America's Big Party

Vietnam War Memorial

Yesterday America celebrated all-out, in an orgy of red, white and blue, parades,  patriotic songs and fireworks.  It was a wonderful time to be in Washington DC - the epicentre of patriotism really put on a great show!
We started the day in different directions - Tony checked out the Museum of Natural History and I went to see all the war memorials, but we both saw the 4th of July parade down Constitution Ave.  I really liked all the war memorials, and wish NZ had something as grand on a national scale to commemorate all the brave soldiers from wars both long past and more recent.  Tony reported that the Museum was incredibly crowded and full of flash photography (which, of course, is not allowed in the museums...).

Tired cheerleader

The parade was on a massive scale, with seemingly every high school marching band from the District of Columbia and beyond, ethnic groups, floats and displays.  But by the time they reached the end of the parade, where I was, they were all really tired and hot.  The weather was suffocatingly humid, reminding me of the bad old days of summer in southern Japan; you drink and drink but nothing helps except collapsing under a cool shower.
After wandering around most of the morning and early afternoon, I was ready for a sleep, so I staggered back to our hotel, fell under the shower and napped for a while!  Then later, when we both had regained a little strength, it was time to go back out again to see the fireworks.  We walked back down to the Washington Monument, where by now tens of thousands of people had gathered to listen to the concert, and found a place on the grass to wait for the show.  And boy, what a show - some of the best fireworks I've ever seen, directly overhead!  Wonderful stuff!!  The crowd was oohing and aahing as one, and we all cheered the deafening finale.  Really wonderful show.  Then it was fighting the huge crowds to walk back home, but everyone was generally good humoured.  The homeless people had started to take back all the parks and street corners to settle down for the night, so it was time to leave them to their turfs in peace!

You can view more photos from our DC days here.