an overdue post about July 4th

For the 4th of July, we decided to head downtown to watch the fireworks on the Mall. We took the Metro from Vienna to the Federal Triangle stop and from there walked down onto the Mall.

It had been sunny during the day, but the clouds started rolling in during the early evening. It was pretty hot (why do I feel like I say that in every post?).

All along the Mall there were tents set up for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Bhutan was the country highlighted. Throughout the day there were exhibits of music, dance, craftsmanship, etc. They were over by the time we arrived in the evening, but we did get to sample some of the food. One of the dishes we tried is the national dish of Bhutan called Ema Datsi, It's main ingredients are chiles, cheese and onions, and is served with rice. You can't go wrong with that combination.

After dinner, we continued walking down the Mall towards the Washington Monument. We had been given a tip that the view of the fireworks from near Tidal Basin was particularly good, so we headed in that general direction. Of course, we had to take a small detour to check out, and drink from, the water fountain:

Do you remember that I mentioned clouds rolling in? Well, we did end up spending a little while huddled under a tree during a downpour, trying not to get drenched. W1 and L1 stayed nice and dry in their stroller, and they kept getting comments from people walking by, "Now, that's the way to travel." and "I wish someone would push me around in a stroller." Nice.

We finally made it down near the Lincoln Memorial (where it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was up near the Washington Monument). Because the grass was soaking wet, we decided to sit on the steps down near the reflecting pool.


We only had about an hour to wait before the fireworks began, and r1 spent most of that chasing w1 around while l1 and I sat on the blanket and saved our spot. Our highlight was an elderly man in front of us with plaid shorts and knee high black socks. He was quite stylish.

And then the fireworks began. With the first boom, all the ducks on the reflecting pool took flight right over our heads, w1 screamed, and l1 started crying. Everyone quickly settled down, however, and we got to enjoy an amazing show. You know how the run-of-the-mill hometown fireworks show has a grand finale at the end where they shoot off a whole bunch of fireworks at the same time? This show was like that the entire time. It was very, very good.



After the fireworks ended at 9:30 or so, we headed back to the Metro. Needless to say it was a little crowded, and an adventure all on it's own. But, we are glad we went, and would do it all over again.