First and foremost: here, have some fireworks:
Well 4th of July has come and gone.
I will admit I had high hopes for this year's 4th, both because it is DC after all, and last year I had no 4th of July at all. With expectations of a good time, and my first paid holiday ever (yay being on salary not hourly!!), I set out at 9am to explore our national capital.
Then all of a sudden... it was like the world had ended and no one told me.
Abandoned buses blocking the streets, walking up on ramps with no cars, mains streets abandoned.... What happened??? Am I all alone?? Was there an apocalypse and I didn't get the invite? Ok I am just joking, but it was fun to see all of the streets blocked off for security and for the parade route. There is something fun about walking down the middle of a normally busy road when it is closed.
Then I found the people, lots and lots and lots of people. Some of them began to stake out spots to watch the fireworks by 10 am, a full 11 hours before the show. For obvious reasons, they take security at the national mall on the 4th very seriously. And this was also a wonderful opportunity to play america's favorite game: count the police agencies!
I counted 16 different, federal, local and mutual aid police organizations out there for the day. What was the silliest you ask? I think it was a tie between the National Institutes of Heath Police and the Virginia Community Colleges Police. So I spent the ext several hours passing through checkpoints, running into fences in nonsensical places and generally being annoyed by security for the sake of looking secure but not actually doing much to deter crime or terrorism (a common practice these days, or maybe it is just the jaded terrorism analyst in me saying that).
After that I just spent several hours wandering around taking in the day and enjoying life.
While over near my favorite DC presidential memorial (FDR's), I realized that the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was finally open (Last time I was in DC it was still in progress). I have to say it is an interesting one, the design based on one of his quotes "out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope". I appreciate the uniqueness of it, and it makes good use of 14 of his wise/inspirational/famous quotes on the enclosure walls, but I am not sure if I like how it was executed overall just yet.
There is something eerily similar in design, style and execution to many of the old Soviet monuments I saw in Russia, and I am pretty sure that both MLK and the American people are not known for a love of the Socialist Realism school of art. Additionally, 2 of the quotes appearing there are paraphrased (not exactly as he delivered them), an oddly revisionist step in my opinion. Here are some photos, you decide:
The stylistic resemblance to this statue of Marx in Moscow is striking:
Wanderings completed, I returned to my apartment to cool off, relax and enjoy the remains of the day. Since I had to be up for work at 5 the next day, my options for evening plans were limited. I ended up just walking down to the National Mall half an hour before the fireworks, found a nice spot on the lawn in front of the Federal Reserve, enjoyed the show and returned quickly to go to bed.
My day, overall was mixed. I enjoyed the craziness of the National Mall and people watching, plus awesome fireworks, but it was really hot and humid out there plus I think that I have spent too many holidays alone of late. But it is again a weekend, I am young, healthy and in a city full of great things to see and do, so I am off for more adventures
Until we meet again,
Matt
PS: More Fireworks!
Well 4th of July has come and gone.
I will admit I had high hopes for this year's 4th, both because it is DC after all, and last year I had no 4th of July at all. With expectations of a good time, and my first paid holiday ever (yay being on salary not hourly!!), I set out at 9am to explore our national capital.
Then all of a sudden... it was like the world had ended and no one told me.
Abandoned buses blocking the streets, walking up on ramps with no cars, mains streets abandoned.... What happened??? Am I all alone?? Was there an apocalypse and I didn't get the invite? Ok I am just joking, but it was fun to see all of the streets blocked off for security and for the parade route. There is something fun about walking down the middle of a normally busy road when it is closed.
Then I found the people, lots and lots and lots of people. Some of them began to stake out spots to watch the fireworks by 10 am, a full 11 hours before the show. For obvious reasons, they take security at the national mall on the 4th very seriously. And this was also a wonderful opportunity to play america's favorite game: count the police agencies!
I counted 16 different, federal, local and mutual aid police organizations out there for the day. What was the silliest you ask? I think it was a tie between the National Institutes of Heath Police and the Virginia Community Colleges Police. So I spent the ext several hours passing through checkpoints, running into fences in nonsensical places and generally being annoyed by security for the sake of looking secure but not actually doing much to deter crime or terrorism (a common practice these days, or maybe it is just the jaded terrorism analyst in me saying that).
After that I just spent several hours wandering around taking in the day and enjoying life.
While over near my favorite DC presidential memorial (FDR's), I realized that the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was finally open (Last time I was in DC it was still in progress). I have to say it is an interesting one, the design based on one of his quotes "out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope". I appreciate the uniqueness of it, and it makes good use of 14 of his wise/inspirational/famous quotes on the enclosure walls, but I am not sure if I like how it was executed overall just yet.
There is something eerily similar in design, style and execution to many of the old Soviet monuments I saw in Russia, and I am pretty sure that both MLK and the American people are not known for a love of the Socialist Realism school of art. Additionally, 2 of the quotes appearing there are paraphrased (not exactly as he delivered them), an oddly revisionist step in my opinion. Here are some photos, you decide:
The stylistic resemblance to this statue of Marx in Moscow is striking:
Wanderings completed, I returned to my apartment to cool off, relax and enjoy the remains of the day. Since I had to be up for work at 5 the next day, my options for evening plans were limited. I ended up just walking down to the National Mall half an hour before the fireworks, found a nice spot on the lawn in front of the Federal Reserve, enjoyed the show and returned quickly to go to bed.
My day, overall was mixed. I enjoyed the craziness of the National Mall and people watching, plus awesome fireworks, but it was really hot and humid out there plus I think that I have spent too many holidays alone of late. But it is again a weekend, I am young, healthy and in a city full of great things to see and do, so I am off for more adventures
Until we meet again,
Matt
PS: More Fireworks!
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