Saturday, July 19, 2008

4th of July weekend

For the 4th of July weekend, Michael flew in for a visit. His brother Willie and Willie's girlfriend Stefany drove to New York from Kansas City to spend the weekend with us as well. We did all kinds of touristy stuff since Willie and Stefany had never been to the city before. We went to Times Square, Central Park, FAO Schwarz, Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave., Carnegie Deli, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Promenade, and the Village.

We also took a harbor cruise around lower Manhattan that featured a close-up of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

I was concerned about where to watch the fireworks because I heard some of the prime spots start filling up in the afternoon, even though the fireworks don't start until after 9pm. After going to watch the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest the morning of the 4th at Coney Island (it was a tie between Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi, and Joey won in a tie-breaking eat off), we went back to my house and enjoyed a BBQ with my roommates and some other friends. In the end, we decided it would be easier to try to find a spot on the Brooklyn side of the East River. We walked from my house straight towards the river, and in about 20 minutes we found a great park with plenty of room for us to spread out some blankets. The best part was that we directly in front of the first of the three Macy's barges from which they set off the fireworks. We still had a couple hours to wait, but I was stoked that we had such a great spot and we didn't have to show up crazy early for it.Laura, Stefany, Willie, me and Michael stand in front of our most excellent viewing spot for the fireworks.

As dusk approached, the FDNY put on a display of shooting water from their fire boats. It started clear, then the water started spraying in red, white and blue.

Except for a few (like the one at Disneyland), I'm rarely awed by fireworks displays. But when this celebration started, I thought I was seeing the grand finale. The beginning of the Macy's Fireworks show started as big as most shows end. It was the most amazing thing ever. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was thrilled to be able to witness it from so close. Pictures don't do it justice.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My husband I took our first trip to NYC over the weekend of 4th of July and was there to see the fireworks, as well. You got way better pictures than me. I must have had raindrops on my lens. :-)
~Angel