July 4th in DC!

To celebrate July 4th in DC is truly an experience. Being here in the nation's capital on Independence Day is something you can't forget. I am proud to be an American and it was quite amazing to see the pride and patriotic spirit of many other Americans here in DC. You could definitely see and feel the love that people have for this country. :) That, in and of itself, was quite incredible.

I woke up pretty early on the 4th so that I could attend the reading of the Declaration of Independence at Archives at 10am. If you haven't done this, I highly recommend it in the future. There was a pretty big crowd that attended and Archives had actors portraying famous characters like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Mrs. Adams among others to recite the Declaration. If you can think back to 1776 to how bold the statements of the signers of the Declaration were: to declare our nation as free and independent states; it's just...how can I put this? It's a very reflective moment to what it must have been like to have been present at that time in history. And something that we as a nation must never forget.

Later on I went to the 4th of July Parade. I stood out in the heat because there was literally no more sitting room, but at least I was in the shade. But it was super crowded, of course. It was a long parade that lasted for 2 hours and it was quite interesting. I was down towards the very end of the parade, by The White House, so by the time most of the floats/marching bands/and other performers got down to us, they were pretty exhausted from the heat. But it was still a good parade...but so hot!! The vendors selling ice cold water, ice cream, and flags must have made so much money!!! Haha.

After the parade, I met up with a friend, Blessing. I met her several weeks back and she is also an intern here in DC. I just had to see The White House on the 4th of July so we went. Below is a picture of us at The White House.

I have seen The White House before, but when we visited on the 4th, I saw something that you usually don't see.....(No, not the President. I actually saw him at OSU. I was about 100-250 feet away from him as I played music at an event for him with the OSU athletic band my junior year). But, as Blessing and I approached The White House, we spotted him...Bo! The first family's dog! :) He seemed to be bigger in person. Quite a few people stopped to look at Bo. I love dogs so I thought it was neat to see him out and about.

Later on, I decided that it isn't the 4th of July without a cookout, but since I don't have a grill down here in DC, I did the next best thing: I ordered a cheeseburger and fries at Good Stuff. Good Stuff is a burger and fry restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue and I have eaten there a few times. They put a special sauce on their burgers and it's quite delicious.

Around 6:50 I headed out to the Capitol so I could attend A Capitol Fourth (the concert by the National Symphony Orchestra and a fireworks display) all televised on PBS. The Capitol was already packed by the time I arrived, and I had to stand in an extremely long line for a security check. No surprise. That lasted about an hour. When I finally got in, there was room, but in order to see any glimpse of the stage or the screen, I had to stand. I basically had been on my feet since 9:30am, but I didn't mind. Just seeing thousands of people gathering to celebrate the 4th of July, waving flags...coming together...that was pretty inspiring.

I thought it was neat to see AFV's Tom Bergeron live on stage being the emcee for the event. It was cool to also be in the same space with the likes of well known singers like Neil Diamond. The OSU athletic band always plays "Sweet Caroline" at sporting events and being in the band, we love to sing and play along to this. When Neil Diamond performed "Sweet Caroline" and I got to sing it live with the actual person who made the song, that was coolio.

Fireworks were pretty neat in DC. I did not get to see my favorite type of firework, which is the weeping willow kind (it's gold and it will cascade down in the sky like a weeping willow). But I did see some fireworks I have never seen before, such as this kind that was like tiny dazzling burts of stars that kept flickering and shining in the night sky. Easily this became my second favorite. I also saw smiley face fireworks. The only thing that was disappointing about the fireworks was that due to the fact that PBS needed to see the crowd, they had huge lights shining down on everyone so that we would show up on TV. Those lights were blaring in our faces and it took away from the fireworks a little bit, but I tried to stand behind a really tall guy so that the bright light was blocked and I could only view the fireworks haha. :)

My camera was set on night vision, but it wasn't wanting to cooperate too much for the fireworks. I didn't take too many pictures of the fireworks because it was easier just to enjoy them. But fireworks are very hard to photograph because they are so quick. Anyway, that's the Washington Monument (above) and it's sad that all that scaffolding was around it because that took away from the fireworks a little bit. And to the right of the Washington Monument, you can see part of the crane that was just hanging out there from construction. That also took away from the scene too, but overall the concert was great. I mean, how many times can you say you saw fireworks (or, in general, celebrated America's birthday) in DC? So overall awesome! :)

After the fireworks, I took this shot of the Capitol. The Capitol at night is just absolutely gorgeous!!!!

So, I guess that's all for now.
Thanks for reading this and I hope everyone had a good 4th of July!

God Bless America! :)

~Lauren :)