Fourth of July

[starling823]

Ooooh, my favorite holiday...anyone else on the list immediately 
start thinking of Shiel Silverstein's wonderful little poem on the 
fourth after reading Tabouli's post?  teehee...that man was a 
genius.  He'd have made a wonderful wizard.

Anyway -- Tabouli, as for places to be on the Fourth:  my first 
recommendation would be rather biased, as it is what I do with my 
family every year:  barbeque and fireworks at Jones Beach, on Long 
Island (that big thing to the east of NYC).  The Grucci family, who 
also do the Macy's fireworks on the East River in NYC, put up a 
wonderful display and hanging out on the beach for the day and then 
watching the fireworks is just the coolest.  Unless the weather gets 
in the way, like last year...  and make sure you find a local driver, 
as getting out of Lot Five afterwards is interesting, to say the 
least...
NYC's performance, as I said, also kicks, although I've only seen it 
on TV -- driving to Jones Beach is scary enough.  Everyone and their 
grandmother is driving on the Fourth, so we tend to avoid driving 
into Manhattan.  If you're already there, though... ;-).  I'm sure 
the Manhattanites on the list would know the best places to set up 
shop for that.

DC always puts on a good show, being the capital and all, with 
fireworks and shows and the armed forces bands and all sorts of good 
stuff.  If you do that you also have the monuments and smithsonian 
and all that fun stuff to see -- although I suspect security, like 
everywhere else, will be stiff.  Stick to plastic drink containers.

My personal wish list is Boston, where the wonderful Boston Pops 
orchestra does their annual Pops goes the Fourth Concert, which A & E 
kindly broadcasts and rebroadcasts (so I can see it that night when I 
get home from the beach!).  It's another of those wonderful big 
outdoor parties with all sorts of guest performers and it always ends 
with the 1812 Overture -- done with live cannons, and then they go 
straight to the fireworks over the Charles River...mmmm.  Seeing that 
concert is on my List of Things To Do Before I'm Old.  (not that old 
is bad...it's just harder to travel!)

I know nothing about St. Louis, other than that my family still has 
the towel my parents "liberated" from the Adam's Mark hotel they 
stayed at for a fire dept. convention once.  ::looks innocent::  But 
the arch does look pretty cool.

Tabouli, after your globe-crossing expedition, you will put up 
pictures, right?  ::winks::  we'll have a virtual bon voyage party 
before you leave.

Abbie, who is too broke to travel, and plans to live vicariously 
thorugh Tabouli.