A Capitol Fourth!

Happy 234^th birthday, U.S.A.!

I can’t possibly think of a better way to celebrate our nation’s birthday than watching the fireworks go off behind the Washington Monument with Reba McEntire belting out “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America” on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. This year’s 30^th Capitol Fourth Independence Day Celebration was phenomenal, at least for me, because it was my first!

(Da capo) Reba’s distinctive voice drifted into the air while the fireworks behind her bedazzled the sky, giving the twinkling stars a run for their money. A sea of shining faces lifted to the sky in awe while thousands of American flags in all shapes and sizes merrily fluttered across the National Mall. Fireworks burst in the air with so much energy and life that the resounding boom of each passing sequence lingered on before being overtaken by another round of shimmering light.

As the fireworks extravaganza continued, the concert finale began with Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” featuring the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets and the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery. The big screens also captured the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps as well as the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard and the State and Territorial Flags of the Military District of Washington. (Al fine)

The entire evening was orchestrated beautifully, and more than a few famous faces including Gladys Knight, Darius Rucker, David Archuleta, John Schneider, classical pianist Lang Lang and host, Jimmy Smits, made the night even more spectacular and worthwhile (you’ll see what I mean by this).

A Capitol Fourth was truly one of the most patriotic moments of my life, but it also came with a cost! The festivities began early that morning when my party prepared our picnic and our trek over to Constitution Avenue…

Earlier on in the day, oh around 10 am, the weather could not have been more ideal. There was a light breeze in the air-some may even have described it as balmy. Everyone was in a good mood. This lasted all of one hour before the sun decided to play its tricks on us. The temperature soon soared well above the 90s and by the time we sat down for the parade and the reading of the Declaration of Independence, I thought I was either going to melt into a pool of sweat or broil in the sizzling heat, take your pick. Thank God for sunscreen and water, although even my Nalgene suffered from the heat and turned my water into hot soup. Delightful.

The parade was great but it wasn’t GREAT if you know what I mean. It was essentially a compilation of high school marching bands and locals trying to pep the crowd’s spirits, not all too successfully. We left a little early to make our way to Capitol Hill where the real action would take place later that night.

Entry gates to a Capitol Fourth were set to open at 3 pm, but by the time we got there at half past noon, a crowd had already amassed around the two, rather small, entrance points. So we passed time with a picnic under a tree. Thank God for shade. I was in charge of lunch and made cucumber salad and cold pesto pasta while one of my roomies made her special dip with an assortment of veggies-the sugar snap peas from Eastern Market’s farmer’s market were a hit!

Food was definitely refreshing, but it only cut about 20 minutes from our long wait. I personally passed time by reading my find at Capitol Hill’s bookstore at Eastern Market (you should definitely check this place out, it’s so charming!). It was Dan Brown’s latest thriller, The Lost Symbol, which all too appropriately is based in D.C.! I would randomly read bits of trivia to my friends about DC that I found amusing. It’s kind of pathetic, but I found that I picked up more interesting facts about DC reading this book than what I had researched on my own. I told my friends that the Washington Monument, at 555 feet tall, was the world’s largest obelisk. Since we were sitting right in front of the Capitol, I shared with them that the 19.5 feet Statue of Freedom crowning the dome of the neoclassical building was ironically erected by slaves. The novel was definitely a fast read because of the context of my surroundings!

When 3 pm rolled on by and the police moved the barricades, it was as if floodgates had just opened. So many people ran in to find good seats for the concert and fireworks. We split up our party and met inside. Because we had waited in line for some time, we managed to snag nice views of the monument and stage on top of the Hill.

Of course, as with everything else, this was just the beginning of a long wait. We camped out in the sweltering heat from 3 pm until 8 pm. We passed time by reading, taking naps, working on our tans (or sunburns), munching on taboulet and corn on the cob, and playing card games. It was quite the experience!

To conclude with the night’s events, I’m going to use a musical term: da capo (D.C.), which in Italian essentially means go back to the beginning of D.C. until you see al fine.

Happy Fourth everyone!!