The Fourth of July

What fun! Spending the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C!

My grandson, Connor, and I traveled back and forth to Minnesota while he was in elementary school but now he was finishing fifth grade. We wanted to celebrate. Go some place different. Some special, knock-your-socks-off kind of place. 

What could be better than Washington, D.C. on Independence Day? Connor liked history and traveling. I loved fireworks and outdoor concerts. It was going to be a perfect vacation.

When we told people about our plans ~ go to Washington, stay in an Airbnb near the Mall, see the museums, the parade, the concert and the fireworks ~ they all said the same thing, “You are crazy! Do you know how hot it will be? How crowded? Do you know what you are in for?”

Our answers were: 

Crazy? Probably.

Know how hot it was going to be? How crowded? We had no idea.

Know what we were in for? Nope. No way!

Connor had just turned eleven and I was a lot younger than I am now. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

We flew to D.C. on Monday, July 1st, and took a cab to our Airbnb, a private room in a beautiful, modern condo within walking distance of the National Mall. Our hostess was a lovely young woman from Vietnam. She gave us our keys, announced that she was leaving to visit friends in New York, told us to make ourselves at home, and walked out the door.

Here’s what we learned in six days in D.C.:

• Washington is a beautiful city with flower gardens and large trees everywhere. 

• The museums are outstanding. Almost all of them are free.

• The monuments are incredible. We saw monuments to the Korean and Vietnam wars and monuments in honor of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King. 

• The National Zoo is phenomenal. We took the subway to get there and back, another new experience for both of us. The line to see the pandas was too long and the weather was sweltering, so we mostly saw elephants and lots of fish. 

• The Smithsonian Folklike Festival is a wonderful, two-week celebration spread out along one end of the Mall. The 2013 themes were Hungarian Heritage, Endangered Languages, and African American Style and Identity. We spent most of our time exploring African American Identity, including eating fried chicken and waffles for breakfast. 

On Thursday, July Fourth, we got up early to find a good place to watch the parade. Floats and marching bands were lining up along the street. We saw the Budweiser Clydesdales and men on giant, old-fashioned bicycles cruising up and down the street. People were putting last minute touches on floats that celebrated cultural and ethnic diversity. Tourists from all over the world, wearing red, white and blue, were waving flags and snapping pictures.

We found a seat on a wall along the parade route and made friends with those around us. The parade lasted for hours, every float more beautiful than the one before. At one point, Connor found a cool spot under a tree and took a nap. 

A bicycle-rickshaw driver took us home, where we stayed until it was time to walk back for the concert on the lawn of the Capitol. We found a place far in the back, put down our blanket and watched the concert on large screens surrounding us. The concert finished to the roar of cannons and the 1812 Overture. We were in a perfect spot to watch dazzling fireworks right in front of us.

That was the last time Connor and I traveled together. I smile every time I remember it.

“We did it, Baby!” I said to Connor as we sat in a crowded airplane, on our way back to Denver.

“That’s right, Grandma.” He shook his head in disbelief. “We just did something no one else has ever done.”

“Indeed!” I thought to myself.

We did something that I will hold in my heart forever. Something that no one else has ever done!