4th of July, DC style

We missed the DC 4^th of July spectacle in 2011 and made it point to catch the excitement in 2012.  That wasn’t all we caught, however.  Spent cardboard rocketry, charred and smelling like, well, fireworks, rained from the exploding sky right over our heads.  It was a heck of a show, as advertised.  The bombs bursting in air were so loud, I almost had to stand up and salute.  We sat on the grass near a fenceline a fair distance back from the Washington Monument, but it sure felt like front and center.  We didn’t really mind the falling detritus, but what a mess for the cleanup crew on July 5^th.  Regardless, it was an impressive show.  I’d certainly do it again, but maybe next time we’ll shoot for a seat somewhere up closer to the Lincoln Memorial.

Earlier in the day, we caught the big parade from a nice spot opposite the National Archives, where one of the C-Span guys officiated the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Events like these can make life in DC pretty enjoyable.  At the Mall, a sprawling display of thousands of AIDS memorial quilts was a humbling sight, in a tradition that began in San Francisco 25 years ago.  The event inspired Kris to volunteer with others to read some of the names at a podium.