Wishing everyone a great holiday weekend!
Some special memories from past July 4th's:
(a) A long time ago, probably in the early 80's when in college, my friend Tom had a tradition to go to Washington DC to see the Beach Boys in concert on the Capital lawn and fireworks. Well, for a few years in a row, we did that together. When you are young and carefree, it doesn't seem like such an ordeal to pack a lunch, drive and park in Washington, DC and sit out on the lawn for hours waiting for some music to start. We would "bond" with the people planted on blankets around us and most would proceed to get really drunk and wild and crazy (and really loud) as the day wore on. At some point, there would be speeches and music and laughter and finally fireworks. Then, the real fun began - gathering your stuff and navigating the drunks and crowds to find your car and head into horrible traffic and go home - many hours after you left the house that morning - and by this time, a bit sun burned, starving and exhausted. What fun! I can't even imagine going through all that trouble to see a "free" concert and fireworks anymore! I guesss that is the real test of age - when young, nothing is impossible!
(b) About 15 years ago, I desperately wanted to go to Oregon Ridge to see the Symphony and fireworks. Well, I had broken my leg that winter and was still in a cast. It was a walking cast, so my friend thought that we could do it. So, we packed a lunch and blankets and we got to Oregon Ridge nice and early. It was super hot and we baked while sitting on the blanket and listening to the music and waiting for fireworks. Well, all of a sudden there was huge bursts of lightening across the sky. My friend go completely paranoid - she was afraid that the walking cast would act as a lightening rod and attract the lightening to us. She was so freaked out that we immediately packed up and tried to leave. Well, as we were navigating the crowds and moving towards the parking area, the sky opened up with a torrential down pour. We got totally drenched and stampeded with others trying to get to their cars and out of the down pour. We finally got to the car - I thought that I had probably rebroken my leg with all the people that ran into us and almost trampled on us on the way to the car. Anyway, we got to the car, soaking wet, and sat for hours trying to get out of the parking lot. (And I really needed to use the rest toom!). Well, to date, I have still never seen fireworks at Oregon Ridge!
(c) My friend Patrick's birthday was on July 4th. It is odd, but I know a lot of people that celebrate their birthday on July 4th. [Happy 50th birthday Brian W.!] It is like all of America is celebrating your birthday with you - or at least that is how I would view it! Anyway, one year, for Pat's birthday, a group of us went to a restaurant in Little Italy called Fisherman's Wharf - it may still be there, but at the time it was fairly new and super pricey. Well, we ate and drank and celebrated and at some point were planning to leave to head to the Harbor to see the fireworks. Someone at the restaurant told us that they had a balcony that would give us a good view and yes, it did and we all gathered on the balcony and watched the fireworks. It was one of those moments that just happend perfectly, we had not planned to watch the fireworks from the restaurant and had no idea how much fun we would all have. The fire works were great and Pat was super happy and it was a great July 4th. It is now a bitter sweet memory, because Pat died years ago at a young age. I have lots of great memories of Pat and I think of him every year on July 4th. I also think of him whenever I see fireworks - he loved them and they always remind me of him.
This year I am not going anywhere to see fire works in person. I would like to, but the heat and effort are all a bit too much this year. Maybe I will watch them on tv or maybe I will glimpse a few on the skyline from my parents patio. It is not really a priority this year. But, here is my first resolution for next year - I resolve to see fireworks in person somewhere fun (Harbor, Oregon Ridge, Ocean City, etc.). Okay, check with me on July 5, 2011 and see if I fulfilled that resolution.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Over the weekend, I was talking to a friend about fireworks and he reminded me of another great fireworks memory. I grew up in Baltimore City and from certain areas we could see the fireworks that were set off at Memorial Stadium. Sometimes we would sit on Gunther Hill to watch the fireworks. Also, in college, I met a group of people that grew up in the Towson area and they all had the tradition of going to a neighborhood near the Towson area and sitting on a hill and watching the fireworks that were sponsored by Luskins. I did that for a few years with college friends and it was really fun. The fireworks were always great and the crowds were so much fun. I had forgotten all about the Memorial Stadium and Luskins fireworks. Memorial Stadium is gone, so I know that those fireworks no longer exist. And, Luskins is a thing of the past as well, so I would imagine that the Luskins fireworks no longer exist either. Oh well, just wanted to share other happy memories of fireworks from my past!
ReplyDeleteHey Debbie - it's Angel. I was just checking-in with your blog and realized that I hadn't read this entry before. I've seen the fireworks at Baltimore City, Ocean City and my family (not me) has gone to Oregon Ridge. My vote for you for 2011 is Ocean City. Great time and much to do afterwards - no need to sit in traffic when you can go do something else for a few hours.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I too remember the Memorial Stadium and the Luskins fireworks. When we were younger, there was a Marine base right up the street from us and we would go sit on the hill by their baseball field and had a clear view of the Stadium fireworks. As soon as we'd hear the "boom," we'd race up the street to the field to watch the show. Great memories.