4th of July in DC

There might be only one thing that can make me feel more awesome about being in Washington DC than watching "The West Wing." That one thing is the Fourth of July. Like a Disney World draped in nationalism, this events in the city previous weekend combined unbearable heat with food, parades, music, eagles and freedom to amount to a tremendously fun time.

With temperatures in the mid-90s, tourists blanketing the city, and shady spaces at a premium, I knew only the strong would survive. Needless to say, Colin and I had what it took to celebrate the day full force. We started out by watching the parade on Constitution Avenue in front of the National Archives. If you like high school marching bands, this was a parade for you. If not...well...you're out of luck. My only recommendation for the parade is that they should throw candy from the floats. What good is a parade without the opportunity to race against children for free candy? Seriously.
Next we went to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival for a sampling of cultural activities from Mexico and the Central Pacific. The festival offered music, lectures, educational displays, shopping and, best of all, cold, refreshing beer. It offered a nice escape from the heat and provided some unavoidable learning. Even on days of celebration, the Smithsonian doesn't let up a bit on education. Gotta hand it to them.

What came next in the day was a bit trying. We spent three hours baking in the sun waiting for the Capitpol Fourth Concert. Temperatures reached 1000 degrees. Celsius. We arrived at 5 to stake out excellent seats on the steps of the Capitol building for premium concert and fireworks viewing. It's a good thing too, because they stopped letting people into the concert at about 6:30.

Three hours in the agonizing heat may or may not be worth it to you for a free concert, but let me remind you of a few things. 1) We're kind of tough. 2) We're talking about B-list celebrities here. 3) America.
The concert started out with some of the soulful Gladys Knight. While other divas (cough cough, Whitney) have lost the stuff of greatness, Gladys Knight truly worked it. :Midnight Train to Georgia" sounded as good as ever.

In between acts, we saw the National Symphony Orchestra, Lang Lang (a pianist, not a panda), and the Marine Corps band.

I was most excited to see Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame, but Darius is Hootie no more. I was hoping for some of the classics, like "Dolphin Made Me Cry," but instead Ruker only played a series of vapid country songs. It's hard to believe that he has turned his back on his identity as Hootie. It makes me wonder if the 90s were nothing but a lie.
Reba really stole the show, though. She sang "Consider me Gone" and "Fancy." She was awesome. If you didn't catch the show on PBS, I recommend checking out this video of Reba. Go ahead and fast-forward to "Fancy." It's worth it.



Top it all off with fireworks and the cites of the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, and you've got yourself a night. Well, we did. We had ourselves a night.