Texas, Bhutan, and NASA. It was pretty cool. I liked the Bhutan exhibits the most, especially the yak herder and the calligrapher. After exploring the festival, Diane, Stanley, Melissa, and I went to stand in line for the concert on the Capitol lawn. When we finally made it through the security line, we found a spot on the grass and laid our blankets out. Then... it started to rain. And by rain, I mean downpour! Six of us crowded together under three umbrellas that we held together to cover us as much as possible. Our blankets got soaked, and we all got a little wet, too, but we became close friends as we played Two Truths and A Lie. :)

The rain stopped before the concert, so we didn't miss the great performance! We saw Huey Lewis and the News and Jerry Lee Lewis. You can bet we all sang along to "Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire!"

Then came the fireworks! The National Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture as background. It doesn't get better than that!

We finished the day with dinner at Uno's Pizzeria -- tired, wet, but very happy.